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Tag: Imo

  • 2019: CAN calls for fervent prayers

    The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has called on Nigerians to pray fervently for a peaceful election that will reflect the will of the people.

    Ayokunle who was in Owerri for the inauguration of the ultra-modern office donated to the Association by the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, thanked God for making it possible for the governor to build the complex.

    He described the Imo governor as “a man of goodwill”.

    According to him, “it is a sacrifice and an offering to the Lord. God will continue to reward the governor and his generations as he has deemed it fit to build a house for God so shall God build a house for him in his Kingdom”.

    He prayed God should choose for Imo people, the right person to lead the state to glory.

    Okorocha in his speech, shortly before the commissioning of the edifice, said that most Imo people never believed that he was a Christian, while others had doubts over which denomination he belonged to when he came as governor.

    The governor had earlier handed over similar office Complexes also built by his administration to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Stating that he has built these office Complexes to encourage institutions to strive in the State.

    According to the governor, “I am delighted that I have fulfilled one of the promises I made to God when I was seeking power in 2011. While I battle so many Challenges associated with my office, I am particularly happy that the vow I made to God has been fulfilled today in many ramifications. This came with a lot of difficulties as most people never understood me and some never even believed I was a Christian. I was baptized with so many names, but that did not stop my vision to win souls to God”.

    He added further that, “one of my very first projects was the construction of a modern Chapel in front of the Government House. Today, we have Chapels in all the Twenty-Seven Local Governments in the State and currently been manned by Pastors and Reverends. And the Chapels also serve as branches of CAN in the 27 Local Government.

    Read Also: CAN president to politicians: don’t set Nigeria on fire

    “Today, I am here to hand over this edifice to CAN, I pray and hope that this edifice will continue to be a symbol of peace and unity in the Christendom. In a few months to come, I will be exiting as your governor, I have been praying to God Almighty to help Imo State to get a good successor to continue with the good works already started. As a human being, Samuel was ordered by God to anoint Saul. It takes God to send a person to anoint another”.

    The governor added that “I have gone through the length and breadth of Imo State and Uche Nwosu will be the best in 2019. I urge CAN in Imo State to maintain peace and continue to pray for our leaders. I urge all Churches to support CAN and its leadership. They may not be perfect but together we can build the CAN of our dreams. I hand over the CAN headquarters with some operational vehicles and 2 million naira monthly subvention”.

  • 396 pre-election cases may stymie Vote 2019

    ABOUT 42 days to the general election, there are still a lot of pre-election matters before the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court with glaring implications for  the umpire (INEC), the parties and candidates. Many candidates in  Adamawa,  Zamfara, Rivers, Ogun,  Kwara, Imo and others do not know their fate. According to records obtained from INEC, there are 396 court actions arising from the primaries conducted by political parties. The figure is higher than 200 matters in court before the 2015 poll. A source in INEC said: “All the things we have criticized about general elections manifested during the primaries.”

    The big question is: Will the court be able to resolve all pre-election matters on or before February 16? Will candidates still win elective offices through the backdoor this time around?  Nigerians look forward to the Judiciary to save the electoral process and restore sanity.

  • IGP reverses self, recalls Imo CP

    The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Friday caved in to pressure from governorship candidates in Imo State and recalled the redeployed Commissioner of Police, Dasuki Galadanchi.

    This was two days after the State Commissioner of Police and all the senior Police officers in the state were transferred out of the State in an unprecedented shakeup in the Command.

    Governorship candidates of political parties in the state had described the mass transfer as a ploy to manipulate the election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Also recalled were three Deputy Commissioners of Police and eleven Assistant Commissioners of Police redeployed to various states by the IGP.

    Read Also: Buhari, IGP meet in Aso Rock

    The IGP had on Wednesday transferred the Imo State CP, Galadanchi to Bauchi state and posted the current commissioner of Police in charge of the Kogi state Command, Ali Janga to the state.

    But 48 hours after the IGP cancelled the controversial transfer.

    It was gathered that a signal came on Friday morning stating that all the transferred police officers should return to their former offices with immediate effect.

    When our correspondent visited the Police Command headquarters in Owerri, Police officers were in a happy mood as they discussed the development.

  • Nigeria will triumph in 2019, says Okorocha

    Imo State governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha has called on Nigerians to be positive about 2019.

    He assured that the new year will “favour the nation and her people more than 2018”.

    The governor in his New Year message noted that “no nation grows with the citizenry being negative about the progress of such a nation”.

    He, therefore, urged Nigerians to see light at the end of the tunnel with regard to 2019 especially the nation’s politics, economy, unity and development.

    Read Also: 2019: Elect visionary leaders, Atiku advises Nigerians

    According to him, “the year 2018 which had just ended was not a bad year when properly scrutinized. Nigerians should be grateful to God for his goodness in 2018 and also pray that 2019 will be far better than 2018”.

    He assured Imo people that his government will continue to work till the end of his tenure in 2019 and remarked that most of the things his administration promised to do, have been done.

    The governor added further that in 2018 the people of the State enjoyed unbridled peace and security, assuring that his government shall not relent in these regards.

  • Ogun, Imo and Zamfara on my mind

    Some weeks back, Ogun, Imo and Zamfara states made me recall V.S. Naipaul’s heartrending comic, A House for Mr Biswas. In this book, man’s quest for autonomy from even those feeding him is laid bare. Mr Biswas rebels against his in-laws, whose food he eats and house he lives in. He always wants a house of his own. That, for me, is man in his original state. Imagine what will happen when he now has power and money! The last thing he will like is to take dictation from a yesterday man. He will be eager to show who is in charge and that is where violence comes in when the yesterday man refuses to accept his new status.

    It is for this reason that I do not understand why Governors Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha and AbdulAziz Yari are hell-bent on deciding who will succeed them. These men are going about this quest as if without it, their tomorrow is ruined!

    Although Amosun is running to be senator on All Progressives Congress (APC) platform,  his men are in one colourless party, where they hope to rock the APC boat. Amosun has declared that he would not back Dapo Abiodun as his party’s candidate. Politicians do not learn. Amosun’s predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, tried it and it did not work. During the last general election, Daniel’s predecessor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, was against Amosun and he pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he hoped to truncate Amosun’s governorship bid. He failed woefully.

    Yari’s disagreement with other tendencies in Zamfara over his quest to determine his successor has caused the APC heartache. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said primaries were not done and candidates’ list would not be accepted. Now, the party’s fate will be determined by the law court. Yari got so mad with party chairman Adams Oshiomhole and dared him to send a team to the state.

    In Imo, Okorocha wants his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him and this has turned the party in the state apart. Nwosu is now running on Action Alliance (AA) but he is backing President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term. Okorocha is seeking to become a senator on APC ticket. Interesting times!

    In the beginning of the Imo madness, some leaders of the party ganged up against Okorocha and literally took over the party from him. His seeming rescue by the national secretariat has now fallen flat. The crisis has led to a situation where the state has no deputy governor. The House of Assembly removed Eze Madumere as deputy governor, but a court has stalled the installation of a replacement.Okorocha insists he remains impeached.

    For these gods’ sake, I will repeat a story I once told on this space about the futility of giving power to a man and believing he can be controlled from behind. It was told by a governor to a few of us when he was trying to transmute from the National Assembly to the Government House.

    This is the story: The president of the country at the time had contacted him to look for a suitable candidate to be governor in their state. The candidate eventually chosen was not from the zone where power should rotate. By some magic, he was made to originate from the zone to which power was meant to go. A chieftaincy title and a massive house later, he became a member of the zone. He was grateful to the senator for working him to the answer.

    All that however ended immediately he got power. On the day he was confirmed as the governor-elect, he asked the senator to see him. During their meeting, they had altercations and the angry senator wanted to walk out on him and he screamed: “You are walking out on your governor.” Their relationship was sour throughout his tenure and remains sour till this day.

    Perhaps I should draw the attention of Amosun, Yari and Okorocha to what is going on in Akwa Ibom and Kano states. In Akwa Ibom, Senator Godswill Akpabio, as an outgoing governor some four years ago, bulldozed his way to install Udom Emmanuel as his successor. It did not take long before they started disagreeing on key issues. They managed to keep it under wrap, but it is all out in the open now and the battle line is drawn. There are fears of violence.  Not long ago, Nsima Ekere, who is APC candidate in the state, was suspected to have been targeted for assassination when a bullet pierced the roof into his home.

    In Kano, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who uprooted all obstacles to install Abdullahi Ganduje as his successor, is in a dilemma now. He has left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and plotting how to ensure Ganduje’s second term bid fails.

    These gods can also learn from Sokoto State, where Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his predecessor, Aliyu Wamakko, are now sworn enemies. Wammako, who fought off all opposition to make him governor, is a serving APC senator. Both men have divided the state. The House of Assembly is divided. The political atmosphere is tensed.  After Tambuwal’s failed presidential bid, he is back in the governorship race.

    These gods of our time can also learn from ex-Governor Peter Obi, who I believe till this day, regrets the day he supported Willie Obiano to be governor of Anambra State. Within months of Obiano taking over power, they were at each other’s jugular. Obi did not like the way Obiano was spending the money he was just happy saving when there were things which needed money spent on!

    Another example these gods need to ponder over is Chimaroke Nnamani, who may for the rest of his life feel bad about supporting Sullivan Chime to succeed him as Enugu State governor. Chime’s support for Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi obviously went awry too, if not he will not be in the APC now.

    My final take: These gods in Imo, Ogun and Zamfara are in power but do not understand power because even if they have their ways now there is no guarantee that the puppets they think they are trying to install will not turn against them.

    …Parts of this piece once appeared on this space.

     

  • Buhari appoints Nine new federal permanent secretaries

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of nine new Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service.

    The appointment was announced in a statement signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita.

    The list of the successful Federal Permanent Secretaries and their states of origin are as follows:

    Read Also: Buhari may present 2019 budget to NASS next week

    “Dr Bakari Wadinga, Adamawa, Dr M.K. Dikwa, Borno, Dr Ajani Magdalene N. Olor, Delta, Umakhihe Ernest Afolabi, Edo, Mbaeri Maurice Nnamdi, Imo, Babatunde Lawal, Lagos.

    “Engr. Festus Yusuf Narai Daudu, Nasarawa, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, Osun and Dr Musa Hanafi Moriki, Zamfara

    He said that the swearing in and assignment of portfolios would be announced in due course.

  • Lawyers protest murder of Chief Magistrate in Imo

    LAWYERS in Imo state, Friday, protested the gruesome murder of a Senior Magistrate, Remmy Ogu by gunmen. The protesting lawyers boycotted court sittings across the state.

    Addressing a press conference in Owerri before embarking on the protest, the lawyers called on the Inspector General of Police to bring the killers of the chief magistrate who was in charge of Uburu Magistrate’s Court in Oru West Council Area of the state.

    The Chairman of the Orlu branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chuzzy Attama, who read the position of Imo lawyers said that the courts in the state lacked adequate security men. Attama said that the killing of the Magistrate was a ploy to intimidate the judiciary in the state. He said that they would march to the Government House, Police headquarters, office of the Chief Judge ,the state House of Assembly and the office of the director of State Security Service to register their anger over the killing of the magistrate.

    Read also: Hoodlums set Imo Magistrates’ Court ablaze

    According to him, “We demand that the police and other relevant security agencies should carry out a thorough and unfettered investigation into the murder of Senior Magistrate Remmy Ogu and unmask the killers and bring them to justice.” The lawyers also demanded that the Police should “provide armed police orderlies for all the judges and magistrates in the state. Provide armed court duty Police for all the courts in Imo State. Provide official cars for all magistrates and chairmen of Magistrates Courts.”

  • ‘Let’s bury our differences and work for Imo APC’

    A group of Imo indigenes based in Europe wants all aggrieved members of the All progressives Congress (APC) in the State to come together, bury their differences and work for the success of the party in the 2019 general election.

    The group said the events or intrigues leading to the emergency of Sen. Hope Uzodinma should not be allowed to linger but consigned to the background of history if the Party hoped to succeed at the 2019 polls.

    In a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja, the Imo Diaspora Support for Senator Hope Uzodinma (IDSFSHU),  urged the two main rival groups to display maturity following the decision of the Party on its governorship candidate, saying the collective interest of Imo State should be paramount to all members of the Party.

    The statement signed by its Coordinator Nnanna Okere reads in part: “We urge the Ugwumba Movement to embrace peace and work for the party to continue the governance at the Douglas House Owerri come 2019.

    “While we also admonished the Imo APC Restoration Coalition not to see their victory over the Ugwumba Movement as a zero sum game but a victory for democracy, it is important to emphasize that what should be paramount to APC is to concentrate and ensure overall victory at the main election not all these attacks on each other in the media.

    Read Also: APC chieftain faces Oshiomhole

    “We also encourage all Imolites to give Senator Uzodinma a chance to reposition Imo State for greater economic growth and development starting from 2019m because it is our firm belief that Uzodinma’s administration will ensure and work towards alleviating their sufferings when elected into power.

    “Senator Uzodinma as governor will empower the youth to achieve their potentials, as a passionate and resourceful young man who became a millionaire in his mid-30s when hard work pays is determined to working with young, intelligent and vibrant Imolites to drive growth built on human capital with productive knowledge.

    “We also enjoin Nigerians not to concede in their prayers for the success of the general elections in 2019 so that we can continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy,” the statement added.

    While congratulating Uzodinma for emerging as the flag bearer for the 2019 polls, the group commended all members of the Party and the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) for standing for justice, fair and equity as enshrined in the APC guidelines.

     

  • Imo: APC missing on INEC’s list of guber candidates

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday did not publish any name as the governorship candidate for the  All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State in the  provisional list of governorship candidates for the 2019 general election.
    INEC’s refusal to publish any governorship candidate for the APC,  may not be unconnected to a Court Order restraining it from accepting or publishing any name except the name of Uche Nwosu as the authentic governorship candidate.
    It will be recalled that the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole had forwarded the name of Uzodinma to INEC as the party’s governorship candidate, in defiance of the Court Order, which was also served him and the party.
    Sixty seven candidates made the provisional list including, former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives,  Emeka Ihedioha (PDP), Senator Ifeanyi Ararume (APGA), among others.

  • Imo: Limits of propaganda

    KEEN observers of events since the congresses and primaries of the All Progressives Congress APC in Imo State, would have been amazed at the narratives emerging from that state.

    Battle for the control of the party leadership was fought between a group loyal to the state governor, Rochas Okorocha and a coalition of other influential party members opposed to the governor. It produced parallel party executives with the ensuing primaries following the same predictable pattern as it threw up two governorship candidates. The claimants, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Uche Nwosu are currently locked in a legal battle over the authentic flag bearer of the party.

    When last week the state government issued a statement blaming people outside the party for its current predicament, one was at a loss to figure out how that could have been. In that statement, Okorocha through his press secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo accused the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Diocese, Most Reverend Anthony Obinna, former governor of the state, Chief Achike Udenwa and former chairman of the state council of traditional rulers, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya of supporting Hope Uzodinma and nursing pathological hatred for both the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “So they are working together now in support of Hope Uzodinma, whose claim of being a member of the APC is not up to six months. And the PDP chieftains like Udenwa also supporting the senator. These people cannot love APC or President Buhari”, the statement further claimed.

    One is not holding brief for those accused of either supporting the candidature of Uzodinma or of pathological hatred for the APC and Buhari. Those accused are capable of defending themselves. But, it is difficult to gloss over the incongruities and contradictions brought to the fore by some of the issues bandied by the state government. Archbishop Obinna and Ilomuanya are not politicians even as they are free to have their personal preferences in political matters. But whereas Udenwa is a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Ezekiel Izuogu also accused, belongs to the APC.

    The nagging poser is the purpose served by Okorocha going to town with the claim that these key personages hate Buhari and the APC? And if they hate the APC and Buhari, how come they now support Uzodinma to clinch the APC ticket? In what capacities will they achieve that since the issue in contention is the ticket of the party? That appears a huge contradiction that casts serious slur on the veracity of the claim. Perhaps, the only objective it could serve is to create a rift between them and the president especially given the weight of the phrase “pathological hatred”.

    But when we pair the allegation of pathological hatred for Buhari and the APC with the other that they are supporting Uzodinma, the objective of the linkage becomes more manifest. It is spurred by no other motive than the desire to gain advantage over Uzodinma in the feud over the authentic governorship candidate of the party. It is cheap propaganda at large; a smear campaign.

    The game is to invent imaginary enemies of Buhari and the APC and accuse them of supporting Okorocha’s foe. If this subterfuge sails through, Uzodinma will fall out of favor with the party leadership thus paving the way for the successful emergence of his preferred candidate. It is also difficult to reconcile the claim that Archbishop Obinna has never hidden his sympathy for APGA, with the other that he is supporting Uzodinma to secure the APC ticket. Which of the two claims do we now believe? Even then, Okorocha got to his current position under the platform of APGA. So, he may have more to tell about his relationship with the archbishop.

    Behind these claims lies a hidden agenda to get even with his rival through unwholesome means. It is an uncanny similitude of pursuing an objective through fair or foul means. That is why Udenwa, a BOT member of the PDP will be supporting Uzodinma to clinch the governorship ticket of the APC. Udenwa must be that powerful if he could influence who becomes the candidate of the APC in Imo State when he is not a member of that party.

    The state government further exposed the duplicity in the allegations when it said Uzodinma’s claim to membership of the party is less than six months. That could be true. But it also exposes the deceit in the attempt to find escapism for the current crisis into which the state wing of the party is enmeshed. It should be a serious source of worry that with less than six months in the party and the awesome and larger than life powers which Okorocha hitherto ascribed to himself, some seeming interlopers are about to pull the rug out of his feet.

    That is the issue to contend with rather than this recourse to shadow chasing. Those Okorocha lined up for selective attacks were neither organizers nor participants in the contentious congresses and primaries that brought about the current pass. They neither have hands in the crisis nor will they be part of its resolution.

    Okorocha must come to terms with the fact that his problem is within his party for now. He admitted that much when he blamed the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole for the fate of the party in Imo State. That is a more reasonable way to go about it rather than beating about the bush.  But his style of politics must have contributed immensely to his current predicament. He is generally seen to loathe competition and team work, almost always preferring yes members around him. People of worth and knowledge who worked with him have sour tales to tell. It is not surprising that most of these people currently hibernate in other parties.

    Before now, the governor had told whoever cared that he will retire all key politicians in the state except perhaps, himself. He had boasted that after the said retirements, he will throw up a new corps of emergency leadership in the state. The word retirement soon became a euphemism for chasing key leaders away from happenings in his government. It may have worked for him all this while.  But the pay time has come. Those he plans to retire from politics would rather, not allow that happen. They are fighting to have him retired together with his army of make-shift leaders. That is the dynamics of politics.

    It is intriguing that the fight started from within his domain. Members of the party opposed to his style of politics including his deputy would no longer tolerate his bid to handpick people for all elective posts and install his son-in-law as the next governor. To a large extent, his current predicament is self inflicted. It all has to do with the arrogance and corruptive influences of power. And as Lord Acton aptly captured, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

    He had all the opportunity to make tremendous impact in the governance of the state given the circumstance of his ascendancy to power but failed to utilize it for public good. Okorocha had popular appeal that saw him defeat an incumbent governor. But he soon squandered that goodwill through anti-people policies; succumbing to the lure of exclusion, dictatorship and hero worshipping.

    The fact that he found himself waging wars on all fronts, even when his party’s candidate is yet to emerge is an eloquent testament to how enduring that goodwill has been. It is also a statement on how his government has been received by people of the state. These should constitute food for thought for him as the campaigns for the real elections commence.

    Beyond this, those conversant with the way Uzodinma left the PDP will scoff the suggestion that Udenwa is supporting his governorship candidature. Both are from the Imo west senatorial zone that produced Udenwa as the governor for eight years and Rochas about to complete another eight years. Uzodinma and Nwosu are from the same Imo west zone. And should any of them emerge and win, the zone would have monopolized that position for 20 years. How fair that will be to other segments of the state is a moot issue that is bound to influence the outcome of the governorship election.