The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Obi

  • APGA crisis: Clerics reconcile Obi, Umeh

    The crisis that has paralysed the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) may have come to an end, following the intervention of Anglican and Catholic priests in Anambra State.

    It was gathered yesterday that the major combatants, Governor Peter Obi and the National Chairman, Victor Umeh, have agreed to reconcile.

    A source said clerics reconciled the duo at a midnight meeting held on Monday outside the state.

    The source added that the duo agreed to work together to ensure that APGA retains Anambra State in the November 16 governorship election.

    This was corroborated yesterday by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Joe Martins Uzodike, at a briefing in Awka.

    Uzodike said: “The governor and Victor Umeh are not quarrelling; they have not quarrelled and I don’t think they will quarrel.

    “I am sure that in recent times they have hugged themselves on different occasions like the ones we had at the weekend.

    “But if what you mean by reconciliation is whether the APGA crisis has been resolved, well that is for the governor to say and not me because right now the governor is in Abuja and I am here in Awka.

    “But let me tell you the APGA family misunderstanding is not a problem.”

  • Obi approves N65m for pension

    Obi approves N65m for pension

    ANAMBRA State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Chief Joe-Martin Uzodike yesterday announced that pensioners who retired from the Anambra State Broadcasting Service (ABS) and National Light Newspapers would be tackled promptly by Governor Peter Obi.

    Uzodike spoke to newsmen while inspecting the new corporate office of the ABS in Onitsha at Awada Obosi.

    He revealed that Governor Obi has approved the sum of N65m.

    The commissioner who was in the company of the Acting Managing Director of ABS, Rev Alphonsus Ginikanwa and Head of Station, Pastor Ogo Aniekwe, said the new building cost the government N20m, adding that another N45m has been earmarked to provide transmitters which are expected to cover the entire state and South East region.

    In his response, Ginikanwa thanked the commissioner for championing the welfare of staff and development of infrastructure in ABS and other offices his ministry is supervising.

     

  • Obi orders prostitutes to vacate Anambra

    Obi orders prostitutes to vacate Anambra

    Prostitutes aiding and abetting criminals in Anambra State were yesterday given a 7-day eviction from the state alongside their armed robbery friends and associates by Governor Peter Obi.

    Obi ordered monarchs to take a census of the people living in their communities and order those with questionable characters to leave the state as he would deal ruthlessly with criminals and prostitutes who harbour them wherever they are found in any community.

    Obi was spoke on Saturday at Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, the state capital, while presenting about 300 security vehicles fitted with sophisticated security gadgets to vigilante groups in 177 communities and markets and other registered vigilante groups in the State.

    The ceremony was graced by heads of all the security agencies in the state, traditional rulers, presidents-general, market leaders, government officials and other stakeholders in the State.

    The governor said that the vehicles for each town would be restricted to the community specifically for security purposes. He warned against the use of the vehicles to provide escort to politicians and other non-security related activities.

    The governor also presented cheques worth over 250 Million  Naira to all the towns in the State, with no town receiving less than 1.3 Million Naira,  to pay 10 vigilante people per town and for One hundred thousand for fuelling of the vehicles for a year. He said some towns would receive more because they would have more than 10 vigilante people depending on their population and size.

    Recalling that the presentation was not the first time the State was procuring vehicles for security, Obi said that his government had purchased over 300 vehicles for security agencies in the State, as well as assisted them in various ways, including building roads in barracks.

    Speaking further, he called on the people of the State to intensify prayers to God for them to elect somebody better than himself so that the revolution currently prevailing in the state  can be sustained.

    In his vote of thanks, the Chairman of Traditional Rulers Council, Alfred Achebe said that Obi was a blessing to Anambra State.

    He commended his development of all sectors of the State and described as “unprecedented”, the measures, projects and things he is doing in Anambra State and for the people of the State.

    He frowned at the governor’s announcement of his retirement from politics, insisting that people like him are needed in Nigeria today.

  • Obi presents 300 security vehicles to Anambra communities

    Obi presents 300 security vehicles to Anambra communities

    Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, will today present about 300 fully fitted security vehicles to 177 communities in the state. While each community will receive a minimum of one vehicle, some will receive more than one, depending on their size and population.

    It was gathered that Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka will receive the highest highest number as a result of their commercial status and high population density. Industrial hubs in the state will also receive more than one vehicle.

    In a release made available to the press by the state Commissioner for Information, Chief Jeo-Martins Uzodike, said the gesture was part of a cocktail of measures devised by the state government to maintain the security the people are comparatively enjoying. He said that the measure was also necessary to sustain the inflow of foreign direct investment the state was now witnessing under the government of Governor Peter Obi.

    The release further stated that the vehicles were all manufactured and kitted by INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company, Nnewi, as a means of urging other Nigerians to patronise not just INNOSON, but other indigenous manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The Commissioner revealed that the next set of official vehicles for Governor Peter Obi had already been ordered from INNOSON. In addition, he said the vehicles for traditional rulers, refuse disposal heavy vehicles were all procured from INNOSON.

    “By the end of this year, the state would give school buses to all the secondary schools in Anambra. These, too, have been ordered from INNOSON,” the Commissioner said.

    On the maintenance of the vehicles, the Commissioner assured that everything, including the insurance had been taken care of. He also said that the state government had started subsidising the cost each community pays for their vigilance group, even while calling on the vigilance group to always bear in mind that they were ultimately under the authority of the police.

  • Re: Obi’s presumptuous search for successor

    Re: Obi’s presumptuous search for successor

    SIR: Hard ball, an opinion column of The Nation of Friday May 17, took a swipe on Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State over alleged comments on succession to the office of the governor of the state. The governor was said to have communicated his aversion to being succeeded by a professional politician to a group of religious leaders when they paid him a visit at the Governor’s Lodge at Amawbia. His words: “He (the next governor) must not be a professional politician that sees politics not as a vocation to advance the progress of civilization, but as an avenue to steal the people’s money”.

    The piece was prefaced with a review of past presumptuous talk on succession and its negative impacts on the practice of democracy. It expressed concern over the fate of democracy should voters cede the right of king-making to an individual. But more than that, the paper seemed scandalized by the governor’s unpretentious acknowledgement of a search for his successor. It wrote inter alia “…he still owed his state and the country as a whole the obligation to talk diplomatically, disguise his intentions, or pretend he thought it objectionable for the electorate to have such unpalatable view of the Nigerian electoral process”.

    The fear expressed over Governor Obi’s alleged choice of a successor is understandable given that his choice may turn out to be wrong. But again he should have a choice. Obi’s choice and or its expression should not be caused to assume the toga of imposition. As the chief executive of the state for two terms, he is in a position to understand first-hand the varied shades of interest of those eager to succeed him. Lest we forget, he is still answerable to the people of Anambra, whichever way the cookie crumbles. It will be wrong to impute imposition over a mere expression of an opinion. Except perhaps Hardball is saying, because of his status, he should flinch from expressing a choice, or become deaf mute.

    By its own account, the paper admitted that only about three or four out of more than 20 of such impositions in Nigeria turned out right. It is common knowledge that five governors out of the six Yoruba states were aided to power by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Today Tinubu is celebrated as an icon of democracy even by the paper. He may have been spared the Hardball treatment because, unlike Obi, he was discreet about those impositions.

    The paper was right to observe that it took the effort of Ngige to free the state from the claws of Chris Ubah, and that of Obi to prise her loose from the jaws of Andy, whom it erroneously referred to as the younger of the Ubah brothers. Beyond this, Obi has successfully tucked the state away from further despoliation. To suggest he will be returning the state whence he labored hard alongside Ngige to extricate from the jaws of profiteers is hard to believe. Worst scenario, he will only attempt the Tinubu magic in just one state – four still short of Asiwaju’s feat.

    Hardball should spare itself the splitting of hair on the issue of succession to the governorship of the state. At the appointed time the flock will search out the shepherd.

    • Louis Ejikeme

    Lagos.

     

  • Obi spends over N50m on ex-Rangers players

    Obi spends over N50m on ex-Rangers players

    Governor Peter Obi of Anambra has spent over fifty million naira (N50m) on retired players of old Rangers international football club of Enugu in the past two years.

    Distributing cheques to the sick former players yesterday in Awka worth over four million naira, Obi said it is part of his resolve to give recognition to who it is due.

    Besides, 64 of the old Rangers players are being paid monthly allowance by the Governor, while the sick ones are either being flown abroad for treatment or taken care of in Nigeria.

    Obi was represented yesterday in Awka, during the cheque distribution by the state commissioner for information, culture and tourism, Chief Joe-martins Uzodike.

    The Ex-Rangers players were represented by their chairman, Luke Okpala and three other members including, Kenneth Abana, Okwuchukwu Anigbogu and the former long thrower, Nwabueze Nwankwo.

    Rangers international football club was founded by the late Biafran war lord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu immediately after the civil war in 1970.

    According to Obi’s representative, “the gesture is for every former Rangers’ players whether you are from the East, North, West or elsewhere, what the Governor wants is the comfort of the people that brought glory to the state and Nigeria at large.”

    “The sick players were given between 200,000 naira to one million naira each depending on the sickness and the gesture is not new, Obi has been recognizing our heros in this country.

    “Last week also, he gave over two million naira to Anambrarians at the leprosy centre in Oji River, who were rejected by their families and communities.

    “Also, he gave out N5,000 each to the over 2,500 former Biafran soldiers and gave them Ojukwu’s cloths in Enugu State, it has been a consistent gesture to our heros, “Uzodike said.

    Furthermore, Obi recently got an office complex in Enugu for the former Rangers players as their secretariat, where they converge for their meeting, SportingLife gathered yesterday.

    Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the chairman of former Rangers’ players, Luke Okpala commended Obi for what he described as his wonderful gesture.

    He said the former players will never forget in a hurry, and urged other South Eastern Governors to emulate Obi, adding that Rangers won 14 trophies between 1970 -1984.

  • Obi inaugurates judges’ quarters

    Obi inaugurates judges’ quarters

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has inaugurated an ultra-modern residential quarters built for judicial officers at Onitsha.

    It is made up of six five-bedroom duplex buildings with boys’ quarters and gate houses reportedly valued at N242, 913,994.

    The Chief Judge, Justice Peter Umeadi, said the house was the first of its kind since the state was created 22 years ago.

    He said the joy of all Anambra people is that beyond the judiciary, the Governor was working in all sectors.

    For better and quicker dispensation of justice, he said a new Judicial Division was bring created.

    Obi said it was in line with his administration’s strategy of working in all sectors simultaneously for ultimate benefit of the people of the State.

    He said more quarters for the judiciary would be built at Awka, assuring that he would deliver that before leaving office.

    The governor said a functional judiciary was necessary for the peace and order in the society.

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Legal Matters, Mr Alex Ejesieme, praised the governor for the gesture.

     

  • Will Obi endorse Obaze?

    Will Obi endorse Obaze?

    Secretary to Anambra State Government, Oseoloka Obaze, has finally confirmed speculations that he would be contesting the 2014 Anambra governorship race. At a public function recently, the SSG was reported to have disclosed that his desire to succeed Governor Peter Obi is in line with the aspiration of the people of Anambra North Senatorial Zone to produce the next governor of the state. But the big question remains whether Obi would throw his weight behind his trusted aide when crunch time comes.

  • Ifeanyi Ubah dares Obi

    Ifeanyi Ubah dares Obi

    From his body language and comments by his aides, it is obvious that Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, is not disposed to the governorship ambition of controversial businessman, Ifeanyi Ubah. But from all indications, Ubah seems not perturbed by the governor’s position and is forging ahead with preparations for his underground campaign to win the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the general election. Ubah, it was gathered, has been busy in the last few months marketing his candidacy to traditional rulers, opinion leaders, youth and women organisations in the state.

  • Ubah not qualified to judge Obi, says aide

    The Senior Special Assistant to Anambra State Governor Peter Obi on Media and Publicity has called on Nigerians to ignore oil magnate Ifeanyi Ubah’s assessment of Obi’s performance.

    Valentine Obienyem said Ubah was not qualified to pass judgment on Obi.

    Obienyem said it was wrong for Ubah to consign Obi’s achievements to the pages of the newspapers.

    “Yesterday, for example, the governor inspected the on-going Iyiowa-Odekpe Road, Obodoukwu Road at Okpoko and three bridges on the Atani- Ozubulu Road.

    “These projects are there for everybody to see. If Ubah is sure of what he was saying, I challenge him to name one project Obi claimed he has done that he did not do,” Obienyem said.

    The aide said Ubah should tell the people what he would do for them, if elected.

    Obienyem asked: “Let us face it, which Ubah are we even talking about? Is it not the same man who is living at the mercy of injunctions that will not last forever?

    “ It is only in Nigeria that people like him, who should be hiding in shame, will open their mouth and speak unadulterated nonsense.”