Category: South East

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has sacked his in-law, Rowland Nwakanma, as the deputy general manager of Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA).

The sacking of Nwakanma is happening less than three weeks after his Umuahia counterpart, Eze Okwulehie, was booted out of office by the governor.

Nwakanma, a cousin to the governor’s wife, Nkechi, has over the years come under criticism by Aba residents for his poor waste management resulting in heaps of refuse in the town.

The Nation reports that outcries over the underperformance of the ASEPA boss and calls to remove him met brick wall.

In a statement yesterday, the Secretary to the State Governor (SSG), Chris Ezem, on behalf of the governor, said also relieved of their duties were the local government waste management zonal heads in Aba.

The statement directed that the Commissioner for Environment, Chinwe Nwanganga, should take over and oversee Aba waste management.

Some Aba residents said the sack of the ASEPA boss was long overdue.

They called for his probe

The Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Kennedy Ibeh, has declared vacant, the position of the member representing Ngor Okpala Constituency, Tochi Okere.

He asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election to elect a representative for the constituency.

Ibeh also suspended three lawmakers for what he called dereliction of duty.

They are Authur Eguim (Ideato North), Ngozi Obiefule,(Isu) and Obinna Okwara( Nkwerre).

At a plenary yesterday, the Speaker said the sacking of the Ngor Okpala representative was in line with the House rules and the 1999 Constitution.

He said that Okere had not attended plenaries up to one-third since he was inaugurated as a lawmaker in 2019.

Ibeh said that the House register indicated that the sacked lawmaker only attended plenaries 29 times in 2019, 14 times in 2020 and did not attend any plenary in 2021.

He said the parliament had received two petitions from Ngor Okpala, urging the assembly to declare the seat vacant on the basis of non-performance.

Ibeh said the suspended lawmakers failed to attend legislative activities on the 2022 budget proposals, as submitted to the assembly by Governor Hope Uzodinma.

With the latest suspension of the legislators, six lawmakers are now suspended after the former speaker, Paul Emeziem, ex-deputy Speaker Okey Onyekanma and a former minority leader, Ekene Nnodimele, were slammed with indefinite suspension on November 8, the day Ibeh emerged as the speaker.

The apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has hailed Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi for the launch of the state’s command of the Ebubeagu security outfit.

The Nation reports that Southeast governors and leaders in October in Enugu restated their resolve to launch the Ebubeagu security outfit in the five states in the region.

They promised to get the laws passed in states in the region, to back up the outfit before the end of the year.

However, since that meeting, Umahi, the chairman, Southeast Governors Forum, has been the only governor in the region that has launched the security outfit in his state.

Ohanaeze praised the governor for his courage, assertiveness, vision, commitment and determination to take Ebonyi State to the next level.

It commended him, describing the launching of Ebubeagu in the state as ‘jinx breaking’.

In a statement yesterday in Enugu by its spokesman, Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze described Ebubeagu as one that had a direct link with the families, hamlets, villages, town union executives and traditional rulers of the communities within the jurisdiction.

“The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor, in his Christmas and New Year message to Ndigbo in Owerri on December 17, urged Southeast governors to fulfil their promise by rolling out Ebubeagu security outfit before December 31. This will enhance security situation in the Southeast,” the statement said.

The Vice Chancellor (VC) of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, in Ethiope East Local Government, Prof Andy Egwunyenga, said yesterday that there was never a time his administration or the institution exploited students by asking them to pay N4,000 for the production of a school magazine.

Egwunyenga, who issued a statement through the institution’s spokesman, Eddy Agbure, debunked the report while reacting to a publication credited to an online newspaper.

He described the report as untrue and a cheap blackmail to tarnish the institution’s image.

The online newspaper early this week alleged that the DELSU vice chancellor and bursar exploited the students of N4,000 for the production of a magazine, which they said they never saw any day.

Egwunyenga, while condemning the report, said the publication was false, baseless and unfounded, adding that his administration had a cordial relationship with the media, “but it will not be enough to start cooking fabricated story about the institution to a level of cheap blackmail, without proper investigation of facts before publication.”

He said: “I stopped criminal exploitation of DELSU students by persons who claimed to be journalists that published a ‘DELSU at 25 magazine’ in 2020 when the university is almost 30 years.

“The publication was outdated, unnecessary and useless and no amount of blackmail will make the university to be part of it. Those behind the purported publication to discredit my name and that of the institution for their selfish gains, are nothing but a disgrace to journalism.”

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade said yesterday in Calabar that he would not privatise any of the 34 state-owned companies, in recognition of the choice of the people.

He told reporters that while privatising the companies was the right thing to do, it was not politically correct.

A few weeks ago, Cross River State conducted a referendum on the governor’s plan to privatise the companies, but the majority of the people antagonised the plan.

Ayade said his desire to privatise the companies was borne out of a positive intention, although the decision became unpopular.

“The government has no business running a business, but I have to concede to the wishes of the people not because it is right, but because it is politically correct.

“There is a Privatisation Act of 2007 that empowers the state to carry out such action, but it was necessary to seek the opinion of the people.

“This is so that it would not be said that I have sold the companies to myself or to my friends.

“In the interim, a management team will oversee the companies, while ensuring that they are not just functional, but also viable for the state,’’ he said.

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has advised graduates of technical colleges not to sell the starter packs provided by the government, to enable them become entrepreneurs.

He gave the advice in Yenagoa during the presentation of business start-up items to 400 graduates of the state-owned technical colleges, a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said yesterday.

He directed the Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, to monitor the beneficiaries in order to achieve the goals for which the science and technical colleges were set up.

The governor described the graduates as torchbearers of his administration, who would form the critical mass of skilled manpower and take charge of the local economy.

He said: “As we are giving out these starter packs, please do not go and sell them. If you sell them, you will be selling the seed that has been planted in your life.

“You are expected to nurture that seed, watch it grow up and bear fruits. It is the fruits you will harvest.”

Diri expressed concern that indigenes did not control the local economy, saying his administration was determined to change that narrative by equipping youths with skills.

He noted: “There is a general shift from certificate education across the world towards science and technical education. Such persons in the latter category are the ones that are becoming millionaires and billionaires.”

“You are the torchbearers of enterpreneurship in Bayelsa State. With the skills you have acquired, you are no longer going to seek jobs. Rather than become employees, you are now going to be employers of labour.”

The governor urged the graduates to be the mouthpiece of the administration and defend its policies and programmes.

He said the government would complete and equip technical colleges.

“We want to change that mindset of people depending on handouts from politicians. In the world today, most of those doing well are the young people. We want to see the youth of Bayelsa change our state for us. So, make a positive and good use of the starter packs,” Diri added.

The Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, said the starter packs comprised a set of tools to start business by beneficiaries in 11 trades, namely

catering, plumbing, dress making, marine diesel/petrol mechanics, building technology/draughtsmanship and electrical installations.

Others are computer/book keeping, welding and fabrication, hairdressing, motor vehicle mechanics and mechanical engineering.

He said by meeting the objectives of the government’s position statement on the science and technology education policy, the government would have a refreshed pool of skilled workforce ready to address challenges.