The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Orji

  • Aba rally: Organisers demand N10m from Orji

    •’Governor’s action shocking’

    Members of the Nigeria Rescue Missionaries, organisers of the aborted prayer rally in Aba, have demanded a refund of N10 million they claimed to have spent on logistics for the event that never was.

    They also asked for an unreserved apology from the Abia State government.

    The clergymen, who described the last-minute cancellation of the event as shocking and embarrassing, insisted that the meeting was a spiritual gathering and not a political event as insinuated.

    Addressing reporters in Owerri, the National Chairman of the body, Pastor Daniel Jacob, said the group was a religious movement committed to the welfare, peace and unity of the nation through intercessory prayers for the leaders and the nation.

    Quoting from the Holy Bible, the cleric said: “We are God’s messengers sent to rescue the nation through prayers. Our group is not a political movement but a spiritual body. We are clergymen committed to the unity of the nation and good governance.”

    According to him, the choice of Aba as the venue of the prayer was not politically- influenced, but was made because of the low traffic in Abia State.

    “We had planned to hold the event in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. We had even secured a venue before we considered the traffic situation and changed our plans because of our members, who would be coming from the North and other parts of the country. We chose Abia State because it is centrally- located and we chose Aba because of its low traffic,” he said.

    Pastor Jacob said although Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha was invited to be presented with a birthday gift by the group, it was not a political meeting or a guise to launch the All Progressives Congress (APC) as alleged.

    Debunking an allegation that the organisers did not fulfil the requirements to organise such an event, the cleric said the group complied with the rules.

    His words: “The purpose of this news conference is to let the world know the truth. We paid N150,000 for the venue, sent letters to the commissioner of police, the state director of the State Security Service (SSS) and other security agencies. The letters were received and acknowledged.

    “We were shocked when a few hours to the event, we were told by the police that based on an order from above, the event had been cancelled.”

    Pastor Jacob said: “We are demanding that Governor Theodore Orji should refund N10 million to the group and tender an unreserved apology for the embarrassment and pains his government caused us. We are clergymen, we may not do anything as the politicians, but we will leave vengeance to God. “If he has any issue with his colleague, he should not have punished the clergymen in that manner.”

  • Why Orji is angry with Okorocha

    •Governors’ cold war traced to Ikemba’s funeral

    More facts have emerged why all seems not to be well between Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and his Abia State counterpart, Theodore Orji.

    The cordial relationship hitherto enjoyed by the two Southeast governors turned sour after the funeral of the late Biafran leader, Ikemba Odimegwu Ojukwu, it was learnt.

    According to a source, Orji’s animosity towards Okorocha was not unconnected with the treatment he received in Aba when the duo were in the commercial city for one of the funeral processions.

    The source said: “During the lying-in-state of Ojukwu in Aba, the Abia governor, who came in the company of his Imo counterpart, was pelted with sachet (pure) water by the angry traders, who praised Okorocha to the consternation of his colleague.

    “Orji, apparently stunned and angered by the incident, felt uncomfortable that a governor from another state could be more popular than him.

    “Since then, the relationship between the duo has not been cordial, and Orji has done everything to stop Okorocha from taking advantage of his growing popularity to consolidate his political base in his state.”

    Last weekend’s cancellation of Okorocha’s reception in Aba was not the first time the Abia State government aborted an event connected to the Imo State governor, it was also learnt.

    The first was a civic reception to be organised in honour of the governor by Imo State indigenes in Abia State. It was stopped on the excuse that it was an unlawful assembly.

    It was learnt that the plan by Okorocha to entrench the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southeast had also fuelled Orji’s anger against him.

  • Orji inaugurates exco, perm secs

    •Urges them to work hard

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has inaugurated a 24-member executive council (exco).

    He urged them to work hard.

    Speaking in Umuahia, Governor Orji said the state can now move forward and face the challenges of development.

    He said his administration needed the support of all to achieve its aim.

    Orji said the new exco members and permanent secretaries were chosen from the three senatorial districts.

    Said he: “The new commissioners and permanent secretaries were selected because of their integrity. We believe they will justify the confidence reposed in them.”

    The commissioners include nine members of the former exco, among who are Eze Chikamnayo, who returns as the Information commissioner, Monica Philips, Education commissioner and Dr. Okechukwu Ogah, Health commissioner.

    The 15 new commissioners include Emelike Igwe Kalu, Public Utilities and James Kwubiri Okpara, Legal.

    The former exco was dissolved on May 15, after which the list of new commissioners was forwarded to the House of Assembly.

    It contains four women and 20 men. Ten new permanent secretaries were also sworn in.

  • PDP‘ll resolve its crisis, says Orji

    Abia State Governor Theodore Orji yesterday said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will sort out its problems to the disappointment of the opposition.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Ben Onyechere, Orji wondered why “opposition politicians are crying more than the bereaved.”

    Onyechere quoted Orji as saying that “they will be terribly disappointed because the PDP leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, is equipped with the instrumentality of interest aggregation and harmonisation” which he will use to resolve the internal matters of the party.

    He said in politics “what is permanent and paramount is interest which must be devoid of misplaced ambition arrowed to undermine the authority of the president because anybody who wants to be a king must first be subordinate to an existing kingship.

    “The fact that opposition parties are agitated and concerned about the challenges of the PDP is a pointer that they are hinging their future on the expectation that the party may break up.

    “There is random insinuation and instigation from known chronic opposition quarters over matters that are internal to the party.

    “It is laughable that their only manifesto is focusing on misunderstanding among party members which is an indication that they are building on a sandy soil.”

  • ‘Orji’s legacies’ll endure in Abia’

    A lawyer, Okey Ogbonna, has said Governor Theodore Orji’s legacies will endure in Abia State.

    In an interview on the 22nd anniversary of the state’s creation, Ogbonna said the governor has placed the state on a sound footing.

    “Governor Orji’s legacies will endure. He has taken Abia to the next level of development. His vision transcends all sectors. When you consider the state of development in Abia before he took over in 2007, Abia was nowhere in the area of development.

    “He built the International Conference Centre, secretariat, High Court complexes in Aba and Umuahia, restoration of master plan of Aba, dialysis and ophthalmology centres, new health centres and housing estates. So many youths and women have been empowered.

    “The governor has revamped the agricultural sector with his liberation farms and the resuscitation of the palm and rubber estates as well as the distribution of improved seedling and fertilisers to farmers.

    “Orji has blazed the trail by embarking on massive rehabilitation of roads in Aba and Umuahia.”

    Ogbonna, who was a former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, said the governor has lived up to the ideals of the founding fathers.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Reconciliation possible in Governors Forum – Orji

    Reconciliation possible in Governors Forum – Orji

    Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State was one of the governors embroiled in the recent crisis that has torn the Governors Forum apart. Taiwo Ogundipe, Associate Editor and Okwy Iroegbu, Assistant Editor, took him up on this and other issues.

    The recent Governors Forum’s election seems to have polarised the nation’s body polity. Some believe it portends danger for the general elections in 2015. Some observers are saying that people like you who had been pushing the idea of consensus selection should not have taken part in the election that eventually led to the dispute. What does this portend for 2015?

    The point about the issue of the Governors Forum is that we’ve always had consensus candidates. Can you mention to me since the inception of the Governors Forum any one chairman that had emerged by election? It has been concession all along and that is the tradition we wanted to maintain rather than people just emerging from nowhere to spoil the tradition. If it has been concession all along and the Governors Forum has been doing well, why should some people insist there should be election?

    But your faction should have opted out if you strongly believed that?

    We didn’t vote. Go and look into the process of voting they’ve been touting. It’s been concession all along. Anything outside concession is not acceptable to us.

    Is there a possibility of reconciliation?

    Of course, this is politics. Anything is possible. We can work at reconciliation.

    Some observers are of the opinion that the emergence of the APC is a threat to your party, the PDP?

    No, they cannot be a threat to PDP. It’s even the PDP that is a threat to them. APC is coming together as a conglomeration of parties to tackle the PDP because they are afraid of us.

    Are you aware that their coming together makes them bigger?

    Why are they coming together when the constitution allows for many parties? PDP is stronger and will always defeat them in elections. No matter how many of them come together, they will be no match to the PDP.

    Your predecessor in office, Orji Uzor Kalu, has persistently berated your government, what is your response to all of that?

    I’m not interested in what he has been saying or what he would say. I mind my business. He can be saying anything to you people and you believe him. I cannot be interested in what he says. My business is to govern Abia very well and that is what I’m doing.

    Now that you are talking about business, some of your critics believe it is a failure on the part of your government to have allowed a number of the major industries in the state, especially Golden Guinea Breweries and Modern Ceramics to remain moribund till date? What is your reaction to this?

    Modern Ceramics Industry was ceded to the Catholic Church through their business arm known as UCL Resources and Investments Ltd. The state government went into partnership with them to revive the ailing industry. They, at a point, started production but I think they are experiencing some hitches now. Regarding the Golden Guinea Breweries, we are making progress. We have an investor now. What delayed him before now was lack of funds but thankfully he has gotten money and he is Germany bound to get new machines as the machines there are out of use. He wants to replace all the machines. Before 2015, the brewery, one of the legacies left behind by Michael Okpara as the pride of Umuahia in particular and Eastern Nigeria in general, will come back to life. They used to have some popular brands such as Bergerdoff and Eagle Stout. The investor will invest his money and also recoup it in his time.

    Some are of the opinion that you have not paid due attention to the business-minded people of Aba. What is your government doing to encourage the SMEs in Aba?

    Aba is very important to us. It’s only in that town that you will not find somebody who is not unemployed. Every person in the city is in employment. It’s either you are an artisan, trader or you are learning a trade, even the civil servant finds time to try his hand in one business or the other. We are getting more markets for them. For instance, a company known as ABIC is building more markets for them just behind Osisioma Motor Park. There is another market springing up in Ukwa West very close to Aba for wholesale goods, for packaging and exporting. We are also organising them into small cooperatives to enable them access money to help themselves. From time to time, experts are brought in to brush them up on their technique in manufacturing. They are doing very well. What we are concerned with is the brands. We want to ensure that what is made here is as good as in any other place. We are sensitising people to know that what comes from Aba is as good as what comes from Germany and Hong Kong. Our strategy or goal is to proudly say that this product is made in Aba. In Aba, you find experts in wears, leather shoes and bags. We want to expand the town and make the groups of business people into clusters to move the state forward industrially. It’s just like what we have done in the state capital, Umuahia. Our aim is to build industrial towns.

    In spite of these claims, some people still seem to be sceptical of your intentions. How do you want to get them to believe that you mean well for them?

    We are building new markets outside Aba. And by so doing, we are expanding their operational bases. If the one in Osisioma takes off, a lot of people will move from Ariara to that place. And they will form a cluster and build houses around the area. And that is the same thing we are doing in Ukwa and Umuahia to expand the markets . In Umuahia we have built industrial market away from the city. And the place is experiencing real development. We are about relocating the market at the centre of the town on the way to Isuikwuato. And the idea is to drive real development which we are already achieving.

    In Nigeria, people believe a government is performing when they see roads and bridges being constructed. A number of people are agitating that there are no roads being constructed in the state generally. What is your reaction to this?

    It is a fallacy for some people to say that we have not constructed roads in the state. We have done roads in all the senatorial zones; we took it as a policy that every local government must feel our touch. For instance, in Isuikwuato Local Government, we are doing over five major roads. We are doing the Acha Road from Isuikwuato to Afikpo with about three bridges. We took up the contract with the Nigerian Army but we are funding it. We did the Nunya Road. NDDC though is also doing some roads. In Aba, we are doing almost all the roads. In December last year, l gave out contracts for 18 roads to be done, by February, we realised 10 of them. Currently, we have realised all of them. We also did a new road leading into Geometrics where you have the power plant. For us, road construction in Abia is normal and we don’t celebrate it. In any case, building roads is not a legacy project. When I’m talking of legacy projects, I don’t bring in road construction because it is given. We believe in constructing roads where it never existed before. In Umuahia Local Government, for instance, there is a place we call Amaege. The people had never seen a caterpillar before. People used to leave their cars at a distance to walk to the place and its environs. We have built a road for them. We build roads that are essential but neglected.

    How far have you gone with your much-publicised legacy projects? Are you experiencing challenges or success?

    We are doing well with the legacy projects. I’m sure you know why we name them legacy projects? They are projects that will stand the test of time, such as the Secretariat. The first phase is almost completed. The High Court complex is almost ready. We commissioned the Ministry of Justice building a few weeks. The Government House is progressing very well. The International Conference Centre is 80 per cent completed. Our e-Library has reached advanced stage. We are also doing a secretariat for the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs where the traditional chiefs will be accommodated. The governor’s residence has reached an advanced stage.

    What efforts are you making to increase the IGR of the State?

    We are doing very well in terms of our IGR. Our IGR started from N250 million and now it has gone up and we are still working on a further increase.

    Have you not thought of raising bonds like some other state governments are doing?

    I don’t believe in leaving a burden for the person coming after me.

    The issue of ‘baby factories’ is bringing the state into the news in recent times. What steps have you taken to arrest the ugly trend?

    We have taken serious steps to contain the situation. The truth is that where these ‘baby factories’ are germinating now are those cosmopolitan areas like Aba and the environs. When kidnapping started, it was around that area also. The same thing that is also happening now is one of the challenges of urbanisation. Our strategy is to ensure that it is stopped because it is not good for our image.

  • Orji’s harvest of laurels

    One of the supreme ironies of freedom and comfort is the tendency to quickly forget the unbearable conditions and the ugly past that hitherto pervaded the socio-political landscape; which necessitated and triggered emancipation struggles. At the time Governor T.A. Orji took over the reins of governance, Abia was on the bottom rung of the ladder of nation’s politics. The run-of-the-mill performance of his predecessor equally complicated matters.

    A major challenge that faced his administration was the issue of insecurity. Abia’s ugly experience and the fine sense of operational strategies adopted to stem the tide became a cloud with a silver lining. At the peak of the first tenure of Governor T.A. Orji, kidnappings and other violent crimes shook the state to its foundation. Abia hit the headlines as hotbed of heinous crimes.  In fact, well-to-do individuals and top government officials became ready targets for kidnappings. Banks were shut down during the peak of business hours especially in Aba, the commercial nerve-centre. Ostentatious living became a liability. Those who had the means relocated from Aba and Ukwa-Ngwa axis, where the hydra-headed monster loomed large and appeared intractable. Security agencies lost some of their field men who were confronted with assorted and sophisticated weapons of the bandits.

    But the nasty scenario reached a climax when a group of school children were kidnapped on their way to the school in a school bus. As would be expected, the already battered image of the state got messier nationally and internationally. The water-boarding of Abia security apparatus by the bare-faced test of government might occasioned by the abduction of innocent school children prompted a re-jig of security measures.

    Governor Orji acquired over 100 patrol vehicles with modern security and information gadgets, and distributed them to all security formations in the state. In an unprecedented manner, security officials were provided with logistics and mouth-watering motivational packages that boosted their morale in tackling the menace of kidnapping.

    The healthy working relationship between Abia State government and the Federal Government played a key role in restoring normalcy in the troubled zone. The military was drafted to clean up the Augean stables. The barracks long abandoned in Ohafia, a sub-urban area of the state, was renovated by the state government and this brought about a restoration of the military base with a full complement of artillery brigade. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika, who is a son of the soil, collaborated finely with Governor Orji in mobilizing the military to flush out the kidnapping gangsters.

    The flashpoints were cordoned off while the thick forests that served as temporary abode for the kidnappers were ransacked by the courageous men of Nigerian Army. Peace automatically returned to the besieged area as the perpetrators took to their heels. Not leaving anything to chances, strategic points in the state have since been manned with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and combat-ready soldiers and policemen, to contain any threat of resurgence of the violent crimes. Abia has since acquired the status of investors’ haven as its security architecture in now a model.

    The main lesson from Abia State security experience is that with right leadership, agility, rationality, political will and striking of healthy alliances with appropriate institutions, no socio-economic nay political challenge can remain insurmountable. Abia is today showered with encomiums on account of her feat in security tending. It was therefore not surprising that the Security Watch Africa in Ghana festooned Governor Orji with the award of the Best Governor on Security Matters in Nigeria in 2012.

    Interestingly enough, the management of two reputable national media houses, Daily Champion and Daily Independent Newspapers considered and festooned Governor Orji with the awards of Icon of Democracy in 2012 and Man of the Year Award in 2013 respectively.

    The state government runs a tuition-free primary and secondary schools to enable the poor and the vulnerable groups to have access to formal education. The moribund State Scholarship Scheme was also reactivated by Governor Orji to assist brilliant but indigent students in the tertiary institutions at home and abroad. Through the State Youth Empowerment Scheme, Ochendo has equally provided job opportunities for hundreds of idle youths in the transport sector. Hundreds of vehicles (buses and cars) and tricycles are periodically given to the youths across the LGAs without any strings attached. This is besides the monthly payment of N15,000 stipends to about 4500 youths  in the state to cushion the harsh economic challenges of apprenticeship and studentship. In workers friendliness, it is needless to belabour the fact that Governor Orji, at the inception of his government promoted all cadres of workers to the next salary Grade Level and it is on record that Abia State pays the highest minimum wage in the country. But the greatest of these accomplishments is Governor Orji’s rare courage in yanking off the affairs of the state from a tiny cabal that held her by the jugular. Top government officials and political appointees are no longer emasculated with demonic oath-taking to extract subservience needed to service the over-bloated ego of a pocket tyrant with vaulting ambitions.

    Good governance indeed has no borders. Of course, with the sophistication of modern telecommunications that has shrunk our world to a global village, peoples across nations can access information from far places on a shoestring with just a click. Even the Ndigbo in Diaspora (USA) is not left in appreciating the giant strides of the present administration in the State. They gave Governor Orji an Excellence Award in Governance as a result of his pacesetting efforts at rebuilding Abia from the scratch and the preponderance of legacy projects. Abia is today a huge construction site: new office complexes, new government house, gigantic international conference centre, new court halls, e-library complex, new classroom blocks, network of roads, new modern markets and industrial clusters for SMEs and a robust policy of tackling youth unemployment.

    In appraising the modest efforts of the administration in building solid road infrastructure, the Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Works, Hon. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi and his team declared during their oversight visit to Abia that the only standard federal roads in Abia are the ones rehabilitated by Governor Orji. Both the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal had equally commended Ochendo’s visionary leadership when they commissioned the new Amokwe Housing Estate and new office complex for the State Environmental Protection Agency respectively.

    Recently, the National Association of Optometrists gave Governor Orji the award of the Prime Ambassador of Health Care. His policies on health matters attracted the newest honour which include but not limited to the building of 250 primary health centres across the State, the building of Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Centre with seven dialysis machines in Umuahia and Aba, renovation and upgrading of Amachara Specialist Hospital with new structures and doctors quarters; and the erection of nine 100-bed capacity hospitals at strategic locations in the three senatorial zones of the state. The Honourable Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu capped these endeavours by commissioning the new dialysis centre on July 22. The dialysis centre will drastically reduce the huge amount of money spent by Nigerians on medical tourism to India.

    It is indeed the wish of Abians that this momentum of good governance would be sustained to leapfrog the state from the pangs of underdevelopment.

    • Uche, a public affairs analyst wrote in from Isuochi, Abia State.

  • Kalu, Orji renew battle for 2015

    Kalu, Orji renew battle for 2015

    The 2015 governorship election in Abia State is likely to rekindle the battle for political supremacy between the former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and his successor, Theodore Orji, reports Remi Adelowo

    For over four years following his exit from the government house in 2007, former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, practically withdrew from the political scene both in his home state and at the national level.

    His short sabbatical from politics may have been as a result of his personality clash with his former ally and successor, Theodore Orji.

    It was a battle that was fought with the entire arsenal at the disposal of the combatants and their supporters. While the true story to what led to the parting of ways between the two men is yet to be told, what was not in doubt is the fact that the incumbent governor secured a victory over his former boss, who, as governor from 1999 to 2007, dominated the political landscape of Abia like a colossus.

    However, the body language and utterances of Kalu in the last few months seem to suggest that he is back on the scene. Notwithstanding the fierce opposition of some major stakeholders in Abia PDP, including the governor, to Kalu’s return to PDP from the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), which he founded shortly after he left office as governor, Kalu, sources claim, is determined to, once again, put his assumed popularity to test.

    As the 2015 general election draws nearer, The Nation gathered that the former governor has been quietly resuscitating his political structures in order to challenge the incumbent, who, according to sources, is interested in contesting for the senate after the end of his tenure in 2015.

    There are speculations that Kalu is grooming an unnamed candidate to succeed Orji.

    On his part, the incumbent governor has kept his plan on who succeeds him in 2015 close to his chest.

    From all indications, it appears that three forces representing the Presidency, Kalu and Orji will largely determine how the governorship race is decided.

    Until now, the thinking in many quarters is that people of the Ngwa extraction in the state should, for reasons of equity, be allowed to produce the next governor. However, there is another school of thought that are of the opinion that the race should be narrowed to only Ngwa people from the South Senatorial district.

    As the argument goes, no Ngwa aspirant from the the incumbent governor’s area, Abia Central Senatorial district, should throw his hat into the ring.

    While the permutations on which zone should produce the next governor rages on, sources say no fewer than 12 popular politicians are quietly working behind the scene to succeed Orji. They include:

    Senator Nkechi Nwogu

    The incumbent senator appears to be the only woman currently showing interest in the race.

    Nwogu, who represents Abia Central in the red chamber of the National Assembly, is, unarguably, a major force in Abia politics. Before her election into the senate where she is serving her second term, Nwogu contested and won election into the House of Representatives in 2003.

    There are unconfirmed speculations that the incumbent governor and Nwogu have allegedly reached a pact to swap their seats in 2015, even as there are fears that the gender issue, her place of origin and the new zoning formula being canvassed by some interests in the state may not work in her favour.

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe

    That this two-time senator has paid his dues in politics is like stating the obvious. He came into political limelight following his election as deputy governor under Orji Uzor Kalu in 1999.

    But after he fell out with Kalu, Abaribe contested the governorship election against the former on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 but lost.

    Currently the spokesperson of the senate, Abaribe has not hidden his ambition to govern Abia State. In 2007, he wanted to contest for the PDP governorship ticket, but was asked to step down for the anointed candidate of the party leadership and the Presidency, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu.

    Emeka Wogu

    Just like most ministers who are reportedly warming up to contest for the governorship in their respective states, Wogu, the Minister for Labour and Productivity is also allegedly gearing up for the 2015 governorship race.

    One of the most influential ministers in the Presidency, Wogu has been around the political scene since 1999, having represented Abia in the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) before he was appointed as minster by the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

    Chris Akomas

    From Nenu in Obingwa Local Government area of the state, Akomas served as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industries under Orji Kalu.

    He later became the deputy governor of the state under Theodore Oji in 2007, after which he fell out with the governor and contested the 2011 governorship election on the platform of the PPA.

    There are feelers that Akomas is working behind the scene to contest for the exalted position again, but it is not clear if he would be relying on the structures of his political mentor, Orji Kalu, to realise his ambition.

    Prince Paul Ikonne

    If pedigree is the only factor that determines who becomes governor, Paul Ikonne would have won the governorship contest without much fuss.

    A prince of Ngwaland, Paul Ikonne is the son of Eze Isaac Ajuonu Ikonne of Osusu, Aba.

    He served as a Special Assistant to ex-Governor Kalu before he was appointed as a commissioner in the early years of the first tenure of the incumbent governor.

    Ikonne also contested the governorship election in 2011 on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but lost to Theodore Orji.

    He has remained in the party, with sources claiming that the merger of opposition parties under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may boost Ikonne’s chances at the polls in 2015.

    Reagan Ufomba

    Like most big players on the political scene in Abia State today, Ufomba also served under Kalu as a Special Assistant.

    Having failed to win the PDP governorship ticket in 2011, Ufomba left PDP for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) where he was offered the ticket, but still lost in the general elections.

    Believed to be putting structures in place for the 2015 contest, Ufomba’s major handicap is the leadeship crisis in APGA, as he is said to belong to Governor Peter Obi/Maxi Okwu faction of APGA, while most of the party leadership in the state is loyal to the National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh.

    Another factor that may work against him is the fact that he hails from Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government, which falls under Abia Central, the same as the incumbent governor.

    Stanley Ohajuruka

    A former political ally of Orji Uzor Kalu, Ohajuruka is a former Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly and also a former member of the House of Representatives.

    The former speaker was an aspirant in PPA before he defected to the Labour Party (LP) as its governorship candidate in the 2011 elections.

    Though allegedly interested in the 2015 race, it remains unclear which political platform he intends to use to prosecute his campaign.

    Ikechi Emenike

    He hails from Umuahia like the incumbent governor.

    Emenike has contested the governorship election twice in 2003 and 2011 where he gave a good account of himself.

    In 2003, he contested under the ANPP ticket but lost and in 2011, he gave Theodore Orji a scare in the PDP governorship primaries but allegedly lost due to high wire intrigues in the party.

    The grassroots politician, according to sources, has not given up on his desire to rule Abia State and will stake his chances again in 2015.

    With the array of heavyweight politicians in the governorship race, it remains to be seen where the pendulum of victory will swing in 2015.

  • Orji woos Chinese investors

    Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has urged people of the state residing in China to be good ambassadors of both the state and the country.

    In a statement by his chief press secretary, Ugochukwu Emezue, which was made available to journalists in Umuahia, Orji who spoke during a town hall meeting advised them to be law abiding and shun the urge to push hard drugs.

    Orji said that Abians are noted for their integrity, hard work and

    excellence and they should not do anything that would bring shame to the state, stressing that their good and exemplary life style will attract investors to the state.

    He therefore pleaded with those of them who have factories in Gwanzhu and other cities in China to replicate same in Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia, adding that the state has a lot of potentials that are yet to be tapped.

    He assured them of security back home, even as he reeled out his numerous legacy projects.

    The governor assured them of his readiness to return to China in the near future to consolidate the new relationship he established during the visit, adding that he expects them to work extra hard to ensure a smooth sail of his ideas by the time he comes back.

    In a meeting with investors in Beijing, Orji assured them of adequate security, as he wooed them to come and invest in the state and maintained that Abia is one of the safest states in Nigeria.

    Orji told his guests that Abia State is a virgin market for foreign investments in various sectors like oil and gas, housing, education, agriculture, health and tourism, adding that there are limestones to be tapped for building a cement industry.

    The governor informed them of improved security , infrastructure development and tax rebate which were among the incentives for prospective investors, adding that the agility of the state’s workforce and her cordial working relationship with foreigners were other benefits of investing in the state.

    Orji assured them of their health care while in the state with the great milestone the state has recorded in the health sector with the establishment of a world -class diagnostic centre in Umuahia and Aba, which is a product of partnership with a foreign investor.

     

  • Orji: free education still on

    THE Abia State Government has debunked claims that it has canceled its free education programme.

    Governor Theordore Orji, in a statement by his spokesman Ben Onyechere, said the “insinuation” was not true.

    “The insinuation that the Abia State free education policy of Governor Orji has been reversed is the desperate repetition of an old slogan and the habit of those who have severally attempted to constitute a clog in the wheel of progress of Abia State.

    “The youth empowerment programme, which has received massive applause, was also criticised. These detractors claimed that the beneficiaries of the programme were cronies of the governor.

    “If I may ask, are those cronies not citizens of Abia State? We would have been surprised if they had acknowledged the veracity of those programmes in a positive manner,” the statement said.

    The governor said the government was aware that no amount of good work can please detractors, saying he would not be distracted.

    He said: “The government and people of Abia State know that no amount of development can assuage the bitterness of the sworn enemies of the state.

    “This anti-Abia group has been overwhelmed by the level of activities in the state, which they never imagined could be achieved.

    “In any case, no amount of falsehood can distract the present administration because the secret of such criticism has now been exposed,” the statement added.