POLITICS
Tribunal verdict, victory for democracy, Enugu people, says Mbah
Gov. Peter Mbah has hailed the decision of the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal to dismiss the petitions of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Labour Party (LP) candidates, challenging his election.
“This landmark judgment of the tribunal is a victory for democracy and the people of Enugu State,” Mbah said in a reaction to the tribunal’s verdict on Thursday.
He said that the task of rebuilding Enugu was a collective one and extended his hand of fellowship to the opposition.
The governor said that he was committed to working with all, irrespective of political persuasions.
Earlier, the tribunal, chaired by Justice Kudirat Akano, had dismissed the petitions of the PRP and LP governorship candidates, Mr Chris Agu and Chief Chijioke Edeoga, respectively, challenging Mbah’s victory in the March 18 poll.
Mbah, who addressed a crowd of his supporters at the Government House, said: “This is another memorable day in the anals of our dear state, as the tribunal affirmed the mandate, which you freely gave to us on March 18.
“This is victory for the people of Enugu State. It is also a victory for democracy.
“It is a victory for massive development for Enugu people.
“It is a victory for exponential growth for Enugu people.
“It is a victory for Enugu’s greatness.
“It is a victory for the ban on Monday sit-at-home.
“It is also a victory for our determination to restore water in all your homes in the next 68 days.”
While thanking God for making the victory possible, Mbah also commended the tribunal for painstakingly dissecting the petitions and “coming out with fair and just decision that resonates with Enugu people”.
According to him, the verdict has further strengthened our confidence in the judiciary as the temple of justice and last hope of the common man.
Extending hands of fellowship to the opposition, the governor said: “There is time for everything under the sun.
“There is time to strive and time to unite.
“We all put ourselves forward to serve Enugu people.
“The people have spoken and the tribunal has also affirmed.
“If service was the motivation, then it is time to rise above partisanship and come together because there is so much work to be done.
“Our arms are wide open and I beckon to my brothers, who ran this race with us, to join us in the onerous task of building a new Enugu State of our dream.
“In the same vein, I enjoin all our supporters to be magnanimous in victory.
“Politics is over. Governance began on 29th May, when we were inaugurated. It is time to unite”.
Mbah, who reaffirmed his resolve to deliver on his campaign promises, further described the tribunal’s decision as “an elixir to do more” and urged the people to hold him to account on the promises.
“Once more, I immensely thank the good people of Enugu State, who not only believed in us, but also vested their mandate in us.
“Above all, they have stood by us every step of the way.
“I want to assure them that I will work for them with every fibre of my being.
“I stand by every campaign promise I made as espoused in our Statement of Purpose.
“I also stand by the Citizens Charter that I executed on my first day in office.
“The Enugu people should hold me to account. I will not let them down,” Mbah further said
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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