Category: Southeast report

The Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma has appealed to members of the Imo Elders Council to wade into the matters affecting the progress and development of the State, particularly, on insecurity.

He did on Friday when he met with the leadership of Imo Elders Council at the New  Executive Council Chambers Owerri.

Governor Uzodimma charged the leadership and entire membership to speak to the political detractors and the opposition to interrogate their consciences over what they are doing and how it will help Imo State to either grow and develop or retard.

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Welcoming the elders led by their Chairman, HRH Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, the Governor expressed happiness seeing them again this new year and assured them of his continued readiness to cooperate with them always.

He told them that the Executive Bill on the establishment of the body had long being signed into law, informing them that his administration is appreciative of their activities.

Uzodimma said that his government is open to dialogue and discussions with whoever that claims to be aggrieved “as long as the person or group comes up with what will move the State forward to the benefit of Imo people.”

SUSPECTED kidnappers on Thursday, shot dead a man, identified as Louis Saturday Agboma, in Mosogar community, Ethiope West council area of Delta state.

A young man said to be the son of one Peter Akpoyibo, was also kidnapped in the community evening of same Thursday.

It could not be ascertained if both incidents were related and carried out by the same gang, as the details were still sketchy as of press time.

According to findings, the deceased was shot dead by the suspects when he resisted being abducted.

He was reportedly attacked at the entrance of his house on return from an outing.

He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Spokesman of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the incidents to The Nation in a text message, Friday morning.

Hundreds of travellers returning from the Yuletide holidays were stranded on the East-West highway yesterday morning, following a fracas between truckers and policemen, over an alleged ‘checkpoint tax’ hike by law enforcement officers.

The incident occurred at Kalama Junction, close to the Kaiama Bridge over River Niger, around 6:45 am.

It was gathered that trouble broke out when truckers conveying cows and other livestock from the North refused to meet the policemen’s demand for a higher rate.

Sources said the policemen, who usually got between N500 and N2,000 per truck, insisted on a new higher rate, which the truckers refused to pay.

“The drivers said they had spent all their money at the checkpoints in Delta/Bayela axis of the highway. But the policemen, in anger, smashed the windscreens and inflicted other damages on several trucks.

“This angered the truck drivers, particularly two members, who said they were on their first trips with new trucks, which the police destroyed,” a commercial bus driver, who witnessed the incident, said.

Sensing that they had bitten more than they could chew, the recalcitrant policemen fled the scene, leaving commuters and commercial motorists to face the wrath of the truckers.

The irritated truckers took over the road and parked the damaged trucks astride it. Their colleagues also used their trucks to barricade the road in solidarity.

The incident caused kilometres-long gridlock, extending towards the Kaiama Bridge, with hundreds of road users, including military men, waiting endlessly for the issue to be resolved.

But what could have been a bloody encounter between the drivers and angry road users was averted by the quick intervention of about a dozen military men, who were also trapped in the gridlock.

The military men negotiated peace between the drivers and the angry commuters, who felt the truckers should not make them scapegoats in their faceoff with the police.

Free flow of traffic resumed hours later, following the intervention.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, has told the people that they have what it takes to rewrite the history of the state this year.

 He said the people had the capacity,  brain power and resources to make the state more pleasant.

 Abe made this known in his new year message to the people.

 He described the year as one having great expectations, and that the people could make a milestone in the state’s history this year.

 Abe yesterday in Port Harcourt in a statement by his spokesman, Pastor Parry Benson, urged the people to redefine their hopes and aspiration this year, using their permenent voter cards (PVCs) as veritable tools.

 “Let me take this opportunity to wish the good people of Rivers State a happy and prosperous new year. 

 “We can make 2023 a significant milestone in the history of our state. We can do this by organising ourselves objectively to look at the issues and challenges that confront our state.

 “We have the capacity, we have the brain power, we have the resources to make lives of the people more pleasant, more better, more fruitful and more prosperous. 

 “Working together to lift each other up, 2023 can be the beginning of great and exciting change for the people of Rivers State. 

“I challenge Rivers people not just to fast and pray, but to also wake up to the reality that our future is in our hands, our destiny is in our hands.”

The former member representing Bayelsa East Senatorial District, Senator Clever Ikisikpo, has warned the people of Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State, where former President Goodluck Jonathan hails from, not to allow money influence their conscience during the coming general election.

He gave the warning yesterday at his Kolo hometown in Ogbia Local Government during the 2023 annual celebration of Ikis Love Boat, a socio-cultural organisation he (Ikisikpo) founded since 1999.

He said: “As we go into the 2023 general election, my advice to the people of Ogbia kingdom is that they should vote for their future. Voting for your future means you don’t vote for money.

“This voting for money is not really helping us. You vote for money, you collect the money today, tomorrow you will regret. It is the same you who will cry.” 

Speaking about the importance of Ikis Love Boat, the former legislator said the apolitical group was formed to foster love, unity, values and cultural reorientation among Ogbia ethnic nationality and beyond, adding that it was the sixth edition of the event.

“What Ikis Love Boat has done today is a very good wake-up call. You can see what has happened in Kolo today. It is time for people to begin to think inwardly and not outwardly. Today, we have experienced a very important gathering in the sense that people have come to imbibe culture, imbibe real ways of life,” he said. 

In their goodwill messages, the Chairman of the event, Mr. A. Francis and former Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Furoebi Akene, praised Ikisikpo for sustaining the programme, describing him as a man who respects cultural values.

They admonished youths against violence and thuggery during the coming elections.

The event featured lecture series, one of which was ‘Educating the Youth on Imbibing Culture and Tradition of Society’, by Dr. Azibalua Onyagholo, while another lecture on ‘Educating the Young Ones to Live a Better Life in the Society’, was delivered by Prof. Joy Tela.

•Inaugurates party’s campaign council

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has urged chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to move to their wards and communities and sensitise the people for the victory of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

He said political patronage in his administration would henceforth be based on the ability of party members to deliver their wards at the polls.

The governor spoke when he inaugurated the 2023 state campaign council of the APC in Owerri, which has his deputy, Prof Placid Njoku, as chairman.

He said: “Go and convince our people who are yet to be convinced of our ability and readiness to improve their welfare that there is life and hope in the APC. Remain faithful and steadfast. There should be no divided loyalty among you.”

Warning those with sinister motives to acquire power through the short cut, the governor said: “Let me remind those who are criminally plotting to bulldoze their way into power by all means and at all costs that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has adopted a technology that has no room for electoral fraud. So, let us behave ourselves and be committed to true democracy because at the end of the day, somebody must win and somebody must lose.”

With a mantra of ‘Operation deliver your wards and polling units’, the governor said “political patronage in my administration will henceforth be based on the ability of party members to deliver their wards at the polls.”

He hoped that the legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari across the country, especially in the Southeast, would earn the APC a landslide victory in all stages of the coming elections.

 Uzodimma named such legacies as the establishment of a medical school for the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), upgrading of FMC Owerri and Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education as a university teaching hospital and Federal University of Education accordingly, completion of the second Niger Bridge, Onitsha, establishment of a naval base in Oguta in addition to signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the dredging of Oguta Lake to a seaport.

He said the feats, among others, accomplished by the president, had been on the drawing board since the end of the civil war in 1970, but were ignored by successive administrations.

The governor advised the council, which comprised elected and appointed party officials, members of the state executive council, those of the House of Assembly, who were of the APC political family, council sole administrators, among others, to troop to the grassroots and sensitise the people on the need to vote massively for the APC and to replicate the same in their areas of jurisdiction.

Responding, a chieftain of the party, Emma Ibediro, a lawyer, hailed the governor for the good work he has been doing, saying the people are behind him to ensure the party wins the elections.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has urged voters in the state to cast over one million votes for his party, to justify his emergence as the running mate to the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

He said they should make his ambition a reality through their votes, “for the good of all ‘Deltans’ and Nigerians”. 

Okowa, who spoke yesterday at a rally in Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government, described his emergence as an act of God, stressing that he was at home when he was chosen to become the vice-presidential candidate. 

Okowa added: “We have over 3.3 million registered voters in Delta and I challenge us to churn out over one million votes for our party, to enable us deliver on our rescue Nigeria mission. 

“The more votes we bring from Delta, the bigger my voice will be in the party and the greater things we will witness in Delta State and Nigeria. 

“I know that we have won this election already, but we need to up our numbers because God has endorsed our election and we are only waiting for the day to come and pass.”

He advised the people to go back home and mobilise votes for the party, noting that God had sanctioned the party’s victory at the polls. 

“This election is a BIVAS poll; so, it is quite different from what we have been having. But I am optimistic that we have the numbers to win.” 

Okowa said God told him to choose Sheriff Oborevwori to succeed him as governor and enjoined the electorate to vote for the Delta PDP governorship candidate “because he is a humble man and I have known him in the last 30 years.”

The leadership of Ishiagu Development Union (ICDU) has described Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi as a reference point of good governance in the state and country.

The Chairman of the union, Ajah David, said this during Yuletide homage to the governor at his Uburu country home in Ohaozara Local Government.

He said the governor had demonstrated much love for the people of Ishiagu and Ivo council area and appreciated him for the human and capital development projects he had executed in the area.

Personalities from the area, including the Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji and Council Chairman, Emmanuel Ajah, accompanied the ICDU chairman on the visit.

Umahi lauded the ICDU and council leadership for working in unity, which he noted had translated to the notable achievements they had recorded since assuming office.

The ICDU leadership has called on wealthy individuals in the community to assist the union in the empowerment of widows and indigent persons.

Ajah David made the call during a Christmas party the association organised for indigent women, children and men in the community, where he distributed gifts and cash.

He said the union under his administration prioritised the welfare of indigenes.

He said his administration also embarked on projects such as electrification of villages, students’ bursaries, students’ scholarships, establishment and maintenance of basic infrastructure and amenities, youths’ empowerment and improved security measures.

THE governor of Abia State has threatened to deal with filling station owners operating in the state who are now selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) above government approved price.

The governor in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Petroleum, Eze Sam Nwanganga, said that the state government was dismayed with the activities of petrol marketers who capitalised on the Yuletide to adjust their meters to new pump price and as such inflicting pains and hardship on Abians.

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Our correspondent reports that most petrol station owners at the time of filing the report dispense their PMS between N350-N400 per liter.

While there were no queues in petrol stations selling N400 per liter, there were few vehicles in petrol stations selling N350 per liter

EX-AKWA Ibom State Commissioner for Trade and Investment and the PDP candidate for Essien Udim State Constituency, Prince Ukpong Akpabio (II), has felicitated his constituents as they celebrate the New Year 2023.

In a statement he personally signed, Akpabio said, God deserves all the praise and worship for His mercy and love which has made it possible for his constituents to overcome the many challenges of 2022 and cross into 2023 alive and in good health.

“In exactly 55 days from today, our triumph over adversity and the beauty of our resilience as a people will be put to test as we go to the polls to elect our next President and National Assembly members. But most importantly, 69 days from today, armed with our PVCs, we will be voting in the governorship and State Houses of Assembly election of which I have offered myself to serve you as your Servant Leader and representative.”

Akpabio said he was confident that Essien Udim people would come out en masse on Saturday, March 11, 2023, to vote massively and elect him as their next representative in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and Pastor Umo Bassey Eno as the next governor of the state.

While stating that 2022 had been challenging, he said 2023 holds great prospects and urged them to get their PVCs ready so as to vote massively for all PDP candidates in the forthcoming general election.

“As a people, let us continue to search for our common grounds, discover them, and celebrate them. Let us play down on that which tends to divide us and elevate that which always unites us.”

“I urge you all to join me in this journey of political rebirth as I once more restate my mission; to inspire, empower, connect and integrate all stakeholders to the mainstream center and advance the course of development in Essien Udim State Constituency, as well as my vision which is to promote mutual partnership for better progress and realise ultimate peace and unity for the general prosperity and welfare of Essien Udim State Constituency,” he declared.