POLITICS
Controversy Mars IPAC Election in Ebonyi, as Nine Parties Protest, Boycott Election
Godwin Okeh, Abakaliki
Controversy has trailed the state election of the Inter-party Advisory Council, IPAC, Ebonyi State chapter as nine political party chairmen protest, boycott election over alleged hijack, manipulation and restriction by agents of state government
DAILY ASSET gathered that 11 political party chairmen participated in the election whereas three staged a walkout while nine signed a petition to boycott the election.
The election took place at the independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, headquarters, Ebonyi state.
The aggrieved chairmen accused the Special Assistant to Ebonyi State government, Mrs Jennifer Adibe-Nwafor of hijack and sidelining interested participants.
The affected chairmen made this known in a petition signed by Comrade Nwogba Morgan, chairman of ADC, Mr Tochukwu Okorie chairman of PDP, Hon. Ani Paschal ACOORD Party, and other Chairmen of APM, LP, YPP, ZLP, PRP, and APP.
According to them: “To make matters worse, the Special Assistant to the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, Mrs Jennifer Adibe-Nwafor, who is also the State Chairman of NNPP (New Nigeria Peoples Party) convened a meeting at her office in Ebonyi State Old Government House, Abakaliki, on December 29, 2021 and informed the Chairmen of the various political parties in IPAC, that in case of the change of the leadership of IPAC, executive of Ebonyi State, that she does not want any person to stand against the incumbent executives who are outgoing, because she wants them back to the seats unchallenged as directed by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State.
They stated further that: “Notification of boycott of IPAC election in Ebonyi State slated to hold on February 4, 2022 and the need to reschedule the date for the IPAC election and extension for sales of forms”
“That when most of the political parties protested against her directives, the Special Assistant shunned them, thereby making the purported scheduled IPAC election slated for 4th day of February, 2022 undemocratic, coercive, acrimonious and frivolous.
“That the undersigned political party Chairmen, who are nine in number, out of 17 political parties that are in existence, hereby disassociate themselves from the said purported intending Ebonyi State IPAC election and urge the National Secretariat/leadership of IPAC to disregard and discountenance the purported slated Ebonyi State IPAC election.” They stated.
In a swift reaction, the special assistant to the state government Mrs Jennifer Adibe-Nwafor denied the allegations and tasked the general public to ignore the petition.
Meanwhile, the national organizing secretary of IPAC, Mr. Agbole Olawale Martins who led the electoral team to conduct the election, accepted the petition and insisted on going on with the election.
Agbola however, conducted the election and returned the former state executives for second tenure, to man the leadership of the inter-Party for the next two years.
He vowed to investigate the authenticity of those who signed the petition to boycott election.
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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