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Tag: Enugu

  • Time to pay you back, timber dealers tell Ugwuanyi

    Timber dealers at Kenyatta Market, Enugu yesterday promised to vote massively for Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in next week’s governorship election.

    The traders, whose sheds were gutted by fire on March 5, 2018, recalled how Gov. Ugwuanyi,  the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), wiped away their tears by rebuilding their burnt shops and providing each of them with the sum of N100,000 as grant to re-establish their businesses.

    The traders told him that they will pay him back with their massive votes at the polls.

    Gov. Ugwuanyi and PDP train were at the Kenyatta Market, and other markets in Enugu, such as Eke Otu in Amechi-Awkunanaw, Garki, and Coal Camp, in continuation of their intense door-to-door campaign ahead of the March 9 governorship and state assembly elections canvassing vigorously for votes.

    The governor told the jubilant and excited traders and supporters to take the message that “PDP is the way to go” to their families and neighbourhood, stressing that “a vote for Gburugburu is a vote for all the candidates of the PDP in Enugu State”.

  • Enugu: Election and its aftermath

    The much-awaited Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone with so much surprises, shocks, wailings, celebrations and disappointments across the country. This is expected in any contest. Winners and losers have emerged. Nigerians have made their choices. The outcome of the elections was determined by the choice of the voters, their popularity or otherwise. In the end, it was about the political relevance and trackrecord of the candidates; not about waiting to be handed over “federal might” to manipulate the elections to one’s advantage or campaigning only on social media platforms without making oneself available for voters’ scrutiny, hoping that voters would be easily cowed or bought on election day.

    Among the early wailers in the concluded elections are the undertakers in Dr. Ben Nwoye-led faction of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, who hijacked the party structure and imposed themselves as party’s candidates in a compromised primary. It should not surprise anybody, especially the voters that they lost out woefully to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in the National Assembly election in the state. It was clear from inception that they were not really contesting the elections; rather they had wanted to use the party tickets to negotiate their future political survival. That was why instead of campaigning for votes, they banked on rigging or manipulationsforgetting that it was not going to be business as usual in the state. That is the major reason APC lost the three senatorial seats and eight House of Representatives seats to the PDP in the state. The overwhelming victory of the PDP in the elections is a clear indication that the party is truly in control of the state. It has exposed how deep the crisis rocking APC in the state has destroyed its fortune.

    So disappointing is the fact that not even the factional governorship candidate of the party, Senator AyoguEze, was able to deliver his Igbo Eze North council for the party, let alone his federal constituency-Igbo-Eze North/ Udenu or his Enugu North senatorial zone to the party. The outcome of the election has clearly shown that the remnants in Ben Nwoye faction of APC in the state are paperweight politicians, without grassroots support and relevance. Everyone can now see why the PDP in the state denied them tickets in the first instance, before they desperately defected to the APC and hijacked the party’s structure, threw it into crisis that has continued to bedevil it till date. With their loss of the elections, they will now start to position themselves for federal appointments using the party’s platform as bargaining chip. The APC presidency has hopefully, learnt its lesson from the events of the past four years.

    So ridiculous and typical of their political gimmicks was the tales by moonlight and afterthought, the call for cancellation of the elections by Nwoye and his cohorts, alleging that the elections were rigged against their candidates by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. This allegation is not only baseless, it is unfounded and puerile. It lacks substance, because it is on record that the presidential/ NASS elections in the state was more than peaceful and devoid of any irregularities.

    Nobody was molested in the state. Voters cast their votes without being intimidated or compromised, especially when it was obvious to them that PDP was not in contest with any party in the elections.This has been affirmed by the coalition of accredited independent observers for the Presidential/NASS elections in the state, who have expressed utmost satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise, describing it as most peaceful, credible, free, fair, devoid of irregularities and violence. Speaking at the headquarters of INEC, during the collation of election results from local councils, the Coordinator of Civil Society in Enugu State, Samuel Onoja stated that there is no iota of truth in the allegations. Apart from this, every voter who voted in the state can attest to the credibility and peacefulness of the exercise in the state.

    Could the allegations be the fear of the impending defeat that awaits Nwoye’s faction of the party in the March 9 governorship and state assembly elections in the state? Is it to justify whatever he has benefitted from the failed party candidates, who are now licking their wounds? Why not let the world know that APC in the state is factionalised? But one thing Nwoye seems to have forgotten is that false allegation is no antidote to electoral shellacking. Again, defeat is bitter in an election, but victory is not cheap.

    Instead of dissipating energies and wasting precious time to raise false allegations against PDP members, Dr.Nwoye and his faction of APCshould start getting prepared for March 9 election in the state. This is not time for rhetoric, complaints or grandstanding. It is time for politicians to prove their political mettle by deliveringtheir polling units, constituencies and zones to their parties. Having failed to deliver any to his party during the Presidential/NASS elections, it behooves Nwoye and his cohorts to prove bookmakers wrong by working hard to deliver their areas to their party in the March 9 election. Considering that with the outstanding performance of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in office and his acceptance by virtually every voter in the state, this might yet prove a tall order. From the feelers and political atmosphere in the state, the March 9 election will be a mere exercise to validate and coronate the commencement of Governor Ugwuanyi’s second term in office. Th From the look of things, Ugwuanyi and his party have no challengers. It is high time Nwoye and his cohorts stop deluding themselves, because their political subterfuge is not only in public domain, it is has reached its peak and of no effect.

     

    • Agboezewrote from Abakpa-Nike, Enugu State.

  • Atiku wins Enugu by landslide

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar on Monday won in Enugu State by landslide in all the 17 local government areas.

    He scored a total of 355,553 votes with President Muhammadu Buhari in far distance with 54,423 votes.

    The State Collation officer, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, said that the results were carefully collated and observers at the collation hall were satisfied with the job done.

    Ahaneku, who is also the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka, said the state had 1,944, 016 registered voters with total accredited voters of 452,765 for the polls proper.

    He said the total number of valid votes is 421,014 while invalid votes remained 30,049 in the exercise in the state.

    “I will now take the result obtain here to INEC national headquarters to present to the national presiding officer.

    “I thank everybody for being patient and sacrificing to see that we are diligent and meticulous in the entire exercise,’’ Ahaneku said.

    The results of the election as it at the various 17 council areas as follows:

    · In Enugu South council area, PDP got 25, 631 votes, APC gathered 2,350 votes, YPP 245, APGA 84 AND PPA 25.

    · Aninri council area, PDP got 19,062 votes; APC gathered 1,462 votes, APGA 251 and PPA 30.

    · In Ezeagu council area, said that PDP got 15,526 votes, APC gathered 3,103 votes; APGA 166 and APDA 21.

    · In Enugu North council area, PDP got 24, 921 votes; APC gathered 1825 votes; YPP 284, APGA 33 and APDA 32.

    · Isi-Uzo council area, PDP garnered 15,224, while APC got 2336 votes.

    · In Awgu council area, PDP got 16,581 votes and APC gathered 5,857.

    · Oji River council area, PDP gathered 14,893 and APC got 1487.

    · Igbo-Etiti council area, PDP obtained 20,946 and APC got 3045.

    · Igbo-Eze North council area, PDP gathered 16,228 and APC 4,931.

    · In Nkanu East council area, PDP got 12,098 and APC gathered 4,824.

    · Udi council area, PDP gathered 24,544 and APC obtained 2871.

    · Nkanu West council area, PDP got 16982 and APC obtained 5500.

    · In Igbo-Eze South council area, PDP obtained 21693 and APC 1983.

    · Nsukka council area, PDP got 46,265 and APC gathered 2922.

    · Udenu council area, PDP gathered 27928 and APC got 1601.

    · Uzo Uwani council area, PDP got 13,850 and APC obtained 4868

    · Enugu East council area, PDP obtained 22,946 and APC obtained 3291 while YPP secured 191. The council elections had issues in three units with two registration wards.

    The issues included misplacement of result sheets as well as accreditation not taking place.

  • Final result of presidential election in Enugu

    APC 54,423
    PDP 355,553

    Total no. of votes 451,063
    Accredited voters 452,765
    Invalid votes 30,049

    Announced by the State collation officer, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku.

  • Election peaceful in Enugu

    The Presidential and National Assembly Elections have been adjudged the best held so far in Enugu.

    No ugly incident was reported in any part of the state.

    The turnout of voters was high and impressive and the security provided was also impressive.

    Although the military were also involved, they were nowhere close to the polling stations. They only mounted obstacles on major roads and risked suspected vehicles.

    Except for isolated cases of shortage of ballot papers and result sheets, no serious complaint was recorded.

    House of Representative member for Aninri/Awgu/Oji River, Hon Toby Okechukwu expressed satisfaction with the arrangements.

    The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was also positive on the conduct of the election.

    Although he frowned at the minor shortcomings in some centres, he said it was too early to predict the outcome. Ekweremadu is seeking his fifth tenure in the Senate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    His All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, however, complained of discrepancies in some local councils.

    But a chieftain of the APC and the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu expressed satisfaction in the conduct of the election.

    He said it was an indication of Buhari’s administration’s commitment to the development of an enduring democracy for Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr.Balarabe Suleiman, said he was satisfied with security arrangement in the ongoing Presidential and National Assembly elections.

  • Supreme Court rules on 44-year -old Anambra land dispute

    The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal against the June 27, 2016 decision of the Court of Appeal, Enugu granting the people of Umuagama village (Ukwulu) and Oranto/Akpu village (Ukpo) in Anambra State the right of ownership over a disputed parcel of land that had pitched them against their neighbours in  Okpuloji Abba Town.

    A five-man panel of the court, headed by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, resolved all the four issues, identified for determination, in favour of the two sets of respondents – listed as representatives of Umuagama village (Ukwulu) and Oranto/Akpu village (Ukpo).

    Court documents revealed that the people of Okpuloji Abba town, Umugama Village Ukwulu and Oranto/Akpu Village (Ukpo) have been locked in dispute over the parcel of land in the area since early 1970. They went before the High Court of Anambra in 1975. In a judgment by then Chief Judge of the court, Justice Obiora Nwazota, delivered on November 12, 1999, the court declared the title of the disputed land in favour of the people of Umuagama Village (Ukwulu) and Oranto/Akpu Village (Ukpo).

    Okpuloji Abba town appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal, Enugu. The Court, in its final decision on June 27, 2016 dismissed the substantive appeal on the grounds that the appellants failed to compile and transmit record of appeal within the stipulated period, as provided in Order 8 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2011. Also dismissed was the appellants’ motion seeking to direct the Chief Judge of the High Court of Anambra State to re-assign the consolidated suit for hearing afresh.

    Okpuloji Abba town, subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, in SC: 589/2016. Justice Paul Adamu Galumje, who read the lead judgment of the Supreme Court’s decision, held that the appellants failed to sustain their allegation of denial of fair hearing and  miscarriage of justice. Galumje said it was the fault of the appellants that they failed to ensure the compilation and transmission of record of appeal within time, as required under Order 8 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2011.

    In upholding the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of the appellants’ motion, Justice Galumje held that the appellants were wrong to have filed their motion, for retrial, at the Court of Appeal. He said the motion ought to be filed at the trial court, since the appellants’ appeal was not yet properly before the Court of Appeal, and because they were yet to compile and transmit the record of appeal then. He however advised parties to the dispute to return to the trial court to have the case re-heard because it may be difficult to enforce  a judgment, which record is said to be missing from the trial court.

    “In the instant case there is in place what I may call “force major,” an unexpected occurrence, which has the capacity to defeat even the enforcement of the judgment obtained at the trial court in the two consolidated suits. It follows therefore that,  if nothing is done, there will be a total failure of justice. The loss of the record of the appeal is a factor that has in my view vitiated and rendered the judgment invalid. Is there a way of enforcing the judgment in the absence of the record of the case? This is what may unfold later. I think it is in the best interest of the parties to go back to the trial court and sort out this mess,” the judge said.

    The judge noted that the appellants were not diligent in their handling of the appeal at the Court of Appeal, Enugu On the argument whether the motion for retrial was properly filed, Justice Galumje said: “An appellate court can order as a last resort, for a retrial of a case if part or portion of the record transmitted to it is lost and all effort to trace it failed. Where the parties agree that the portion of the record that is missing is inconsequential, and that the hearing of the appeal cannot result in miscarriage of justice, the court can hear the appeal on incomplete record.

    “However where no record is transmitted at all, as in this case, all applications including application for the case to be heard de novo must be made to the trial court where the appeal is domiciled. An appellate court will have no materials upon which it will assume jurisdiction in the appeal. I therefore find nothing wrong with the decision of the lower court in refusing the application for an order of trial de novo and for dismissing the pending appeal before it for failure to compile and transmit the records of appeal after fourteen years of filing the appeal,” he aded.

     

  • Enugu: 1000 youths for recruitment in Clean Team Project

    In furtherance of its commitment to human empowerment and enhanced service delivery towards a cleaner and healthier Enugu State, the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has approved the recruitment of additional 1000 youths by Enugu Clean Team Project. In a statement by the Coordinator of the establishment, Rev. Fr. Michael Amobi Ogbu, the recruitment exercise will “increase the Clean Team to 2000 workforce.”

    Rev. Fr. Ogbu added that “interested candidates with minimum qualification of Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE/WAEC) and within the age bracket of 18 to 35 are invited to submit two (2) copies of their typewritten application letter with recent passport photograph to the Office of the Coordinator, Enugu Clean Team Project at No. 9 CIDJAP Street, Uwani, Enugu, Enugu State, on or before February 28, 2019. He stated that applicants should attach copies of their Curriculum Vitae, O’ level Certificate(s), among other necessary documents, noting that applications are to be submitted in person and free of charge, stressing that “any demand for money before submission of application must be disregarded and reported.” According to him, “passport photograph could be taken at the submission point” and “pregnant women and nursing mothers are not eligible to apply.”

  • Mob kills man after he hacked mother to death in Enugu – Police

    The Police Command in Enugu State is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of a man by a mob after he allegedly hacked his mother to death.

    The man was said to have been killed by the mob at Isiagu Ibagwa community in Igboeze South Local Government Area of the state on Monday.

    The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) SP Ebere Amaraizu, confirmed the development.

    Amaraizu said: ”Tragedy had allegedly struck at Isiagu Ibagwa community when a son identified as Ifesinachi Ukwueze allegedly murdered his mother identified as Beatrice Ukwueze with a cutlass over a yet to be established issue.

    Read also: We’re battle-ready for troublemakers – Police

    “It was further gathered that the action of Ifesinachi Ukwueze allegedly angered a mob who descended heavily on him and left him lifeless before the arrival of security operatives,’’ he said.

    The police spokesman added that the dead bodies of the son and mother had been deposited in a nearby mortuary “while police operatives have commenced a full scale investigation into the incident.”

  • Enugu residents in panic purchase ahead of Saturday polls

    Enugu residents have engaged in panic purchase of food items ahead of the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, Feb. 16.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who monitored markets in the metropolis reports that the rush was noticed mainly in the major markets.

    At the Ogbete Main Market, people were mostly rushing for perishable food items such as meat, tomatoes, dry fish, ice fish, and vegetable.

    NAN gathered that the rush was to accumulate enough stock that would sustain them throughout the election period.

    The rush was also taking place at the Artisan and Ariaria markets all within Enugu metropolis

    A Police officer, Mrs. Angela Obi told NAN that she was shopping against Saturday because she would be on election duties in the state.

    Read Also: Police kill suspected robber in Enugu

    “We have already started working by ensuring that laws and order were maintained throughout the election perio and beyond,” Obi said.

    Mrs. Nkem Okoro, a banker said that she was shopping to enable her travel to her village to cast her vote on Saturday.

    “I registered in my village, and need to do my shopping this morning so that I can travel later today.

    “I am traveling to the village with my family, I need to travel early in order to reach there on time” Okoro said.

    Mr. Jude Eze, a civil servant said that he took permission from my office to do the shopping since there was no public holiday in Enugu as was done in some states.

    “I came to the market early today because I want to cool down and buy everything I needed against Saturday’s election”.

    Mrs. Kate Ugwuanyi, a tomato dealer, told NAN that she had made bumper sales because of the rush.

    “I have sold four and half basket of tomatoes today.

    “I am optimistic that before the end of the day I will be able to sell up to six baskets of tomatoes,” she said.

    NAN

  • Army: we didn’t abduct, kill IPOB members

    The 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu has denied the accusation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that soldiers killed members of the secessionist group, and also captured and took away some other IPOB operatives in the southeast.

    The leadership of the pro-Biafra group through its spokesman, Emma Powerful in a statement alleged that soldiers in Imo and Abia State were abducting, manhandling, wounding and killing members of the group indiscriminately in the two states.

    But the military speaking through its spokesman, Sagir Musa, in a counter press statement made available to The Nation, stated that the military never manhandled, shot, wounded, abducted or killed any person including IPOB members in any part of the Southeast.

    Musa in the release stated that the military as a professional and responsible organisation under the leadership of Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai has often made it clear that it will not encourage or condone any form of professional misconduct among its personnel across the country especially as it concerns human rights abuses.

    The Army spokesman said the Nigerian Army would not ordinarily join issues with an “illegal organisation,” but decided to respond in order to set the record straight against what it described as divisive, selfish and wicked propaganda and misinformation being perpetrated by a proscribed group.

    Musa in the release maintained that the Nigerian Army in the Southeast under 82 Division, would not be deterred by the IPOB propaganda, but continue to ensure that they protect life and property in the zone.

    He further stated that the Nigerian Army under the 82 Division is poised to ensure peaceful and secured conduct of free, fair and credible 2019 general elections in the Southeast.

    While urging members of the public to disregard the rumours being peddled by IPOB, Musa disclosed that the military does not detain civilians in the conventional army detention camps except when someone is involved in terrorism act or any form of insurrection, among others.

    “For awareness and further clarification, civilians are not detained in conventional army detention centres except under exceptional situations such as on charges of terrorism, insurgency or any form of armed insurrection, among others. So, anyone arrested by the NA during the ongoing Exercise EGWU EKE III has been handed over to the civil police for further necessary action.

    “Members of the public are hereby requested to disregard any form of divisive and inciting propaganda particularly the ones coming from the likes of miscreants and outlawed organisations like IPOB,” the release read.