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Tag: Ezea

  • Nsukka canvasses ministerial slot for Ezea

    Nsukka canvasses ministerial slot for Ezea

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu North has said that the Enugu State ministerial slot be given to the party’s standard bearer in the last governorship election, Chief Okey Ezea.

    It said the zonal committee met and elected Ezea as the nominee from Nsukka senatorial zone, maintaining that Ezea remained the best candidate  having been the party’s standard bearer.

    At a news conference, Chairman of APC Enugu North, Emecheta Ugwu, said since 1999, the zone had not produced a minister and ‘therefore for the purpose of justice, equity and good governance, we request that Nsukka senatorial zone be allowed to produce the next minister from Enugu State’.

    He urged members and leaders of APC in the state to support Ezea to ensure that ‘our party stands united and stronger’.

  • Ezea reacts to critics of financial mismanagement

    Ezea reacts to critics of financial mismanagement

    Enugu State All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship aspirant Okey Ezea has said he did not commit fraud.

    Ezea was reacting to the persistent allegations of financial misappropriation from party members who claimed that N400 million was misappropriated by Ezea.

    But from the records and audit report displayed and distributed to reporters by Ezea, the   total sum  received  and expended by the party from external sources was only N133 million.

    Giving a breakdown of how the money was received and spent, Ezea who had been the sole financier of the party, said N100million was approved for the January 10 presidential campaign rally in Enugu but N50million was released; N12million was paid for a live coverage of the rally.

    The balance of N50million was released a day after the rally but was short by N4.250million. Besides, N50million came from Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

    The Enugu state APC leader, explained further that the money was to all the candidates of the party contesting various elections in the state.

    According to him, from the N45.250 released, the formular for sharing was 50 per cent of the amount or N22.5millon to the governorship campaign while the national assembly contestants jointly got 50 percent which each of them N3million each while House of Representatives candidates got N1.68million each.

    And from the N50million got from Okorocha, each of the 24 candidates that vied for the house of assembly got N500,000 each amounting to N12million while tours and gifts to wards gulped N8.6million leaving a balance of N29.4million.

    The N29.4million balance was further distributed in the following order: Presidential campaign committee, N2.9million; senators N7.25; House of Reps N10.5 and governorship N8.7million.

    Ezea said he was constrained to make public these details because people who never wished the party well in Enugu state have mounted a persistent attack on his person alleging that he received N400million which he pocketed.

    “I will want them to come out and tell the world when and where and from whom I received the N400million,” Ezea stressed.

    He said: “Out of the N133million received, a total of 37 candidates shared N95million. Ordinarily, no party comes out publicly to disclose how much it spent in an election but I am doing so now to prove to those who are orchestrating these allegations against me to come out with proof if they have any.

    “The people making these allegations are people who could not even deliver their polling booths. Instead of dissipating energy to win their polling booths, they will channel it to finding who they will accuse of perceived financial misdeeds.”

    He further thanked the APC national leadership and the Presidential Campaign Organisation of Buhari for coming to the aid of Enugu state and the party candidates. “This is the first time in the history of opposition in Enugu state. I had always personally funded opposition elections and tribunals,” Ezea remarked.

     

  • Ezea vows to end discrimination

    Ezea vows to end discrimination

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Mr. Okechukwu Ezea, has promised to end discrimination against non- indigenes, if elected.

    He spoke at the weekend in an interaction with Anambra indigenes.

    The APC governorship candidate hailed the people for their dynamism, saying Igbo land would have been better if other Ndigbo had the enterprise and industry of Anambra people.

    Ezea said it was unfortunate that some people, instead of learning from Anambra indigenes, out of ignorance and jealousy, neglected them.

    Said he: “I’m ready for competition. Eighty per cent of the houses in the state are owned by Anambra people. They did not build them by force, but through hard work.

    “I will like Anambra people to bring their entrepreneurial prowess to Enugu. Anambra people should come and invest in the state. APC government will partner the people to move Enugu State forward.

    “I am an academic. I’m a businessman. An academic is not afraid of competition. It will end on examination day. I am a businessman. For Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi and Abia, Enugu is the melting point. Every Igboman has equal rights in Enugu.”

    Ezea recalled that during the military era, they sacked people in Enugu and as a postgraduate student, he wrote a military administrator, asking why somebody, who was born and grew up in Enugu, should be subjected to discrimination, whereas the Igbo living in Sokoto were not maltreated.

    He assured that if elected, Enugu would become a place for all Igbo men and women, adding that irrespective of the state of origin, they would have equal right to own houses in the New G.R.A.

    Ezea promised to build an international market in Enugu, with 5,000 lock-up shops, to accommodate the apprentices graduating from Ogbete and Kenyetta markets in the Enugu metropolis.

  • Group back Ezea for Enugu governor

    Group back Ezea for Enugu governor

    A group, the League of Professionals in Enugu State has unfolded plans to mobilise the people to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Chief Okey Ezea, at the general elections.

    The group described Ezea, a lawyer, as a dependable and committed politician, who has the love of the state at heart.

    In a statement in Enugu, the state capital, the group said that Enugu State is ripe for power shift.

    It added: “We have carefully and critically analysed the candidates who have been presented by their parties for the exercise and come to the conclusion that Chief Okey Ezea of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is the most suitable person to govern Enugu State in 2015.  In reality, the battle is between Okey Ezea and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and these are the candidates we invested much of our time investigating.

    “The other candidates are political jobbers, who are there to fill  the vacuum that may be created by some technicalities.

    “On performance, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003.  No tangible project has been attracted by him to the communitieshe represents. We could not associate him with any tangible motion or bill throughout the period.

    “Okey Ezea, on the other hand, has been in private business. His business has grown into an internatyional conglomerate.  It is our firm belief, following our findings, that Okey Ezea will transform Enugu State with the same zeal and precision he built his business.”

  • Nsukka indigenes endorse Ezea for governor

    Indigenes of the old Nsukka zone living in the diaspora have endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okey Ezea, for the governorship of Enugu State.

    They spoke in a statement under the aegis of the Nsukka Progressives Union (NPU), titled: “Endorsement of APC governorship candidate in Enugu State”.

    The three-paragraph statement, signed by the secretary, reads: “We, members of Nsukka people in Brazil, formally endorse the candidate of the APC in Enugu State, Chief Okey Ezea.

    “After series of consultations, we decided to endorse him, being an astute leader with a vision.

    “We are not considering party but personality and future of our state.”

    Ezea said he was humbled by the support from his brothers in the diaspora.

    He said: “By this stand, they have shown that they want nothing but the best for their state.”

    The APC governorship candidate said Enugu should not be left behind in the wind of change blowing across the country, stressing that the people deserved better than they got in the last 16 years of PDP rule.

    Ezea said: “From 2007, PDP government in Enugu State has collected N544 billion. If you look round the state, from Enugu to Oji River, from Enugu to Awgu, from Enugu to Nsukka, is it like a place they have spent N544billion? Yet, we cannot provide free education.”

    He said he would provide details of local government allocation to the state for APC members so that they would show it to traders across the state, who had been deprived of amenities and infrastructures despite the billions of naira accruing to the state.

    The governorship candidate urged the people to embrace change, noting that in Imo State under an APC government, children enjoyed free education and free meal.

    Ezea recalled that in 2007, he won and they denied him victory.

    “I thank God that a new Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) exists today, which has promised to conduct a biometric election.”

  • Ezea: APC can’t be underrated in Enugu

    Ezea: APC can’t be underrated in Enugu

    Okechukwu Ezea, a lawyer, is a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State. He spoke on his ambition with TONY AKOWE, shortly after submitting his nomination form at the APC National Secretariat, Abuja.

    Enugu PDP has zoned its governorship ticket to Enugu North where you hail from. Can you beat the PDP candidate, if given the APC ticket?

    I am very much prepared for this battle. I have gone through the battle before and I know that the PDP is not as popular as people claim in Enugu State and in Igboland generally. The problem is that they have always excelled on the platform of not credible elections in our state. The PDP banks on rigging and on writing of results and over time, we have known their gimmicks and we are prepared to match them and we are also relying on the promises made by the INEC that this time around, we are going to have Biometric accreditation and that will enhance the credibility of the elections in terms of reaching out to grassroots. Everybody want change in Enugu state. They want a change from non accountability; they want a change corruption, they also want a change from the suffering of the people. All our youths are not employed, our children school under the Mongo trees, our hospital do not exist and somebody say their is government in Enugu state, there is no government in Enugu for a long time.

    What are those things that you are bringing on board?

    What I am bringing on board is change in every aspect of life. We are introducing free education to the state, we are going to introduce medical care to the aged, children and pregnant women. We are going to bring about policies that will enhance job creation for our young men, because there are many institutions in Enugu state producing thousands of many young men and women who do not get employed, meanwhile PDP government is busy squandering billions of Naira that come to the state. From our last analysis of allocation, Enugu state supposed to have collected about N544 billions in the last eight years and there is nothing to show for it. If you check papers today, they are talking of bad roads in many part of the state.

     How do you intend to finance these projects when you come into office?

    The tragedy of government in Nigeria is that people just sit down on their chairs and wait for federal allocation to come. Governors and the policy makers should wear their thinking cap and begin to talk of how to generate revenue through investment that is regenerative, not tax the people and making the life more difficult for the people by going to impose tax on somebody riding motorcycle, if somebody has money to buy radio you impose tax on it and so on, instead of you to tackle the leakages in the system, stop buying of vehicles and the property for concubines alone, it would bring down the expenses of government and they will have more money to attend to the needs.

    How visible is the APC in Enugu state?

    You cannot underrate the APC in Enugu State. I wnat to you that the propaganda from the state governor that there is no opposition party in Enugu is only on the pages of Newspapers. I personally have ran the opposition party in Enugu state in the last eight years, I contested under the Labour Party (LP) in 2007 and defeated Sullivan Chime, and I have continue to maintain our position that we do accept the policies and practices of the PDP in Enugu state, we are all over the place and our structure is on the ground.