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Tag: Governor Sullivan Chime

  • Mbah, Chime, others push for youth skills, cultural revival

    Mbah, Chime, others push for youth skills, cultural revival

    The 2025 Agbaja Summit continued in Enugu on Thursday with a strong call for a new model of education that equips youths with skills to take charge of their future and contribute meaningfully to society. 

    The two-day summit brought together prominent Agbaja leaders, including, former Governor Sullivan Chime, former Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Senator Osita Ngwu, Rep. Sunday Umeha, and Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uche Ugwu, Chief Lorita Aniagolu, Surveyor Ugochukwu Chime, among others.

    Agbaja comprises culturally linked communities in Udi, Ezeagu, and parts of Enugu North, Enugu South and Igboetiti LGAs. 

    With the theme “Empowerment for the Future,” the summit emphasised shared identity, cultural revival and youth-driven advancement across the region.

    Declaring the summit open, Governor Peter Mbah, represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Sam Ugwu, highlighted the tourism potential of Agbaja communities and commended their sustained efforts to strengthen their collective heritage. He described the summit as “a movement in pursuit of excellence, identity and collective progress.”

    Mbah reiterated his administration’s commitment to building a knowledge-driven state economy anchored on human capital, technology and innovation. 

    He said the government’s investments in 260 smart schools, curriculum reform and skill acceleration centres were designed to position Enugu as Nigeria’s “skills capital.”

    “Knowledge has become the new currency of power. Skills have become the new economic passport,” he said, urging Agbaja youths to seize modern opportunities and build on the foundation laid by their elders.

    Former Governor Sullivan Chime, who is the patron of the Agbaja Leaders of Thought, said the summit’s focus on education and empowerment aligns with the core values that have historically defined the Agbaja people. 

    He noted that investing in human capacity, not rivalry or sectionalism, remains the group’s contribution to the wider development of Enugu State.

    “It is in our DNA to create, produce, reform and advance society,” Chime said, adding that renewed attention to education and skills development is essential for Agbaja’s long-term progress.

    National Assembly members from the area, Senator Osita Ngwu (Enugu West) and Rep. Sunday Umeha (Udi/Ezeagu), both of whom addressed the gathering, praised Agbaja communities for reviving their culture and building stronger pathways for youth development. 

    Ngwu said the collective effort reflects the right direction for the people.

    “This is what we are supposed to be doing. Reviving our culture means we are on the right path,” he said, pledging continuous support for the initiative. 

    He recalled that over 3,000 youths benefitted from his six-month free training programme last year and assured that his scholarship scheme for Agbaja students remains active.

    Ngwu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Air Force, also urged the people to take advantage of what he described as a major milestone, the appointment of an Agbaja son as Chief of Air Staff, by encouraging more youths to enlist in the military.

    Hon. Umeha lauded the summit organisers and reaffirmed his commitment to the developmental aspirations of the Agbaja bloc, which he represents in the National Assembly.

    “What we are doing here today is completely within my jurisdiction as the voice of the Agbaja people,” he said.

    He urged the people to harness their political and economic strengths to foster unity and progress. “If every youth in Udi and Ezeagu is given the opportunity through education and skills acquisition, he will excel,” he said, calling for an end to using academic attainment as a tool for division.

    Chairman of the summit’s planning committee, Prof. Chike Anibeze, said the summit rekindled the vibrancy of the Coal City as Agbaja people celebrated their identity and reaffirmed their collective aspirations. 

    He recalled that the maiden summit in 2022, conceived by the Agbaja Leaders of Thought under Prof. Chinedu Nebo, delivered the 12-point Agbaja Development Blueprint covering education, healthcare, agriculture, youth empowerment and entrepreneurship.

    Anibeze said the 2023 Agbaja Declaration, which ensured that no Agbaja child attends school without sandals and a bag, was among the initiatives inspired by the blueprint. 

    These efforts, he noted, reflect growing communal responsibility and a renewed culture of giving back.

    The colloquium concluded with donations toward the proposed Agbaja Centre of Excellence, a skills acquisition hub aimed at accelerating youth talent development across the region. 

    Awards were also presented to distinguished sons and daughters who have contributed to Agbaja’s growth.

  • Enugu: Chime’s manouvre as Eze battles

    Enugu: Chime’s manouvre as Eze battles

    SINCE the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) blew the whistle, allowing politicians and political parties to commence preparations for the 2015 general election, Enugu State’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been a theatre of unnerving political intrigues and power play.

    It began with the quest for Governor Sullivan Chime’s successor. Insiders said Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu first expressed interest to contest the Enugu State governorship contest but Chime had a different idea. The governor had resolved that power must shift to Enugu North Senatorial zone, the zone that is yet to produce a governor and which by implication will mean zoning out Ekweremadu. This resulted in the face-off between the two powerful PDP leaders.

    The power game peaked when Chime, who is also from Ekweremadu’s senatorial zone, declared interest to also take over his seat at the red chamber, a development that would retire the deputy senate president. At this stage, Ekweremadu’s supporters said the battle line was drawn as they swore to fight back and to ensure the serving senator retains his seat.

    So from then, week after week, each of the two major factions of PDP in the state has been counting its gains and losses even as the party suffered deep cracks. When it was time for the party to hold its congresses, the factions held parallel congresses, declaring their candidates and resorting either to the courts or to the PDP National Working Committee to resolve the impasse.

    So when a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, late November, upheld the November 1, 2014 Ward Congresses, conducted by Ekweremadu’s faction, nobody could deny that Governor Sullivan Chime-led camp suffered a rude setback.

    It was in the midst of the confusion, that plaintiffs, Mr. Orji Chinenye Godwin, Chiefs Cletus C. Akalusi and Orji C. Orji on behalf of themselves and the delegates allegedly elected on November 1, 2014 Ward Congress filed a suit (No. FHC/ABJ//CS/816/2014) at the High Court in Abuja seeking among others; the declaration that the list of delegates they presented to the court is the only valid list for the PDP delegates for primaries in Enugu State to the exclusion of all other lists.

    They also sought an order restraining INEC from accepting any other list of delegates for the PDP primaries in the state.

    Justice A.F.A Ademola not only dismissed the issue of jurisdiction raised by the defendants but also ruled in their favour when he held that a valid ward congress for the election of three-man delegate from the 260 Electoral Wards of Enugu State took place in Enugu State on November 1, 2014 and that the list before the court remained the valid list of candidates returned at the election.

    On November 18, 2014, barely a week before this ruling, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice E.S Chukwu had declared in the suit (FHC/AB/CS/782/2014 Elder David Aja Vs PDP and Others that Elder David Aja is the authentic Chairman of Enugu State chapter of the PDP pending the appointment of another Chairman from the area where the immediate past Chairman of the party hails from.

    It further held that Chief Asogwa was not entitled to hold himself out or perform the function of the Chairman of the Enugu State Chapter of the PDP “not having been validly appointed.”

    It therefore ordered Chief Asogwa not to carry out the functions of a Chairman or interfere with Elder Aja in the course of carrying out his duties as the Chairman, while also declaring all acts of Chief Asogwa as Chairman of the Enugu State PDP as illegal, null, and void.

    At this point, observers agreed that except something gave way, the PDP governorship primaries would be a theatre of war. So, stakeholders and elders tried to reconcile the two factions. It was at this stage that Chime agreed to forgo his senatorial ambition and to allow Ekweremadu to return to the red chamber on the PDP ticket.

    But before the current negotiations, it seems that effort only achieved very little as the two factions continued to hold parallel congresses even though there were visible signals that Ekweremadu and Chime may have resolved their personal differences.

    For example, on the day of the state congress, though Ekweremadu, in the spirit of the reconciliation attended the congress organised by Chime, reports show that Senator Ayogu Eze still held a parallel congress where he was produced as the governorship flag beater while Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was elected the PDP governorship candidates for Enugu State at the primary held by Governor Chime and attended by Ekweremadu.

    At the congress conducted by a faction at the Filbon Hotel, Enugu, Senator Ayogu Eze clinched the governorship ticket as he polled 526 votes, defeating his closest rival, Mr. Chinedu Onu, who got 31 votes.

    At that congress, 672 delegates were accredited for the election, while eleven votes were declared invalid.

    Accepting his victory Eze assured the people of the state that he would bring in rapid transformation.

    But at the main primary held that same day at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, and attended by both Governor Chime and Senator Ekweremadu, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was declared the winner as he scored 933 votes to defeat four other aspirants.

    It is also on record that this primary was monitored by the PDP Electoral Panel led by King Asara A. Asara and representatives of the INEC led by the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Lawrence Azubuike.

    Ugwuanyi in his acceptance speech told the audience that “Indeed, Enugu people have spoken and God has endorsed. The voice of the people is the voice of God.”

    He appealed to aggrieved members of the party to return to the party and move the state forward.

    In his remarks, the Chairman of the panel, King Asara commended the delegates for peaceful conduct of the primary in the state.

    Speaking of Ugwuanyi, who is his preferred candidate, Chime said, “Ugwuanyi is a unifying factor, experienced and very focused to drive development in the state to a higher level.”

    Given the scenario, there has been tension over the next move of Chime and his supporters as Eze continues to argue that he is the authentic candidate.

    Eze had dismissed the primary held by the governor as an illegality. “It is not possible for me as somebody who knows the process of the law to go and submit myself to illegality. The only option available for me is that I will go to those duly recognized delegates by the courts and the National Working Committee of the party; they are the ones who can actually elect candidates. Any other thing, in my own opinion, is abuse of the process of the court and our law.”

    But the state PDP loyal to Chime had continued to accuse Eze of forging the result of the primaries.

    Reacting through the Director of Legal Services of his Campaign Organisation, Kingsley Onyeke, Eze described the allegation as wild and a contempt of the court.

    The organisation, in a statement, titled, “Who’s afraid of Sen. Ayogu Eze”, and released this week, the organisation insisted that Eze is the duly elected candidate in the December 8, 2014 primary election in Enugu State “as he was elected by the authentic delegates elected on November 1, 2014 and validated by an Abuja High Court.”

    The statement also asked, “Why did they rush to court to stop our candidate if they truly believe the result of the election was forged?”

    Eze’s claims notwithstanding, The Nation learnt this week that Jonathan had personally intervened in the Enugu case and the result is poised to favour Chime and his candidates. Already, the final lists submitted and accepted in Abuja, we gathered, include Ugwanyi and others supported by Chime.

    A source said it was the president that appealed to Chime to allow Ekweremadu’s return, who he described as very important to him at the senate. In exchange, the governor’s candidates, including the governorship and some of the senatorial seats would be given the ticket. Even Chime himself, according to our source was given a special offer by Jonathan to ensure that the pre- primaries face off did not deny PDP of Enugu State.

  • Enugu PDP delegates seek dissolution of state executive committee

    Enugu PDP delegates seek dissolution of state executive committee

    The elected delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State have called on the National Working Committee to dissolve the State Working Committee and set up a Caretaker Committee to save the party from disintegrating before the elections.

    The delegates alerted the national leadership and members to the alleged plan by Governor Sullivan Chime and local government chairmen to destabilise the party and defect to another party.

    A petition containing these allegations, entitled: “Team Chime: The Mole Exposed”, was addressed to PDP’s national chairman and signed by Emeka Aneke and Chief Frank Anioma, chairman and secretary on behalf of  the Enugu PDP delegates.

    The delegates said the injunction granted by the chief judge purportedly restraining the party from acting on the delegates’ list was aimed at truncating the peace brokered by President Goodluck Jonathan and frustrate the party in the election.

    “When “Team Chime” invited members of PDP Ward Executive Committee, stakeholders and supporters through SMS to the court of the chief judge of Enugu State on November 13, it was clear that the enemy has decided to unleash an attack on the party.

    “The infamous injunction and various subterranean moves seeking to undermine the acting chairman of the PDP, Elder David Aja, from carrying out his duties is a manifestation that Team Chime is indeed on a mission impossible against PDP.

    “It is now established that the governor is working with agents of destruction to ensure that PDP does not present candidates for the 2015 elections, while he plans to field candidates on another party platform. He is boasting that he has bought over the national chairman and that the national chairman is not only aware of what he is doing but actually advising him in all his plans”.

     

  • PDP crises: Senators revolt against Jonathan

    PDP crises: Senators revolt against Jonathan

    Lawmakers angry as governors hijack congresses

    From the wards and party offices, the crises sparked by last Saturday’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ward congresses have spread to the Senate.

    Scores of PDP senators revolted yesterday against President Goodluck Jonathan and the party’s leadership, alleging that they were being schemed out of the 2015 elections.

    The senators took exception to what they described as a deliberate plan by the Presidency and the party to leave their fate in the hands of governors.

    The lawmakers particularly kicked against their inability to secure delegates that would guarantee their re-election tickets.

    Senate plenary was abruptly adjourned. The aggrieved senators converged at the office of the Senate President, David Mark, for what one of them described as a “last ditch meeting to take our destiny in our hands”.

    The closed door meeting did not last long when it was learnt that the lawmakers had decided to frustrate all legislative businesses as to express their anger over the outcome of the congresses.

    The senators were angry that the congresses were allegedly skewed in favour of governors.

    The governors were, however, said to be adamant in their resolve to “deal with the senators for alleged non performance”.

    The governors are said to have lined up their loyalists to take over the seats of the incumbent legislators.

    At the Senate yesterday, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, had hardly announced that the PDP Senate Caucus would meet after the sitting, when a motion for adjournment was raised and unanimously adopted.

    Most of the PDP senators believed to have lost out during the ward congresses were visibly angry.

    A senator, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not officially authorised to speak to the media on the “vexatious” issue, claimed that “we have been used by the PDP and dumped.”

    It was also learnt that most of the PDP senators whose fate has been sealed are already knocking at the doors of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), asking to be allowed to fly the party’s flag in the next election.

    The Senate resolved to shut down legislative business because governors have been empowered by the PDP headquarters to deny them re-election tickets, the source said.

    It was also leant that the Senate would in the next few days show openly its solidarity with House of Representatives Speaker  Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, whose defection from PDP to the APC has caused a huge row.

    The source insisted that they are prepared to fight their battle with any weapon open to them, including shutting legislative business, especially the consideration of the 2015 Appropriation Bill and other pending bills.

    He wondered why the President and first-time PDP governors are given automatic tickets and legislators are not.

    The source, who was visibly angry, said: “We have shut down all legislative business. We are already down, so we can as well be out. It is either they give us automatic tickets or nothing.

    “They deliberately starved us of funds to render us powerless. We have not received allowances for the past three months. After all we have done to protect Mr. President in the Senate, he decided to leave us in the hands of rapacious governors.

    “The PDP is already gone. We are not doing the job of governors but the governors want to do our job. So we have decided to shut down the government. We are not going to approve the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF. We are not going to consider the budget. Beginning from today, we will come like this and adjourn.

    “We have decided to adjourn and do no business and the APC senators are in solidarity with us. As it is, Jonathan has lost the Senate. By denying us tickets the PDP has deliberately played into the hands of the APC because the reality is that most us will seek their party’s tickets to return to the Senate.”

    In most states especially in the South South and the Southeast, senators and governors are at daggers drawn.

    Governors are scheming to move to the senate while trying to also install their successors.

    They are blocking sitting senators from returning.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu is battling with Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime.

    Senate leader Victor Ndoma-Egba and Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke do not see eye to eye.

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswil Akpabio has schemed out Senator Aloysius Etok in Akwa Ibom. Senators Enyinaya Abaribe and Chris Anyanwu, who are bidding to be governor are not having things rosy due to the excessive influence of the governors.

    In Bayelsa, Governor  Seriake Dickson has edged out all the three senators.

     

  • No respite yet for Chime

    No respite yet for Chime

    Governor Sullivan Chime’s hope that the political war he has been waging in his backyard since the Udi council chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State suspended five of his aides will become a thing of the past appears to have again been dashed.

    Things appeared bright for the embattled governor when the state party chapter said it had upturned the suspension of the affected persons. The governor who according to sources had made several efforts to have the suspension reversed was elated at the news.

    But last Wednesday, the Udi council chapter insisted that the said suspension has not and cannot be reversed. The executive members of the Udi PDP made this known in Enugu, when news filtered in that the state party chapter had upturned the suspension of the affected persons.

    Five aides of the Enugu State governor were reportedly suspended last Friday for anti-party activities and holding meetings with party members without the knowledge of the executive committee members. The affected are the Secretary to the State Government, Ameachi Okolo; the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Chijioke Agu; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Jude Akubuilo; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Marcus Agu; and the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Industrial Parks Authority, Mr. Ugochukwu Onyema.

    With the latest development, it simply means that the political ‘civil war’ between Governor Chime and leaders of his party in Udi L.G.A is yet to abate, leaving the Enugu helmsman with no respite.

  • Chime’s wife leaves for family house

    Chime’s wife leaves for family house

    The embattled wife of the Enugu State Governor, Mrs. Clara Chime, is now out of confinement at the Government House.

    This is coming after four months of alleged “incarceration”.

    Governor Sullivan Chime said she was confined on medical advice.

    A source quoted Mrs. Chime as saying she was forced to remain as the governor’s wife.

    Mrs. Chime was first allowed outside the Government House on Sunday, but she later returned to the Government House where she spent the night.

    Sources said she had a family meeting with the extended members of her family.

    The future and continuation of her marriage to Chime was extensively discussed.

    The source said from all indications, the governor’s wife has lost interest in the marriage.

    “She was persuaded to go back to the Government House on that Sunday night by family members as she was said to be reluctant going back.”

    A source said she again returned to her family house yesterday and she was still there at press time.

    Clara, who hails from Umuogele Amuda, Isuochi in Abia State, is Chime’s second wife.

    The marriage was contracted in October 2008.

    Mrs. Chime petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging unlawful detention by her husband through Lagos lawyer Femi Falana.

  • Kudos to Chime on Enugu roads

    SIR: I want to commend Governor Sullivan Chime for building lot of roads in Enugu State, especially the political roads. That is roads that have been used by past governments to secure second term only to abandon them after being voted into power.

    A good example is Ugwuogo-Nike-Ikem road. When I was told that contract for the road has been awarded, I thought it was another political gimmick. But Chime proved me wrong. This road is nearing completion. Let me point out one remarkable thing about roads built by the present government in Enugu State: they are of high quality, more durable than two federal road contracts being built in the same Enugu State presently.

    One of such roads is the Amansea-ninth mile segement along Enugu-Onitsha expressway. Another one is the road which traversed Ikem to Obollo Afor. These federal roads have pot-holes despite the fact that they were ashpalted just months ago. But roads built by Governor Chime usually last for a long time because they are properly supervised and well built with drainages.

    Building many kilometres of roads as democracy dividend is one thing, another most important thing is the quality and durability of the roads. For a state government to use Arab Contractors who are reputable shows that it meant well for the people of the state.

    However, I must draw the attention of His Excellency to a road so dear to the good people of Enugu state which is the Ugwuogo-Nike-Neke-Ikem road. Work on that road was stopped abruptly in October last year and as this year’s rainy season is about to set in, if the road is not re-visited, it will wait till another dry season.

    This is a road a lot of people never believed will ever be built in this our generation due to the ruggedness of the terrain and the bridges that it contains. A man once whispered to my hearing that the road is the best thing to happen for ages. Other roads are still under construction but work has stopped on this particular road. Nothing will gladden the heart of the road users than the completion of the road.

    The good Lord will guide and protect Governor Chime as he positively touches the lives of Enugu people. Since the creation of the present Enugu State in 1991, we have never had it so good and we know our governor will not be a governor of abandoned projects because the norm in other areas is that second tenure is a time of laxity.

     

    • Gozie John

    Ikem, Isi-uzo, LGA, Enugu State.