POLITICS
Ndigbo in Lagos APC urges Tinubu, Party Leadership, to Wade into Group’s Issues
The Conference of 57 Chairmen, an executive group of Ndigbo in Lagos State APC has urged the party leadership and Sen. Bola Tinubu to privately investigate those creating distractions amongst them.
Newsmen report that the Conference 57 Chairmen is a body of all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Government Development Areas harmonised Chairmèn of Ndigbo in APC Lagos state.
Conference 57 Chairmen came in place after proper harmonisation of all the five Igbo political groups in Lagos state APC – Coalition, Igbo Vision, South East, Anioma and Mandate.
They came together three years ago to form what is today known as Ndigbo in APC Lagos state, under the Apex leadership of Mr Joe Igbokwe.Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, Chairman of the group, Mr
Chima -Davis Ukwandu said that lately, there had been distractions by some members of the Ndigbo in the APC in Lagos state, and that the party leadership in the state must investigate the situation.
Ukwandu alleged that there seemed to be compromise by a few disgruntled members of the group that must be looked into so as not to affect the group’s focus on rallying support from Igbos in Lagos state for the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu.
“We shall hold these detractors accountable for any negative consequences of these actions. We call on our sincere party leaders and our leader, the Jagaban himself, to quickly commission or carry out a private investigation on the intents
or the remote motives of these characters.
” We sincerely doubt their
faithfulness to the cause of our great party’s victory come 2023 general elections.
“We in Conference 57 Chairmen, as the grassroot based Ndigbo in APC Lagos state, and as the electoral votes melting point, our ears are on ground to hear all
things. There seems to be great compromises in the air (not all in Rome are Romans).
“We earnestly request for independent investigators on the cause of these
actions, we believe there may have been a high level of compromise across
board to cause cold feelings among lgbo partisanship that threatens to affect our togetherness as one body,”
According to him, we will not allow this to stand, our highly laboured grassroot members should not be distracted or discouraged at this point of our political history.
“At this point, what should be in the mind of any faithful party man is how to
ensure adequate mobilisation and maximising votes returns, our focus should be how to win election and not money.
*We should be talking on what unites us, than who will control Igbo campaign
materials If indeed you are a true and faithful party man, you should be losing sleep than this selfish desires of
material things.
“The question on the lips of everyone today is why now? What went wrong? Why suddenly create division five months to the elections? What did you see now that you didn’t see before?..”
Ukwandu reiterated the group’s support for its apex leadership, Igbokwe and its State Coordinator, Eze Uche Dimgba, pointing out that the group had passed a vote of confidence on the duo.
“We hereby state unequivocally, our unwavering loyalty and support for their
leadership. It is our sure secured way for
victory.
“Our collective resolve to ensure victory of our great party in the forthcoming
elections should not be taken for granted. We know leaders that mean well for
Ndigbo and our great party, the APC.”
He, however, reassured of the group’s commitment to continuing to rally grassroot support for the APC in 2023. (NAN)
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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