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Tag: Orji

  • Orji calls for action against pipeline vandals

    Orji calls for action against pipeline vandals

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has urged all stakeholders in the oil industry to unite and synergise in order to bring pipeline vandalism to an end and save the youths from untimely deaths.

    Orji said pipeline vandalism should not be left for the state government to handle, as it needs the efforts of everyone including organisations like the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and pipeline host communities.

    Speaking at the NNPC depot at Osisioma, Aba during an awareness campaign against pipeline vandalism, Orji who was represented by his commissioner for petroleum, Chief Don Ubani said that the pipeline vandalism must be stopped at all cost as it is detrimental to both human and economic activities in the state and country.

    Orji described those who engage in pipeline vandalism as oil thieves and must be so treated, adding that government has directed the security men along the pipeline right of way to shoot at sight anyone found tampering with pipelines. He advised parents to caution their children.

    The governor wondered how any right thinking man should engage in oil pipeline vandalism, “Since every Nigerian is a direct beneficiary of the petroleum industry, as there is oil subsidy in all the products which is not so in other countries that produce oil”.

    He warned that government has never looked the other way since the reactivation of the Aba depot, as it has always been at the vanguard of ensuring that all those who have been found to be involved in the tampering of the pipeline despite their position in the system have been transferred out of the state.

    Orji said, “Since the state government with the help of the federal government reactivated the Aba depot of the NNPC, we have never left them to be on their own. Our eyes are there always and those who have been found to be involved or intending to be involved have always been transferred out through the instrumentality of the state government”.

    The governor however urged the marketers to stop buying products from those who engage in the acts of pipeline vandalism and that the tanker drivers should also stop hauling such products for the vandals because when they cannot find buyers they will stop the evil act.

    He said, “If the marketers stop buying such illegal products and the tanker drivers stop lifting such illegal products, it is one of the ways to stop the issue of pipeline vandalism, since if they do not get buyers they will stop vandalising the pipelines”.

    Earlier in his address, the depot manager Engr Emma Mgbakiri said that the pipeline is the only sure way to transport petroleum products from the refinery in Port Harcourt to any part of the country, adding that it is a shame that people are vandalising the pipeline for their selfish gains.

    Mgbakiri said that the vandalising of the pipeline has caused many youths to die in the process, while many farm lands and their produce have been destroyed because of the acts of the evil men, adding that food scarcity is as a result of pipeline vandals which cause environmental degradation.

    He said that the issue of pipeline vandalism should be taken seriously as those who break the pipes only take a little while the larger quantities are allowed to waste away to the detriment of the larger society and the host community.

    The NNPC Aba depot manager said, “The act of breaking the pipeline could be likened to a man taken a little from the pipe after which he will leave the pipe open and the larger quantity will flow into the farms, destroying farm produce, water and the soil which will take over 20 years to repair.

    He urged the youths to try and engage in other ventures apart from pipeline vandalism, stressing that farming which is more lucrative than stealing oil will help them to engage other people instead breaking pipeline which could lead to their early death.

    In his speech the Public Relations Officer of Aba Independent Petroleum Markets Association of Nigeria, [IPMAN] Simple Nwankpa urged NNPC to provide welfare packages for the youths who have been protecting the pipeline before the coming of the military.

    Nwankpa said that it is one of the ways to keep the youths away from the pipeline, “You cannot take away the source of livelihood of the youths from them without providing them an alternative else they will go after the pipeline.”

  • Abia PDP too strong to lose, says Orji

    Abia PDP too strong to lose, says Orji

    Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has affirmed the Peoples Democratic Party’s strength in the state in the run-up to its national mini-convention at which it will ratify the party’s national chairman, Adamu Mua’azu.

    Speaking with newsmen in Umuahia his return from a caucus meeting of the party in Abuja, Orji said the party is still the one to beat in the coming general elections next year.

    Orji who has been a member of the PDP caucus said that the discussed the issue of the forth coming national convention where it is expected that the position of the national chairman will be ratified and the plans for the forthcoming elections will be unveiled.

    The governor said that there is need for the ratification of Mu’azu as the PDP national chairman since his short tenure has brought peace to the party and reconciliation has been ongoing, “Therefore ratifying his office will strengthen the party and bring more confidence to the members”.

    He said that since the new national chairman assumed office, “There has been absolute peace and harmony in the party, as he has been carrying everyone along and the confidence of the party members has returned, thereby making the party stronger”.

    Orji, who was bestowed with the honour as the agric governor of the year by AgricExpos West Africa, said that the award was given to him during the agric exposition where agricultural produce of the state and other states were exhibited.

    The governor said that the award made him to be a proud Abian and more determined to improve on the agricultural production of the state, stressing that the state is blessed with many agricultural produce.

    He maintained that his administration is poised to bring back all the native foods that are being neglected, pointing out that such foods which, “Our people need such farm produce which has been neglected as they are better and good to the body, as our fore fathers lived longer on such food stuff”.

    Orji said that his government has done well for the people of the state especially as it concerns agriculture, stressing that a lot of people have been empowered through the liberation farms that have been established all over the state.

    The governor said that he is following the footsteps of President Goodluck Jonathan in the agricultural agenda, as Mr President has stopped the issue of fertilizer scandal which has tended to destroy the agriculture sector.

    He said that the President has done well in the agriculture sector through the introduction of dry farming and approved the sum of N1 billion to be given to farmers, adding that such move will help to increase food production and security.

  • Orji and job opportunities in Abia

    Phony claim is one unattractive phenomenon that has been established in the country by persons with distasteful character, which invariably contributes to the lacklustre situation the citizens have found themselves.

    This scenery of making bogus claims where none perhaps exists is one feature that can be seen in the Abia State Governor, Theodore Ahamefule Orji.

    Just recently, the governor audaciously informed the world that he would make sure that his ‘transformation agenda’ for the state is completed before he leaves office in 2015, even though that he had accepted that about 80% of the population in the state are jobless.

    In an interview with a national paper April 05 2014, the governor brazenly said: “Employment by government is not easy because the fund is not there. So, providing employment through government agencies like the civil service is very limited. A lot of people are unemployed; if you go through government agencies, it will only take a limited number of youths but then they have to live and they have to move forward.”

    While Gov. Orji is still using feint perhaps in order to mislead the suspecting and unsuspecting peoples of Abia State and, by extension the entire Nigerian populace, it would behove on the masses to note that Abia State is one state affirmed in the country that has refused to manage its huge Federal Allocation amounting to N54b annually; Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) estimated at N48b naira annually and, N64b collected from the federal account between January and December 2012. This money has been collected by the Abia State government.

    Analysts have said that this implies that the state has garnered more money in the year 2013 to 2014. Such allocations as Excess Crude Account, Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), Domestic Crude Account, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refund and foreign exchange discrepancies for oil producing states are not accounted for.

    An account by one ASOPADEC Chairman, Mr. Samuel Nwogu, had revealed: “The Commission derives its funding from the 13 per cent derivation. If Abia State gets 13 per cent, the law permits the state government to give ASOPADEC 30 per cent of the derivation fund. So it is with this 30 per cent from the derivation fund that the Commission did all we have achieved since 2010. From inception, the governor directed the Ministry of Finance to release our funds as at when due because it is statutory.”

    It is certain today that the governor is boasting of making kidnapping disappear in the state. He had told newsmen that his critics and political opponents thought that it would not be easy. What is amiss is that with the skill and level the governor said that he had made kidnapping to disappear from the state, he could not make unemployment to disappear from the state as well, even upon the huge funds that the state grabs monthly and annually.

     

    By Odimegwu Onwumere,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

     

  • Community leader petitions Orji on Arochukwu road

    Community leader petitions Orji on Arochukwu road

    A community leader in Ohafia in Imo State, Chief Onwuka Ukwa has reacted to government’s attacks on him on the stae of Arochukwu/Ohafia Road. The government had said Ukwa was not competent to comment on the road which he described as the “worst” in Nigeria.

    But Ukwa said the attack did not bother him, adding “if that will make them fix the road, let them continue abusing me. The issue of that road goes beyond party politics. As a native of the area, I am entitled to my opinion because my people have suffered untold hardship because of that road,” Onwuka insisted.

    He said no amount of intimidation would make him prevent him from commenting on the road until the Federal Government thinks it right to fix it by awarding the contract to a reputable construction company.

    While saying that he would not join issues with the government of Abia State, he, nonetheless, wrote to Governor Theodore Orji complaining that the attacks on him were unnecessary and uncalled for. The letter which was made available to our correspondent reads:

    “Your Excellency, my governor, you know me very well, but consistently addressed me during your press conference as one Onwuka Ukwa of APGA. In my usual character, I will not display such disrespect to your person and office.

    Your Excellency, Governor T. A. Orji, your persistent vicious attacks on my person suggests there are really more the public and the two communities need to know about Ohafia-Arochukwu federal road.

    “Your Excellency, Governor T. A. Orji, I pleaded with you privately that I elected not to respond publicly to the unwarranted assault and attack on my person and APGA for an innocent appeal Chief Onwuka Ukwa made to the Federal Government and President Goodluck Jonathan for urgent rehabilitation of a totally collapsed Federal Road (Ohafia-Arochukwu Road).

    “Among the reasons I gave was my respect for your person and the office you represent as my governor. I equally pleaded with you that I never in that interview in The Nation Newspaper of Thursday,  February 27;  2014.

    Pages 34 and 35) mentioned Governor T. A. Orji or Abia State Government any where. So, I could not, in any way, have offended you Sir, or your government.

    “Despite my pleadings, cruel and vicious attacks continued to be unleashed on my person. The attacks were sustained for four days by Abia State government radio and rounded up by falsehood reported on the matter the Vanguard Newspapers publication of Tuesday, March 4, 2014 page 57) and Network news.

    “Why are you so determined to inject yourself and your state government into the matter is difficult to understand. My call for urgent rehabilitation of a collapsed federal road was to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Federal Government. Nowhere in my appeal was Governor T. A. Orji or Abia State government mentioned.

    “Under the circumstance, it is only natural that I must correct the lies being heaped on my person.

    1. ”In my interview, I asked Mr. President to send his Vice Namadi Sambo to travel by road not by air on Ohafia-Arochukwu federal road and also to return by road to experience the untold hardship the two communities (Ohafia and Arochukwu) have been subjected to for some years. On his return to Abuja, he will then report to the President about the true position of the road. I also described a journey on that federal road as a trip to hell, because I have personally experienced it. Everything I said in the interview was put in quotes. So, it is easily verifiable. Nowhere in my entire comment did I mention the name of Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji or Abia State Government.

    “The governor, at a press conference, said I am not competent to speak about the road. My Governor, Chief Onwuka Ukwa is eminently qualified and very competent to speak on Ohafia-Arochukwu Federal Road. Let me repeat, it is a totally collapsed federal road. Once again, I humbly appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan for his immediate attention, to enable the road to be rehabilitated.

    2. ”The governor, in his press conference, also referred to me as a liability to APGA. Chief Onwuka Ukwa is one of the proud founding fathers of APGA, an eminent member of Board of Trustees (BOT) of APGA, and the Deputy National Chairman-South who raised the hand of Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji at Michael Okpara Auditorium when he sought temporary refuge in APGA from PPA. Temporary occupants of Government Houses must stop using it as a platform for abusing and harassing citizens.

    3. ”I am also alleged to have said the governor will not rehabilitate Ohafia- Arochukwu Road because it is a federal road. This is a very unintelligent fabrication. Will I be calling on the Federal Government to come and rehabilitate their road, then turn around to blame the state governor when I know he has nothing to do with it? The governor claims he spent four hundred million Naira on that federal road.

    “He should go and claim it back from the Federal Government like other governors do when they spent money on federal projects. It is not a big deal. The Vanguard Newspaper publication is pure lies.

    Let me take this opportunity to alert President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Inspector-General of Police, Chief of Army Staff and Director-General State Security Service that some of our governors have their children terrorising innocent civilians with police and soldiers like Mexican Bandidos (Thugs), particularly in Abia State. This is not what democracy is all about. Mr. Governor, if you see Abia as Republic of Abia with you as the imperial ruler, sir, I don’t exactly see it the same way. Abia remains Abia State under a democratic Republic of Nigeria where people have the freedom to air their views. Abia State will never be turned into a personal family property of anyone.

    Ohafia-Arochukwu Road is not a political party affair. A bad road cannot tell who is PDP, APGA or APC. We must, as a community, encourage the rehabilitation of the road. If all it will take to rehabilitate the road is the abuse of my person, please abuse me, but rehabilitate the road and other roads.

    Thank you my governor and good friend.”

    Reacting on the letter, Governor Orji, through text message to Chief Onwuka Ukwa, said: “I still insist that you are not competent to make comment about the road.”

    Speaking with our reporter in his office in Umuahia, Orji said he had never said that he would not work on that road as he had been working on that road since he assumed office despite the road being a federal road.

    Governor Orji described Chief Ukwa as an inconsequential person and a man who has nothing to show as a member of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) who is out to deceive the people of Arochukwu who have been praising his effort and that of the Federal Government in ensuring that the road is motorable.

    The governor said: “The statement credited to Ukwa is a mischievous one with the aim of causing trouble between the state government and the Federal Government. However, I am happy the people of Ohafia and Arochukwu know better.”

    Orji said he had been worried over the state of the road when he travelled to Ututu to see their traditional ruler.

    “When I saw the state of the road, I told the people of that area openly that though it is federal road that I was going to work on the road to ease their pains”.

    He said he immediately mobilised a contractor to start a maintenance work on the road, stressing that it was the maintenance work on that road that made the people to have access to their homes before the Federal Government came into the scene.”

    The governor further said he had so far expended the sum of N400m on that road through a contractor known as New Idea.

    “You are living in this state and you are free to go and ask the contractor for the papers and how he was given the work and how much he had received.”

    Governor Orji also said with the level of work he did on that federal road before the Federal government started work, “I wonder how Ukwa who hardly comes home to his village in Ohafia will claim that I said I will not work on that road.”

    He said he had been working on several Federal Government roads in the state and an apostle of working on roads in the state whether federal or state, “since I know that my people are the ones who use such roads in the state”.

    The governor maintained that that there is nothing on earth that will stop him from working for the people of the state irrespective of their political leaning, “so long as I have the resources to do such work that will benefit the people of the state.”

    Orji said he had visited the office of the Federal Government contractor handling the Ohafia/Arochukwu Road to know why progress of work on that road is slow.

    He therefore said he had been appealing to the contractor to speed up work on that road for the benefit of the people of that area who have suffered neglect for several years.

  • Traders endorse Orji for Senate

    Traders endorse Orji for Senate

    Traders in Abia State have endorsed the governor, Chief Theodore Orji, for the Senate seat of Abia Central Senatorial zone and urged other intending contestants in the state to shelve their ambition for another period.

    The traders, who came in their numbers to Government House in Umuahia and were received by the governor, said that the governor has done well and deserve to go to the Senate to represent the interest of the people of his area.

    Speaking during the endorsement, the president of Abia State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association [ASMATA], Christian Nwaubani, said that the record of the governor speaks volume and therefore deserves

    all the support he could get to get to the Senate.

    Nwaubani enumerated the achievements of the governor for the traders to include building of new markets and rehabilitation of the existing ones, adding that no one can forget the wonderful way he tackled the security challenges in the state.

    He thanked the governor for reducing taxes for traders in all markets from N6000 to N3600 per annum.

    “This wonderful gesture from you will allow traders the opportunity do better and we assure you that we are going to pay all the approved taxes without any delay”.

    Receiving the traders, Governor Orji challenged them to invest in him and his party, the PDP, saying that from the much he has been able to do for the traders and the state that it shows that his party and him are their best bet to invest in.

    Orji, who was overwhelmed by the mammoth crowd, said that it is not easy for traders to appreciate anyone  and, “For traders in the state to appreciate me and endorse me shows that I have done well and I assure you people of the state that I will keep doing well till I leave office”.

    He said further : “What I am doing for traders in the state is what I would have done for my dear mother who was a big time trader, but unfortunately she is not alive for me to appreciate her.

    “Therefore what I am doing to both female and male traders in the state is what I should have done for her as they are now my mothers and fathers”.

    The governor said that he had built three new markets in the state capital to give the traders the opportunity to express themselves, stressing that two new markets are coming up in Aba, the commercial city of the state.

    Orji used the occasion to charge the traders in Aba and its environs to ignore the rumour making the rounds that the state government wants to demolish markets in that city, saying that instead of demolishing that he is busy building more because of the commercial nature of the city.

    He said that the greatest legacy he will be leaving for residents of the state is security of life and property through stopping of kidnappings and other violent crimes in the state, saying “My intention is to combat crimes until it is totally wiped out from our state”.

  • Orji has no hiding place

    The truth about the government of Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji of Abia State can only be bent, but cannot be broken. The government has interest, but it is self-seeking. The government is a menace and a punishment to our people.

    The problem with the government is that it has no shame. Those involved in the government know better how to christen white black, because of their self-aggrandisement.

    Honestly, what the governor counts as an achievement is to lead a protest to Abuja, asking the PDP national chairman to avoid the governor who was in office before him. This is indignity, even when the government in Abia State has no dignity for its shameful attributes. The government is prejudiced, gluttonous and arrogant.

    Many of our people are jobless and impoverished. The government has created a better job for its foot soldiers in the area of praise-singing. They are doing this for survival in its entirety. They use both malicious and arbitrary languages to pass their mischievous praises against opposing views.

    Because Gov. Orji knows that he has no hiding place, as a result, he has resulted to creating a ‘constitution’ that would forbid his predecessor from attaining his political orgasm.

    One thing remains sacrosanct: Gov. Orji is one politician who is swallowing the political future of many and at the same time saying that he is laying a new foundation for Abia people. Just with such little power as governor, we have seen what he has become – King and Emperor.

    On this background, Abia State has been celebrating its obituary and many people are sending in their condolences for the untimely death of the state that was caused by our ‘Legacy Project’ Governor Orji. The present government is a monumental failure laced with monumental mediocre-workers. Abia people are weeping for the death of the state.

    Let the governor know that there is always a payback time. He should think of how he has put our state into motion without action. He should understand and accept the fact that his predecessor he is always haunting has been confirmed as a better governor when he was in power than him. Was it not only in Abia State that a sitting governor would mount on state media during festivals, luring our people to come and collect gifts and, therefore, using faceless groups to extol himself when he already knew that he has no virtue and value in the eyes of our people and other Nigerians?

    What is remaining in Abia State is for the dead to also endorse our governor, because of his penchant for recognition. Our people are yearning to be free from this slavery.

    Odimegwu Onwumere,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Gang up against Jonathan, PDP will fail – Orji

    Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State said the current political gang up against Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan, ahead of the 2015 general elections would not succeed.

    Orji said this when he interacted with newsmen on the political manoeuvres by some past leaders to stop Jonathan’s second term presidential ambition in Umuahia on Friday.

    “There will be gang up but they will never succeed. The president remained focused,’’ he said.

    He explained that the party was getting stronger and stronger; there was a lot of re-engineering presently going on in the party.

    Orji expressed the hope that defectors from the party would soon return, adding that new members would also join the party.

    The governor commended the resignation of the former National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and described it as patriotic and a sacrifice to move the party forward.

    He also commended the immediate past Chief of Army staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, for serving the nation meritoriously.

    Orji said that the president had the prerogative to re-engineer his service chiefs ahead of 2015.

    “President Jonathan has done the right thing, we are nearing election and he has to put his house in order. The president has the prerogative to appoint whoever he likes,’’ he said.

     

  • Orji presents N26.94b supplementary budget

    Orji presents N26.94b supplementary budget

    Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State yesterday presented a supplementary budget of N26.94 billion for the 2013 fiscal year to the House of Assembly.

    The figure brings the state’s total budget to N160.09 billion for the 2013 fiscal year.

    The assembly had approved N134.14 billion as the 2013 budget.

    Mr. Chidiebere Nwoke, the Majority Leader, who presented the supplementary budget, said the additional figure would enable the government to complete ongoing projects.

    He said the government had embarked on legacy projects, noting that the support of the lawmakers would serve as an impetus to the governor.

    Seconding the motion, Mr. Martins Azubuike (PDP-Isiala Ngwa North) appealed to his colleagues to key into the vision of the governor by accelerating the passage of the budget.

    Azubuike, who is the chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, said mega projects being done by the governor were closing the development gaps in Abia.

    He urged the lawmakers to support the bill.

    The supplementary budget later passed through its first and second readings and was referred to the Committee on Appropriation for further legislative work.

    The Assembly has summoned Mr. Ukeh Kalu, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, to appear before it on December 9.

    The invitation, according to the Assembly, is for Kalu to throw more light on the appointment of officials of the state’s multi-door court house.

    Mr. Ikedi Ezekwesiri (PDP-Umunneochi), who moved the motion, told the Assembly that the commissioner did not follow due process and that he even ignored the earlier directive of the Assembly on the matter.

  • Orji donates buses to six institutions

    Orji donates buses to six institutions

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has rewarded students of the six institutions based in the state with six 30-seater luxury buses for their good conducts.

    Governor Orji premised his gesture on the absence of student’s unrest since the he mounted the saddle.

    The institutions include the Federal Government-owned Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike and five others owned by the state. They include: Abia State University, Uturu; Abia Poly; and College of Health Technology, both in Aba; College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu; and Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba.

    Speaking in Umuahia at the handing over of the buses, Orji said the buses are to be handed over to the various governing boards of the respective institutions for proper management. He urged them to make good use of the vehicles for the benefit of the students.

    He said the nine outstanding buses with the inscription: ‘Free School Shuttle,’ are mandated to transport school children across primary and secondary schools in the state free, and will be managed by a committee headed by Anthony Osuwa.

    He recalled that in 2007 when his administration came into Office, he introduced the free school buses for both pupils and students of the state, and therefore decided to increase the fleet to accommodate more students due to the increase in school enrolment in the state.

    He directed that five of the free school buses should operate in the

    state capital while four will be deployed to the commercial city of Aba for the use of the students in that part of the state. He added that the nine new buses will add to the already existing fleet.

    Orji described his administration as transparent and visionary, stressing that he cannot afford to toy with the welfare of the pupils and students of the state, as they have done the state proud in various national competitions in different parts of the federation.

    He said: “It is part of this administration’s gift to such institutions and to appreciate the Federal Government for bringing such institutions to our state.”

    Responding on behalf of other benefiting institutions, the Rector of Abia Polytechnic, Alwell Onukaogu said the new buses would help ease transportation problems being faced by students and pupils daily.

  • Who succeeds Orji in Abia?

    Who succeeds Orji in Abia?

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji will complete his second term  in 2015. Correspondent UGOCHUKWU UGOJI-EKE writes on the succession battle in the state chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Six years ago, Abia State Governor Theodore Orji succeeded his former boss, Chief Orji Kalu, against all odds. He was in detention when he won the governorship election. In two years, he will face the same challenge of succession. The resolution of the challenge, observers contend, will be crucial to his post-2015 political calculations.

    Since the state was created, Abia North District has monopolised the number one seat. The first governor, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, hails from Uburu in the present day Ebonyi State. The second governor, Dr. Kalu, hails from Uburu, Bende Local Government. Orji, a native of Ibeku Kingdom, served him as the Chief of Staff.

    Following the protracted feud between Kalu and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the former governor defected from the PDP to the Progressive Peoples Party (PPA), on which platform Orji was elected. But when crisis broke out between Kalu and Orji, the latter defected to the PDP. Although Kalu has also returned to the PDP, the crisis between them has not abated. Today, in Abia State, the internal opposition leader in the ruling PDP is the former governor.

    Both Kalu and Orji are from the Bende Division. Therefore, as agreed by the founding fathers of the state, power should rotate to the Old Aba Division, which is the Ngwa/Ukwa axis.

    Party sources said that Orji is interested in implementing the rotational agreement between the Old Aba and Bende. However, there are some hurdles to cross. Despite the fact that the governor had assured the people of old Aba division that a man from that area will succeed him, some politicians from the South are still itching to succeed the governor. Their argument is that, when Kalu and Orji were struggling to become governors, the people of the Bende Division also showed interest in the race.

    The governor has insisted on the previous agreement. At a recent meeting with the traditional rulers from Isiala Ngwa, Orji said: “Mark my words, the people of Abia South are going to produce the next governor of the state”.

    The assurance has become a tonic for the PDP chiefs from the Abia South. Traditional rulers from the zone have also added their voice. The Umuola Egbelu monarch, Eze Love Wogu, called on the political parties zone the governorship to the district in the interest of equity, justice and fair play. He said there is no shortage of competent politicians to fill the slot. Eze Wogu said that it will be wrong for the position to go to another district in 2015, urging the Ukwa/Ngwa people to also put their house in order.

    The monarch said that the leaders of the area will back any candidate from the zone. “So long as he or she comes from Ukwa/Ngwa area, we are ready to back the candidate”, he maintained.

    The traditional ruler recalled that the state had subscribed to “a charter of equity” as its guiding principle, which says that elective positions would be shared between the old Aba and old Bende, adding that the charter must be obeyed in the interest of political stability.

    Eze Wogu said that, since the creation of the state 22 years ago, the people of Old Bende have ruled the state. “Therefore, it is expedient that power should rotate to Ukwa/Ngwa for the political stability of the state”, he stressed.

    The monarch praised the governor for endorsing power shift. He said that courage is rare in politics, urging him to maintain that integrity till the end of his tenure. The state has two blocs, the old Bende and old Aba, and not the senatorial zones. This issue of senatorial zones should be discarded. The Ukwa/Ngwa people should be allowed to compete for the post of the governor. The people of the old Aba are one happy family”, he said.

    On whether the zone can agree on a consensus candidate, Eze Wogu said that decision cannot be taken by traditional rulers. “But, it is the right of the political parties to do that through their primaries or congress and not the people or the Ezes”, he added.

    He noted that the governor had already made a promise to his people that he would want the governor of Ukwa/Ngwa extraction to succeed him, “We are expecting the governor to fulfill his promise to this group of people, as a promise is like a debt, which must be paid”, Eze Wogu said.

    The traditional ruler said that as the people of Ukwa/Ngwa clamour for power shift, they should also remain dedicated to the struggle for the creation of Aba State. He said, if the new state is created, there will be a balanced equilibrium among the six geo-political zones.

    So far, six governorship aspirants are on the track. Although they have not openly declared their intention, they are holding consultations with the stakeholders. They have been visiting home more regularly in recent times. All of them are from the old Aba Division. They are Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator Nkechi Nwogu, Chris Nkwonta, Labour and Productivity Minister Emeka Wogu, Acho Nwakanma, and F. Nwoso, a lawyer. Others may still join the race next year.

    Nwoso is an experienced lawyer and friend of the governor. He has handed some legal briefs for the PDP. Many party chieftains admire him for his humility and dedication to the PDP cause. But, he is not perceived as a politician in the real sense of the word.

    Wogu is a popular politician and he enjoys intimacy with the governor. He also seems to have political structure. But his close associates denied his ambition, saying that he prefer to focus on his ministerial job for now.

    Abaribe has a good profile. In the Senate, he is not a bench warmer. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media.

    Nwogu is an Amazon. She has the supporters of the women and youths. She also has a grassroots appeal.

    Nwakanma is a former deputy governor. He also close to the governor.

    However, a source said that, since Orji will want to remain relevant in the state after his tenure, he may support a candidate, who will do his bidding, defend his legacies; a candidate who will accord him the respect of a leader. However, many people fear that this may not be possible because permanent political loyalty is a scare commodity in Abia politics.