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Tag: Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu

  • APGA receives over 3000 PDP defectors in Ikpeazu’s LGA

    The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has reportedly received about 3,500 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

    Recall that Obignwa local government area where the incumbent Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu comes from is noted for their voting strength and in the 2015 election was said to have produced over 82, 000 votes that gave Ikpeazu victory in 2015 including Osisioma LGA.

    Read Also:I’m not going to APGA, says Atiku

    The ceremony to receive the defectors to the APGA fold could have held last week at the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Umuokahia, Obingwa council area, but was disrupted by thugs allegedly hired by PDP which prompted the state chairman of APGA to issue a statement condemning the action.

    Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Hon. Maduka Akpulonu said they decided to dump their former party for APGA because according to him, PDP as a party has failed to provide purposeful governance to the people of the state in the past 20 years.

    Akpulonu accused the chieftains of his former party of making efforts to stop them from defecting to APGA, stressing that nothing will make them to return to PDP.

    “We decide to dump our former party for APGA because PDP as a party has failed to provide purposeful governance to the people of the state. Some chieftains of our former party made efforts to stop us from defecting to APGA, but we resisted that and nothing will make us return to PDP”.

    While welcoming the governorship aspirant of the party, Dr. Alex Otti and other leaders of the party to the area, he urged him to extend his campaign tour to all the 11 wards of the council, Akpulonu apologized for the botched rally last week.

    “We apologize for the botched rally last week. Our defection has shaken PDP to its foundation in Obingwa.  They frustrated our efforts to dump PDP. The party (PDP) won’t do anything for the people and won’t allow them to leave to a better party”

    He boasted that APGA will win majority wards in Obingwa in 2019, adding that there was no going back as they were poised to take the message of APGA and Dr. Otti to every part of Obingwa.

    Receiving the former PDP members, APGA State chairman, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, stated that the people of Obingwa council area have nothing to show for producing the governor, Dr. Ikpeazu, adding that the council has the worst network of roads.

    He commended the former PDP members for their courage to dump the party and assured of a level playing field for all members and expressed optimism that their defection marks APGA’s victory in the 2019 general election.

    The governorship aspirant of the party, Dr. Otti said APGA was set for a total transformation of the state from bad governance by the PDP.

    He vowed that Abia will be rescued from those he described as ‘blood sucking godfathers and council of elders in 2019 and urged the people to support APGA in this direction.

  • Abia generates N1.4bn from Made-in-Nigeria products

    Abia generates N1.4bn from Made-in-Nigeria products

    Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State yesterday said that the state had generated N1.4 billion from the sale of Made-in-Nigeria goods since the campaign began.

    The governor disclosed this while addressing state House Correspondents in Abuja after conferring with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the proposed committee on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Council.

    “Part of the direct fall out of our campaign since the past 24 months is that today some parts of Ariaria market, where the shoemaking enterprise is flourishing, has enjoyed steady power for three weeks now.

    “It is in the pilot scheme, courtesy of the agency in charge of the rural power supply.

    “Beyond that, we are interfacing and having a better relationship with funding agencies now.

    “And we were able to attract about N1.3billion or N1.4 billion on direct sales from the Made-in-Aba shoes, made in Abia dresses and all that,” he said.

    The governor stated that besides the investments the Made-in-Aba fashion show was held in Abuja and another one was held in New York where they (manufacturers) came face to face with world class designers “and we did not do badly at all.

    “The Made-in-Nigeria campaign has assumed international dimension now,” he added.

    He said the visit to the Vice President was because “we are trying to set up a committee for the MSME Council and I am a critical stakeholder in that because Abia state is the SME hub of Nigeria today.

    “We are actually interested in what happens; the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products in Abia is going up,” Ikpeazu explained.

    On what the state had done to encourage local industries, the governor stated that having direct sales of N1.4 billion was not a joke and ensuring that there was a constant and uninterrupted power supply for three weeks was not also a mean feat.

    According to the governor, exposing them to fairs as far as to New York is not something you sweep under the carpet.

    “Confidence is returned; everybody now places“ Proudly Aba, Proudly Nigeria,” on his ware.

    “If our youths are happy doing what they are doing then we have started something.

    Ikpeazu stated that his administration had been working on infrastructure steadily including roads, electricity, security as all of them were part of enablers that would drive the vision.

    According to him, this government has completed about 45 roads and about 25 of those roads are in Aba.

    “We are doing the first flyover in the entire Abia state in Aba and the cement roads we are doing; our roads have survived three rainy seasons now and they are standing.”

    On Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts, the governor described him as his brother but noted that Kanu was not in the custody of Abia government.

    “Those who are looking for him may have a better knowledge and have the capacity to determine the location of anyone in Nigeria.

    “There are people who are trained to track people and it is their responsibility not mine,” the governor stated.

    Kanu was the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

  • Military begins gradual withdrawal from Aba

    Military begins gradual withdrawal from Aba

    The Nigerian Army has commenced gradual withdrawal of its men stationed at various checkpoints in Aba after the recent clash with protesting  members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on Sunday, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu told newsmen in Umuahia that the military on Operation Python Dance II had withdrawn from the state.

    Read: Operation Python Dance 2 takes off in Abia

    However NAN investigation on Monday showed that only few of the new military checkpoints mounted in the commercial city had been dismantled.

    The five military checkpoints mounted on the busy Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway had been reduced to three.

    Emeka Chukwuma, a tricycle operator and resident of the city, told NAN that the checkpoints were causing traffic gridlock.

    Also: Operation Python Dance not meant to harass anyone —Dambazzau

    He appealed to Gov. Ikpeazu to prevail on the military authority to remove the checkpoints to ease traffic.

    Meanwhile, activities are gradually returning to normal in Aba after the clashes between the military and IPOB members.

    Markets have re-opened after the five-day dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the city by the governor.

    Most of the shops at Ariaria International Market, New Market, Shopping Centre, Cemetery Markets have re-opened for business while customers were seen going about their businesses.

  • Anyansi urges contractor to hasten work on Enyimba Stadium

    Anyansi urges contractor to hasten work on Enyimba Stadium

    The Chairman, Enyimba FC of Aba, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, has called on the contractor handling the Enyimba Stadium to hasten work on the project to enable the team to return to their base.

    Anyansi-Agwu, who made the call on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar, commended Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia for his untiring effort to see that the team returns to its base.

    He said: “I thank the governor of Abia who has been putting in a lot of efforts to mak sure that we return to Aba.

    “So, we are very grateful to him, I call on the contractor handling the job to hasten up construction so that the team returns to its fortress’’.

    According to him, Enyimba has not performed well this season because they are playing away from home.

    He added that their opponents had taken advantage of that in most of their matches.

    “We have not done so well this season due to a lot of factors.

    “We are playing in Calabar and this gives opposing teams the impetus to prepare, knowing that we are playing away from home and this has been an added advantage to them.

    “This is unlike when a team is coming to Aba, you are already one goal down before coming.

    “But here in Calabar, they feel it is a neutral ground. These are some of the difficult situations we find ourselves in,’’ Anyansi-Agwu said.

    He said that, as soon as the stadium was ready, Enyimba would return to Aba to continue with their exploits.

    “We are a team with pedigree and a lot of flash-points. We have never been into any tournament just for participation.

    “We always want to win a trophy and when you win a trophy then you can now talk of representing the country.’’

  • Women’s role in society enormous – Ikpeazu

    Women’s role in society enormous – Ikpeazu

    Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, says the role of women in the society is enormous and relevant because of its significant human development implications.

    Speaking in Umuahia on Wednesday during the maiden Abia Family Enhancement Summit, Ikpeazu said that the contributions of women in the issues of development “cannot be over emphasised’’.

    The governor said that the state government would not relent in promoting programmes that concerned women in Abia because the society would not be habitable without them.

    Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, the wife of the governor, said that the summit would focus on the woman’s role in uplifting families and build the nation.

    “Our purpose is to make women become role models and beacons of hope to the rest of the society because the answer to socioeconomic enhancement begins with women,”  Ikpeazu said.

    Mrs Blessing Nwagba, the chairman of the occasion said that the summit was an avenue for the female folk to be equipped with relevant information.

    Nwagba urged women of Abia to support programmes that encourage peaceful co-existence and socioeconomic development in the state.

    Mrs Chinedu Brown, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, said that Abia government would not relent in evolving programmes that would enable women to be active contributors in governance.

    Brown urged the women of Abia to support the state government’s efforts to transform the state.

  • Umuahia South: PDP shifts power to youths

    Umuahia South: PDP shifts power to youths

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia said that they had shifted power to the youths in the area.

    A former Umuahia South PDP transition Committee Chairman, Chief Charles Ekwueme, made this known at a rally in Amakama-olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government of Abia on Thursday.

    Abia will hold its council election on Dec. 17.

    The state government did not conduct council poll in the past eight years of the administration of former Gov. Theodore Orji.

    “It is the turn of the youths to lead the council in all elective positions. We, the elders of the party have decided that power must shift to the youth.

    “The party elders and well-meaning stakeholders at its primaries elected Mr Obioma Ezeogbulafor, a youth, to pilot the affairs of the council.

    “The old brigades have stepped aside for the youth to take over the stage and reign of governance in the council area,” Ekwueme said at the opening of the party campaign.

    The PDP local government Chairman, Mr Ngozi Okezie, said that the elders vacated power to enable the youths, contribute their quota in the governance of the council.

    Okezie called on them to rally support for the party’s candidate by voting for him in the forthcoming election, to realise the agitation for power shift to the youth.

    He said that Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu was resolute on conducting the poll, and reiterated that “your vote is your power; we come to beg you to give to PDP because your vote must count”.

    The party’s chairmanship candidate, Ezeogbulafor told the people that “he is in the race to serve the people”.

    Ezeogbulafor gave the people and the elders the assurance that he would work assiduously to ensure that youth’s agitation for power shift was justified.

    He appealed to the elders to keep their doors open to counsel and correct the youths whenever they erred in administering the council area.

    The candidate also appealed to youths to support the elders and stakeholders’ initiative by voting         en-masse for PDP.

    “We the youths are the ones at the receiving end during elections. They engage us in ballot snatching and other electoral violence on peanut and dump us after the poll.

    “I want to beg you to resist being used this time around. Those who engage us will never use their own children.

    “They send them abroad to study and use you as their enthronement toll,” Ezeogbulafor said.

    The candidate, who in conjunction with Okezie handed over the party’s flags to the councillorship candidates in Amakama and Old Umuahia wards, promised to transform the council to one of the best in the state.

    “I will, base on available resources, meet the needs of the various wards in my bid to make Umuahia South one of the best local governments in Abia and in the country,” he said.

    Ezeogbulafor is the second son of former National Chairman of PDP, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor.