POLITICS
Ex-federal Lawmaker Declares for 2023 Ebonyi Governorship, Kicks against Zoning
Godwin Okeh, Abakaliki
Former Senate chairman on Police Affairs who represented Ebonyi Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, Senator Paulinus Igwe Nwagu at the weekend declared interest to contest for Ebonyi State governorship in the 2023 general election.
Igwe Nwagu who equally represented Ishielu/Ezza North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, also rejected the purported plans by stakeholders and founding fathers of the state to zone the governorship position to the North Zone of the state.
Nwagu, former council chairman of Ezza North LGA, however tasked the two major political parties in Ebonyi; the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC and the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) to throw open the governorship position to be between Ebonyi North and Central senatorial zones.
He made this known while speaking with journalists in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
According to him: “As a politician, you should expect me to run for governorship in the forthcoming 2023 general election. You can’t expect me to stay in the house and be carrying a baby. If I say I’m not running for governorship, it means I should be at home and be carrying a baby, and what will the people who may need my services do?
“As far as I know, we are the last set of councilors that signed the documents for the creation of Ebonyi State by the former head of state, the late Sani Abacha in 1996. After signing the documents, at the end of the day, Ebonyi was created.
“If my signature will be in the application for the creation of Ebonyi state, does it make sense to you, that my signature will also be part of those who signed Charter of Equity? It’s a question for those who are clamouring of charter of equity, but we have to distinguish between the Charter of Equity and zoning.
“We have three senatorial zones and supposing, if we are talking of zoning and we said, let North senatorial zone take, which LGA in the north senatorial zone should take first? Is it not Izzi clan to be the first to take? But they allowed Ohaukwu that is in the minority to take it.
“In Ebonyi Central senatorial zone, which LGA should be the first to take? Is it not Ezza Clan to be the first to take but they allowed IKwo LGA who is the younger son of Ezekuna to produce the governor.
“In Ebonyi south senatorial zone, which LGA do you think, should be the first to take position of governorship? It should be Afikpo to produce the governor but they allowed Uburu community in Ohaozara LGA to produce the governor.
“You should know that, Izzi Clan has three LGAs, Ezza Clan has two LGAs and Afikpo has two LGAs but Izzi allowed Ohaukwu who has only one LGA to produce governor, same with Ezza Clan who allowed IKwo LGA that is one LGA to produce governor in Ebonyi Central zone, while Afikpo that has two LGAs allowed Ohaozara with one LGA to produce the governor, now tell me, is there anything like equity in this?” He said.
Speaking further, he said, “Had it being that we discussed issues of zoning formula and equity, is Izziangbo man supposed to take the governorship position before Izzi clan that has three LGAs? The answer is no. Izziangbo man became the governor of Ebonyi because the military man ruling the state then imposed him on us” he added.
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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