The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Obiano

  • No reason to celebrate Obi as Atiku running mate now, says Obiano

    NAMBRA State government has declared it has no reason to celebrate former governor of the state, Mr Peter Obi, over his nomination as vice presidential candidate by the presidential candidate of the of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. The government explained since the All progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which controls the state has a candidate for the election, it would not go out of its way to celebrate Obi, adding that it would only celebrate the former governor if he emerges victorious during the 2019 presidential election.

    The state governor, Chief Willie Obiano, spoke yesterday in Awka, Anambra State, through his Senior Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief Ifeatu Obi Okoye. It will be recalled that six months after Obi handed over the mantle of leadership to Obiano, the relationship between the duo became strained, leading to the former abandoning APGA for the PDP. Speaking with reporters yesterday in Awka, Obi- Okoye, said there was nothing to celebrate at this stage of the game.,adding that the government would be ready to do that, if the PDP wins. According to the APGA chieftain, “Let’s get something clear, I don’t think Peter’s nomination as VP candidate calls for any congratulatory message. If he becomes the vice president, we will congratulate him. “My party APGA is running for the presidential election against the PDP and we are fielding a candidate who we believe can win the PDP candidate, so we have no reason to celebrate Obi .

    Otherwise, we are saying we have already acknowledged that they will defeat us. “But I want to say as you have mentioned that as someone who is from here, and who is in APGA, that if by any chance Obi becomes a VP, we will congratulate him.For now, we are in the trench, planning how we can win the election for APGA.” Obi –Okoye further said: “You may not believe that we have chances, so also would you not have believed that a footballer would become the president of Liberia, or would you not have believed that the current president of Ghana would have defeated an incumbent. “There are so many factors that will play out in 2019, the ethnic factor, security factor, the lack of governance, the inability of politicians to keep faith with the people.What we should all watch out for is that the election is not rigged.”

    Reacting to the state government’s remark, spokesperson of Obi, Valentine Obienyem, said: “My governor is right. Actually nothing remains to celebrate. If you recall, His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar named Mr. Peter Obi his running mate on the 13th of October, that was about two weeks ago. Thereafter, celebration was universal, from the lowest to serving heads of state worldwide who, not only saw in their combination the magic wand to restore the glory of Nigeria but also expressed their beliefs in them strongly. “If celebration were to be reduced to matter in the physical sense of that which occupies space and was warehoused such that people took their portion from the warehouse and celebrated, by now, nothing shall remain to warrant further celebration. So when somebody says no need to celebrate, he is right. My hope and prayer, in line with the thinking of our governor, is that we all shall celebrate after electoral victory is finally secured by our collective efforts. It shall be victory for Nigerians and all men of goodwill.”

  • APGA: Idemili South stakeholders petition Obiano over candidate imposition

    Aspirants and members of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Idemili South Local Government Area, Anambra have petitioned the party hierarchy over the inconclusive primary for its State Constituency election.

    Their petition was sent to Gov. Willie Obiano, Dr Victor Oye and Chief Norbert Obi, APGA BoT Chairman, National Chairman and Anambra chairman respectively.

    The aspirants, no fewer than five in number led other leaders of the party in the area on a protest held at the state party office and the Government House in Awka on Wednesday.

    In the petition, entitled “Rejection of Hon. Chuka Ezenwunne as our 2019 House of Assembly Candidate — A vote of No Confidence”, called on Obiano to save the party from possible implosion.

    Some of the placards they carried had inscriptions including, “Idemili South rejects imposition’, “Idemili South rejects Ezenwunne” and “Idemili South is APGA” among others.

    Ezenwunne is the current member representing the constituency in Anambra House of Assembly.

    Mr Tony Ezekwelu, who read the resolution of the chapter, said the primary was inconclusive with no winner announced, adding that they were rejecting attempts to impose Ezenwune on the people.

    Ezekwelu said the member had failed to provide leadership for the party in the constituency and that he could not win general election due to poor performance.

    Another aspirant, Mr Ikechukwu Okolo, said a free and credible primary should be held to produce a candidate that would be acceptable to the majority.

    Okolo, who is from Nnobi, urged APGA leadership to hearken to the cries of the people and avoid an imposition that could spell doom for the party in the main election.

    Mr Chukwuka Mbaegbu, Youth Leader of the party in Idemili South, described the primary election as most unfortunate.

    Mbaegbu said if the concerns raised were not addressed, youths in the area would unanimously pull out of the party and join another as they could not work against the collective aspiration of the people.

    “The primary election was pure illegality, only statutory delegates were allowed to vote, ad-hoc delegates were denied voting rights, they did not count the votes.

    “As we speak, we do not know the result of the primary but we heard they have already settled for Ezenwunne,” he said.

    Addressing the protesters, Mr Tony Nwakile, Treasure of APGA in Anambra, said he would transmit their petitions to the appropriate quarters for consideration.

    Nwakile, however, said APGA had not come up with official lists of winners of primary election and advised them to also explore the appeal option.

    Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, Political Adviser to Obiano, appealed to the petitioners to remain calm assuring them that all grievances would be addressed.

    Obi-Okoye said the complaints were important to Obiano as the leader of the party and promised to tell him how the people feel about the situation of the party in their area.

    “I advise we do not make the use of all what we hear on social media, they contain a lot of lies; let us always look at our issues as a family matter.

    “Let us not allow all this to affect our election, the coming election is not about any individual, it is about our party, I thank you for your peaceful protest.

    “I will let the governor know how the aspirants, the stakeholders and the leaders in the constituency feel about the development, whatever it is, we will resolve it as a party.

    “We will resolve all these issues and make sure we find a middle course to enable us win Idemili South and Idemili North,” he said.

    Reacting to the protest against him, Ezenwunne said he was aware of the meeting where the resolution was made but described it as factional.

    He said those who were defeated in an election should be gallant enough to accept defeat; adding that he was not worried about it. (NAN)

  • ‘Obiano wants to take our land’

    Clergy and worshippers of the Anglican Diocese on the Niger, Onitsha, Anambra State, have accused Governor Willie Obiano of collaborating with the Catholic Church to forcefully acquire their land.

    The Church accused Obiano of aiding his church to acquire their land at St Simon’s Bishop Crowther Memorial Church behind the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha (a Catholic cathedral) and of building a high wall round the school with the aim of ceding it to the Catholic Church.

    Worshippers were barred from entering the church on Sunday but yesterday, about 200 priests, 5,000 worshippers and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), defied security presence and entered the St. Simon Bishop Crowther Memorial Church to celebrate Nigeria at 58.

    Rev. Dr Onwuzuligbo, who addressed reporters, said: “We have been worshipping here since 2006 but last week we had a meeting here and three people came in and identified themselves as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), saying they had been asked to come and stay in the Primary School section, and we welcomed them….

    “But we were surprised to see the compound taken over by security men on Sunday morning, who prevented us from entering the compound and worshiping, saying they were carrying out the governor’s orders.

    “This is a religious war against us by the Catholic Church. Whoever is behind preventing us from our place of worship is just playing the script written by the Catholics.

    “They said the governor forbade us from worshipping here, but we wonder how the governor will give such directive in a land that belongs to the Anglican Communion; we know it is the Catholic Church that is using the Onitsha North council chairman and the Governor to intimidate us.”

    But the government, through Obiano’s Chief of Staff, Primus Odili, said: “There was nothing concerning the Catholic and the Anglican in the land; that the land belongs to the Anambra State Government.

    “I was told that some people wanted to build on the land and I sent the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha and Chairman ASUBEB, Chief Olisa Nzemeka, to investigate. They returned with confirmation that a structure is being built there and I had to stop them.”

    The Catholic Church, through the Director of Social Communication Fr. Martin Ukor and Chief Press Secretary to Archbishop Valerian Okeke, Fr. Benjamin Ogbunuko, said: “The Catholic Church has no hand in the land dispute between the government and the Anglican Church.”

  • Obiano to Anambra people in Diaspora: invest in the state

    Anambra State Governor Chief Willie Obiano has urged indigenes in the Diaspora to come home and invest in the state. He said the Department of Diaspora was created to attend to their problems.

    The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Indigenous Arts, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Sally Mbanefo, spoke when Anambrans in Jos visited her.

    She noted that the ‘Akuruouno Initiative’ of the Obiano administration was to enable Anambrans in the Diaspora, especially in the North, to bring back their wealth to help develop the state.

    Mrs. Mbanefo added that Obiano is interested in the wellbeing of the people because of the happenings in Jos and would support them to ensure their safety. She urged them to support and partner the state government to make the state the first choice destination for investors.

    President, Ndi Anambra living in Jos, Comrade Christian Onyejiuwa, said they were very keen to partner the government through the divestment of their investment in the North.

    He added that this would help them contribute their quota in terms of taxes and other revenue for the development of the state. He appealed to the state government to intervene by making land available for genuine investors from Northern Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, wife of the Governor Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano has said every girl-child should be allowed to reach her full potential.

    Mrs Obiano, who spoke at the 2018 national advocacy camp of the Nigerian Girls Guide Association at St Monica’s Ogbunike commended the Nigerian Girls Guide for being the voice against violence to women and children.

    Represented by Mrs. Mbanefo, Mrs Obiano said her mission  was to help young girls and women. She urged the leaders of the movement to raise young girls who are confident in themselves.

    She charged parents to give every child an opportunity to reach their maximum potential especially the girl-child. “This is a good platform for young girls who have undergone or undergoing various forms of violence to utilise and speak out for adequate counseling. I therefore urge every girl child to use opportunity given by the association to learn, be informed and be vigilant against all forms of violence,” she said.

    Earlier, Nigerian Girls Guide Association Chief Commissioner Mrs Maria Sule thanked the government for its commitment, generosity and support to the association, especially in hosting the national camp.

    Mrs Sule stated that the aim of the camp was to raise confident girls who would be strong enough to resist oppression and violence, noting that their focus is to treat issues as it concerns the girl child and young women.

  • Obiano doles out N.3billion to mission schools

    Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano has donated the sum of N357,136,875 to no fewer than 729 mission schools belonging to the Catholic and Anglican churches in the state.

    While N211,168,125m was given for the reconstruction of 433 schools handed over to the Catholic Mission, N145,968,750m was given to to upgrade 296 of infrastructure to schools belonging to the Anglican Church.

    Presenting the cheques at different occasions in the state, Obiano described basic education as fundamental for the complete formation of the child.

    He revealed that the money was given according to the number of schools handed over to the missions, promising sustaintance of the donation to the mission schools throughout the duration of his tenure.

    While commending the churches for the judicious utilization of funds released initially by his government, the governor urged them to focus on schools in the rural places under the present phase,

    “The partnership with the Church in the area of education is yielding the desired result as the funds released have been put to good use.

    “We are also focusing on teacher’s welfare to complement the efforts in infrastructural development,” he said.

    The Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha said the partnership of government with the Church would help the state achieve its vision of availing students in the state globally competitive education.

    The Archbishop and Metropolitan, Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, Most Reverend Valerian Okeke, and the Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Most Reverend Chukwuma, received the cheques on behalf of the Catholic and Anglican churches respectively.

  • ‘Obiano should resolve Nkwo market crisis’

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has been urged to take advantage of the death of foremost industrialist, Chief Ejaimatu Osita Igbokwe, to resolve the dispute surrounding the Auto Spare Parts Market in Nkwo Nnewi.

    The industrialist’s younger brother, Joe Igbokwe, said the deceased developed the multi-million market under a Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) arrangement with the government.

    Igbokwe, who is the spokesman of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the government to resolve the issues concerning the market in honour of the departed ahead of his burial on Friday.

    He recounted how a change of baton stalled ongoing resolution of the dispute between the developer and the government, after the tenure of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.

    The spokesman recalled how the deceased deployed his influence in the service to humanity, especially in the granting of autonomous status for Uruagu and other communities under Mbadinuju’s watch.

    His words: “Chief Ejiamatu fought tooth and nail with others to make Uruagu and others autonomous communities, and secured a certificate of recognition for Uruagu from former Governor of Anambra State, Chinwoke Mbadinuju. He also donated one of his houses as a temporary office.”

    According to him, the dispute would have been resolved by the Mbadinuju administration but for the expiration of his tenure in 2007. He added that the matter has been pending before the Supreme Court.

    He said: “As I write this, there still exists legal disputes between Ejiamatu Igbokwe’s company, the state and local government. I hope his passing will lead to the amicable solution of issues concerning the market.

    “The family wishes that this matter be resolved amicably and whatever that is due to him be released to the children. He has been offered an amount before by Anambra State Government and Chief Ejiamatu Igbokwe rejected it. Let the needful be done now because the family will not want the kids to drag the matter further. Let there be justice now.”

  • Obiano’s media aide found dead

    The Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano has lost one of his aides, Mr Randie Chima.

    Chima, a Senior Special Assistant  to the governor on Media & Documentary, was reportedly found dead in his room on the Nwakpodulu Avenue, Awka, the State capital.

    The deceased was said to be ‘hale and hearty’ as at Friday evening he was last seen.

    A source who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed shock at the sudden death of the deceased.

    “That Randie is gone? It sounds unbelievable. We were together in a relaxation center last Friday evening and he was hale and hearty. The story really came to us as a shock,” he said.

    He described Chima as a good man, saying he exercised almost regularly at Ekwueme Square.

    The Nation gathered that his corpse was found lying on the bed after his room was forced open by his neighbours who did not see him through out the previous day.

    Confirming the story, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed said the  corpse had been deposited at a morgue  for autopsy.

    He said, “There was a report at B Division, Awka that one Randie Chima aged 57 years of Nwakpodulu Avenue and SSA to Anambra State Governor on Audio Visiual Productions slept the previous night and did not open his door the next day.

    “When the door was eventually forced opened after several knocks by his neighbours, his lifeless body was found lying on the bed.

    “Following the report, Police detectives attached to B Division Awka led by the DCO visited the scene, photographed the victim and rushed him to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital,Awka where he was certified dead by a medical doctor.”

    “No marks of violence and no foul play suspected at the moment,” he added.

    Mohammed said investigation has commenced to ascertain circumstances surrounding the  death.

  • PDP to APGA: Obiano is your last governor in Anambra

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State has asked the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to forget about fielding any candidate in the next governorship election in the state.

    The party said the incumbent governor of the state, Willie Obiano would be the last governor the party would produce in the state.

    The leader of PDP reconciliation committee in the state, Mr. Ngozi Agudozi, who stated this yesterday at Nnewi South Council Area of the state during a meeting with different factions of the party, described the state as PDP’s birthright.

    The PDP chieftain regretted the 14-year old internal crisis of the party in the state, which he said APGA took advantage of to wrestle power from the party,  vowing to reclaim it at the expiration of Obiano’s tenure.

    He said, “APGA is like a faction of PDP in Anambra State. Today, they are claiming to have won 21/21 in the last polls which most of them can’t explain how it happened.

    “By the time I am through with this mission, we are going to say bye bye to APGA in Anambra State. I’m not boasting. Obiano will be the last governor of APGA in Anambra State. After Obiano, there won’t be any other APGA governor in Anambra again.

    “Take it from me, this state belongs to us. There is no man, big or small in the state that has not drunk from the milk of PDP.”

  • Obiano orders rescue of flood victim

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has ordered search and rescue operations for the body of Mr. Ugochukwu Ofiaeli, who reportedly drowned in a flash flood at Nnewi.

    The 45-year-old from Egbu-Umuenem, Otolo, Nnewi, was carried away by flood last week on the Okwuani-Ezi Ogwugwu road.

    Obiano, who commiserated with the family, assured them that the government would find the missing person dead or alive.

    According to him, a joint a joint team of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA) brigade, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Ministry of Works would conduct the search.

    He also directed the Ministry of Works to redesign the road and create appropriate water channels to forestall a recurrence.

    The governor also visited the family of Pastor Salvation Samuel of Amawbia community, who lost their 14-year-old daughter, Ebubechukwu, in a flash flood.

    Obiano appealed to residents to exercise caution and restraint at flash flood areas by patiently allowing it to subside, regardless of its size, stressing that it is more profitable to lose time than life.

  • Flood: Obiano urges Fed Govt to pay 2012 victims

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has urged the Federal Government to pay the compensation for victims of 2012 flood disaster in the state.

    The governor regretted that the Federal Government had not responded to the list of persons who lost their means of livelihood in the flood.

    The list was submitted to it six years after the disaster.

    Speaking during a visit of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) delegation on a sensitisation drive in the state over the impending flood as forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), Obiano urged NEMA to facilitate the payment.

    The governor also sought the assistance of the agency to equip the 28 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) centres in the state.

    He added that his administration, through the Ministry of Health, was working on a mechanism for smooth evacuation of persons during the deluge.

    Obiano said: “NEMA should be proactive in its plans towards tackling the impending flood by pre-empting possible challenges and mitigating them as well as developing an early warning system to alert residents of the flood-prone areas on time.”

    NEMA’s Southeast Zonal Coordinator in Enugu, Mr Walson Brandon, said the visit was the fallout from a meeting, four months ago, between NEMA and other critical stakeholders on the flooding in the state.

    He expressed optimism that the visit would enable the parties to map the holding centres to ensure all flood-prone parts of the state were covered.

    SEMA’s Executive Secretary Paul Odenigbo said the holding centres were located at high altitudes in eight local government areas: Ayamelum, Anambra East, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Ogbaru and Awka North.

    He said a new centre was being built by the Federal Government at Nzam in Anambra West.