Abia State Government has directed immediate payment of two month’s salary arrears to workers at Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba.

The government added that the workers would further receive more payment in December as part of its plans to reposition the state’s tertiary health institution for effective productivity.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Eze Chikamnayo says the payment of the two month’s salary is with immediate effect.

The statement read in part: “His Excellency, the Rebuilder of Abia State, Governor Okezie Victor Ikpeazu in his determination to resolve the perennial intractable challenges of ABSUTH has directed the Commissioner of Finance to immediately pay two months Salaries as proposed to ABSUTH Workers immediately.

“ABSUTH Workers will also receive another bulk payment of two months’ salaries in December 2022.”

The statement further warned those planning to disrupt activities at the hospital to desist forthwith or face the wrath of the law.

He advised political parties to respect and preserve the sanctity of government institutions as the Commissioner of Police, Abia State and the Aba Area Commander have been duly advised and would take necessary action accordingly.

The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt yesterday dismissed a suit filed by Bernard Mikko, former member of the House of Representatives, against the emergence of Tonye Cole as the Rivers All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2023 general election.

The suit with number: PH/FHC/94/CS/22 – Mikko versus the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, Cole and Ojukaye Flag-Amachree – was discarded by the court.

Read Also; Court affirms Ayade’s ticket for Cross River North

The case sought to stop the APC and Cole from taking part in the 2023 Rivers State governorship election. However, the court dismissed it for lacking merit.

In May, Cole, a former executive director of Sahara Group, won the APC governorship ticket in Rivers State.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers filed a suit seeking to disqualify the APC standard-bearer over allegations that delegates that voted at the party’s primary were not qualified, and that Cole had dual citizenship.

The 2023 presidential ambition of former Anambra State governor Peter Obi has pitched the apex Igbo social-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, against youth coalition group in the Southeast.

While Ohanaeze insists that Obi is the right Igbo person for the presidency in 2023, the youth Igbo group said he should step down if his claim of loving Ndigbo was real.

Speaking with The Nation yesterday, the Vice-President of Ohanaeze (Southeast), Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, said Obi’s candidature was not negotiable.

He said Ohanaeze was not interested in any side attraction that would make it lose focus in joining Nigerians to elect the Labour Party standard-bearer as the president in 2023.

Read Also; Youths to Obi: drop your ambition if you really love Igbo

Okeke-Ogene said: “Obi’s presidential push is a divine intervention. It is not negotiable. We’re united with Nigerians pushing for it.

“Nigerians should not listen to any youth group trying to cause confusion. The support from Ndigbo and Nigerians is total for Obi.”

But the youth coalition group led by Dr. Chinedu Ekwealor called on Obi to step down from the presidential race because it would be a stumbling block to Ndigbo in future.

The body said his entry into the race would spoil the chances of Ndigbo becoming the president after 2023 without proper alliance with other ethnic groups.

It said Obi should join hands with progressive forces in the Southeast to negotiate a brighter political future for the Igbo.

“Let us not be emotional about it. No Igbo man can be president without a formidable alliance with the other major regions that make up Nigeria,” the group added.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike said yesterday he would not leave one naira debt for his successor.

The governor, addressing doctors at the inauguration of Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) Renal Centre and House Officers Quarters in Port Harcourt, said he planned to hand over a debt-free economy to his successor to build on.

Read Also: Bwala: Wike pursuing personal agenda

“I have told anybody who cares; I will not leave a debt, one naira debt for my successor. I will not. I want him to start on a clean note.

“Let him not say I came and met a debt of 50 billion naira, of course, I will not do that,” Wike said.

He welcomed complaints from doctors on the payroll of the government, who may be claiming unpaid entitlements.

He said they must defend such claims before him.

By Nsa Gill, Calabar

A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Nkeonye Maha, has dismissed a suit filed by Cecilia Odey against Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Cross River North Senatorial District in the 2023 general election.

It affirmed the candidature of Ayade as the APC senatorial candidate.

Read Also; Tinubu most experienced presidential candidate, says Ayade

The plaintiff, Odey of the APC, had participated in the May 28 primaries of the party with a zero vote score against Martins Orim, who won.

She later filed a suit challenging the fresh primaries, which the APC conducted on July 14, following the voluntary withdrawal of Orim for Governor Ayade in pursuant to S. 31 and 33 of the Electoral Act 2022.

The court, dismissing the case, said Odey’s claim was not in compliance with the Electoral Act, APC guidelines and 1999 Constitution and could not be proved by any material fact.

The Itsekiri National Youths Council (INYC) has said the Itsekiri ethnic nationality is in line to benefit from Delta State, in the list of nominees for the substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The youth made the declaration during a protest in Warri.

They said President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees submitted to the National Assembly for screening contradicted the NDDC Act.

The group President, Weyinmi Agbateyiniro, noting that the protest was taking place simultaneously across Itsekiri oil-bearing communities in Delta and Edo states, said the nominees’ list showed the continued marginalisation against the Itsekiri

Read Also: 13,915 scramble for NDDC scholarships

Wondering why no Itsekiri person was considered fit for appointment in the new board, he said they bore the brunt of oil and gas operations and contributed to Nigeria’s revenue.

Agbateyiniro advised the National Assembly against proceeding with the screening.

He called on President Buhari to withdraw the nominations, which he described as a recipe for unrest.

member is nominated to represent the board from Delta State.

“Ms Onochie was appointed as chairman of the board and not as representative of Delta State in the board. Our representatives in the National Assembly should please take note of this.

“It can therefore be gleaned from the above without prevarication that the nomination of Ms Onochie is legal and in line with the Act.”

A coalition of youths in Anambra State has asked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, to bury his ambition, if he truly loves Igbo.

They said his entry into the race would spoil the chances of Ndigbo becoming the president after 2023 without proper alliance with other ethnic groups.

Briefing reporters yesterday in Awka, Anambra State, the National Leader of the coalition, Dr. Chinedu Ekwealor, said Obi’s entry into the presidential race was to give an advantage to one of the leading parties, All Progressives Congress (APC), to win the election.

Read Also: Obi not our consensus candidate, say Northern APC Christians

The group said: “Our brother, Peter Obi, does not have this alliance and knows very well that an irate social media mob does not, and cannot, make him president.

“Obi’s presidential run is sabotage to Ndigbo. What he has only succeeded in doing is increasing APC’s chances of winning the election by depleting the votes of the Southeast for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The implication is that the South Easterners will have to stay out of power for a minimum of another 16 years.

“This is because after Tinubu (if he wins), power will return to the North for another eight years, leaving Ndigbo out for another 16 solid years.

“If Obi truly loves Ndigbo, he should step down forthwith and strategise with other well-meaning Igbo elite in charting a way forward for the Igbo nation.

“We repeat, the presidency is not won on the premise of wishful thinking and hullabaloo of an untamed mob, who probably do not even understand the need for a pathway for the Igbo nation, pushing for a new narrative for the Igbo nation.”