POLITICS
Ebonyi: APC Guber Aspirant Petitions National Leadership over Alleged Plot to Scuttle Primary
Godwin Okeh, Abakaliki
The former chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Chief Elias Mbam has petitioned the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, over alleged plot by agents of Ebonyi State government to scuttle the gubernatorial primary election scheduled to hold on Thursday 26th May 2022 in the state.
Mbam, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebonyi state, made this known in a statement signed by Engr.
Paul Okorie and issued to journalists in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi state.He said: “It has come to the knowledge of the campaign organization of Engr.
Elias Mbam, of the plans to scuttle the gubernatorial primary election in Ebonyi State scheduled to hold tomorrow, Thursday 26th May 2022 by agents of Ebonyi State government.“You will recall that the governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi endorsed the embattled Speaker as his preferred gubernatorial aspirant against the wishes of the generality of Ebonyians and the party.
“In his failed attempt to arm-twist and force the All Progressives Congress to accept Mr. Nwifuru and close up the political space against all other aspirants in the state, the governor has now decided to rock the boat and destroy the party in Ebonyi state by use of nefarious means.
“The governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi, through his lawyer, Roy Umahi, who is also the state retainer and the governor’s immediate elder brother, took the All Progressives Congress to the Federal High Court Abakaliki, to scuttle the scheduled gubernatorial primary in Ebonyi, against the lay down rules of the party that all aggrieved members should first explore and exhaust all the party’s internal conflict resolution mechanisms to address any such grievances.”
Mbam further alleged that the preferred successor of the governor, Nwifuru procured thugs from other states of the Federation to scuttle the gubernatorial primary election.
“We therefore call on the National Chairman and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to take note of the antics of the state government and their desperate efforts to destroy our party in Ebonyi which may cause the PDP to have an easy win come 2023,” he said.
In a swift reaction, the state chairman of APC, Mr. Stanley Okoro Emegha debunked the allegation and blamed Mbam of not participating fully in the activities of APC in the state.
According to him: “How can people scuttle the gubernatorial primary election? Are we not running an open door policy?
If he needs clarity, he should come to the party secretariat and we will inform him of anything that he feels that he should know. How can he say that we want to hijack the election, when he don’t participate in our programmes” he said.
Also, the Ebonyi State government lawyer and elder brother to the state governor, Barr Roy Nwaze who reacted to the allegation denied dragging the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state to Federal High court ahead of the gubernatorial primary election.
He stated further that he has no business with political parties in the state.
“It’s not true. I didn’t take APC to court. I’m very busy and I have no business with political parties” he stated.
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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