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Three Killed As INEC HQ In Imo Attacked By Hoodlums

By
Ayodele Oni
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INEC Headquarters in Imo State

By Ayodele Oni

Continued attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), remain unabated as suspected hoodlums in the early hours of Monday attacked and burnt the Imo state headquarters of the Commission.

Report has it that the office, located along Port Harcourt road in Owerri, was besieged by the attackers, who wore Biafra- camouflage uniform around 2.00am.

However, luck ran against some of them as three were gunned down while one other was reportedly captured alive by policemen who rushed to the scene to repel the attack.

The Public Relations Officer, (PRO), of INEC in the state, Chinenye Chijioke-Osuji, confirmed the ugly development saying the attack was said to have happened between 2 am to 3 am Monday.

But She said only the building housing the Election and Political Party Monitoring Liason offices was attacked and part of the main building.

“It happened. You can come and see things for yourself. Not all the offices were attacked but one side was completely down.

“The Election and Political Party Monitoring Liason, building was attacked and part of the main building.”

However, eyewitnesses said the hoodlums, who were in a convoy of more than five vehicles “moved from the Okigwe road shooting sporadically and scaring the residents.”

Vehicles and offices were set ablaze by the hoodlums.

It was further gathered that serious exchange between the hoodlums and policemen who came to repel the attack, led to the death of three of them.

The bodies of the hoodlums were seen lying on the ground alongside Police- recovered arms and ammunition after they were neutralized.

Foreign Trained Doctors Fail Nigeria’s Assessment Test

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN has refused to certify over 400 foreign trained doctors to work in the country.

The doctors, the Council said failed the examination required for certification.

The Council’s Registrar, Dr Tijani told Punch that 439 foreign trained medical and dental candidates failed the test, conducted on November 23 and November 24, 2022, at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

Explaining the breakdown of the two-day test, Sanusi said 916 foreign-trained medical and dental candidates sat for the assessment examination but only 477 candidates passed.

He said 24 candidates sat for the examination in Dentistry, eight passed and 16 failed. 892 candidates sat for the medical examination, 469 passed and 423 failed.

He explained that the assessment examination is a global practice, as no professional is allowed to practise in another jurisdiction without sitting for the examination.

According to him, “It is a global practice that if you train in a particular jurisdiction and you want to go to another jurisdiction, you subject yourself to an assessment examination.

“Even if you are a Professor of Medicine here and you have never practised in the United Kingdom or the United States, when you go in there, you subject yourself to their assessment examination.”

The MDCN assessment examination is compulsory for all foreign-trained doctors who plan to practise in Nigeria.

The MDCN regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry and Alternative Medicine in the country in the most efficient manner that safeguards the best healthcare delivery.

The assessment examination is meant for foreign-trained medical doctors and dental surgeons who want to practise in Nigeria and it tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a healthcare setting.

The examination is to ensure that foreign-trained doctors show themselves capable of practising in Nigeria.

On passing the examination, they are given a provisional licence to practise in Nigeria.

It is this provisional licence medical and dental graduates will use to practise during their one-year housemanship after which they are given a licence of full registration.

Meanwhile, expert in the medical sector insist that the reason why Nigerian doctors are hot cake in the world, is due to the training they received despite the dirt of funding for the sector from the government.

No fewer than 10,000 Nigerian doctors have moved out of the country to seek better working conditions in the United Kingdom, UK, in the last few months, the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, the umbrella body for medical doctors in the country said in October.

Zenith, Others Selected As PLIs For Maritime Fund

By
James Orji
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The federal government has appointed five commercial banks in the country as primary lending institutions, PLIs to disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Funds, CVFF.

The Funds, according to the Director General, Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh, has both naira and dollar components of N16 billion and $350 million, respectively.

The CVFF was set up many years ago to assist indigenous ship owners to acquire world-class vessels for their business but has not been disbursed due to delay on the part of the federal government.

The Buhari administration seems to have now shown readiness to finally make the funds available by approving the selection of the five commercial banks to disburse the multi-million dollar funds to qualified indigenous ship owners, maritime experts say.

Speaking on the development, the Minister of Transportation, Muaza Sambo said Union Bank, Zenith Bank, Polaris Bank, UBA, and Polaris Bank have been approved by President Buhari as PLIs.

Sambo said: “The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has approved my request for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund. It is my belief that finally we are going to break the 17-year-old jinx that has hindered the expansion of the maritime industry.

“We have made a case that the funds belong to you, the ship owners. Mr. President is a man who respects the law and is on the same page with us to proceed with immediate effect. We will be liaising with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to work immediately for the approval.

“We have pledged to the president that they will continue to allow the funds to go into the Treasury Single Account, TSA; however, whenever the money hits the threshold of $50million, the CBN upon recommendation from the Nigerian  Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation, would be expected to transfer the funds to the Primary Lending Institutions.”

NIMASA: Buhari Orders Disbursement Of $350m Cabotage Fund

By
James Orji
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President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the immediate disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, CVFF, to qualified Nigerians as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to grow indigenous capacity of Nigerians to own vessels.

In June this year, the former Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemi Saraki disclosed that the Fund is now over $350 million.

The Minister of Transportation, Engineer Mu’azu Jaji Sambo who made the announcement at a press conference this weekend said that the Presidential approval received by the Ministry on Friday confirmed Union, Zenith, Polaris, UBA, and Jaiz Banks as the appointed Primary Lending Institutions for the disbursement of the funds.

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh, announced that the funds available for disbursement was slightly over ₦16 billion naira and $350 million dollars.

Jamoh said “What we have collected so far is in two folds made up of Naira and Dollar components. So far, the Funds available under the CVFF in naira component is around Sixteen Billion naira (₦‎16,000,000,000:00), while contributions in Dollar component hovers around the Three Hundred and Fifty Million Dollar  mark ($350,000,000:00).

On his part, the Honorable Minister noted that the Ministry of Transportation has commenced liaison with the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, for the implementation.

Sambo said: “The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has approved my request for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund. It is my belief that finally we are going to break the 17-year-old jinx that has hindered the expansion of the maritime industry.

“We have made a case that the funds belong to you, the ship owners. Mr. President is a man who respects the law and is on the same page with us to proceed with immediate effect. We will be liaising with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to work immediately for the approval.

We have pledged to the president that they will continue to allow the funds to go into the Treasury Single Account, TSA; however, whenever the money hits the threshold of $50million, the CBN upon recommendation from the Nigerian  Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Federal Ministry of Transportation, would be expected to transfer the funds to the Primary Lending Institutions.”

The CVFF was established alongside the Nigerian Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, to empower indigenous ship owners to take control of the nation’s coastal and inland shipping business, otherwise known as Cabotage trade. Applicants of the Fund would make an equity contribution of 15 per cent while NIMASA would make an equity contribution of 35 per cent; and 50 per cent would be provided by the banks.

The Imperative Of Igbo Renaissance And Agbaso’s Burden

By
The Source
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Martin Agbaso

By C.C. Akamadu

Historically speaking, Ndigbo are a merit-driven people. By their very nature, opportunism and mediocrity are loudly resented with no apology offered. They are highly intelligent, incredibly industrious and perhaps one of the most competitive races on planet earth. Unlike monarchical societies that can be found on all corners of the African continent, Ndigbo, as authentic republicans, place high premium on individual traits and sterling accomplishments with respect to their leadership recruitment process.

In the precolonial Igbo society, sovereignty and authority resided in the people. Men of impeccable integrity exercised authority, as agents of the people, at different layers of leadership, which included age grade, kindred and nze-na-ozo title holders.

For Ndigbo to consider anyone fit for leadership, such person must possess the requisite integrity with unquestionable commitment to community wellbeing. Such person must also be fairly prosperous and have his wealth acquired through honest and decent means.

It was in keeping with this cherished tradition that Igboland put forward her finest during Nigeria’s struggle for independence. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe led the charge with illustrious Igbo sons like Mazi Mbonu Ojike, Michael Okpara, Akanu Ibiam, Mokwugo Okoye, MCK Ajuluchukwu and Bob Ogbuagu equally at the battlefront. Same set of leaders, alongside their contemporaries from other regions, also dominated the Nigerian leadership firmament upon the departure of our colonial masters in 1960.

The Igboman is proud, courageous, principled and uncompromising. He is neither a hypocrite nor a bootlicker. Rather, he is firm and forthright – part of the reason some Nigerian tribes have, in the treacherous contestation for power in Nigeria, repeatedly accused him of “not knowing how to play politics”!

It took an Igboman to be decorated as “Officer of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E)” by His Majesty King George in 1949, as “Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (K.B.E)” and as “Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.)” by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1951 and 1962 respectively, yet he found the raw nerve to renounce all on matters of principle.

In fact, he didn’t stop there; he went further to drop his English name (Francis). That person was Dr. Akanu Ibiam of truly blessed memory, governor of defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria.

The rain began to beat Ndigbo immediately after the civil war. On account of the horrors of the civil war, the unprecedented devastation that it left behind and with no Marshall Plan in place, Ndigbo were inexorably thrown into a survivalist mode.

The second republic had presented a chance for Ndigbo to reinvent themselves and their land with Dr. Sam Mbakwe superintending over old Imo State as governor and Chief Jim Nwobodo at the helm of affairs in old Enugu State.

This window of self-rediscovery was however shut by the coup plotters that sacked Alhaji Shagari’s government on December 31, 1983. There is no doubt that the prolonged military rule that followed exacerbated the post-civil war identity crisis Ndigbo were enmeshed in, but by far the single greatest tragedy that befell Igboland was the quality of leadership, at the state level, that came with the inauguration of the fourth republic.

For some odd reason, Abia had thrown up Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. Imo installed Chief Achike Udenwa. Anambra and Enugu had Dr. Chinweoke Mbadinuju and Dr. Chimaraoke Nnamani as State Chief Executives respectively while Ebonyi fell under the leadership of Dr. Sam Egwu (who was, in fairness, remarkably more purposeful than his peers). With characters like these saddled with the responsibility of charting a new course for Ndigbo, it was only natural for the rain that started beating Ndigbo in 1970 to come down in torrents…with thunder and lightning, too.

Ever since, things have grown from bad to worse. The seeds of 1999 had since become trees and borne fruits; it is the fruits that have rapidly contaminated the value system of Ndigbo and altered, for ill, their established socio-cultural and behavioural patterns. Truly, leadership is everything. For failing to put their best feet forward in 1999, Igboland is paying heavily that.

This foregoing presents an explanation for the current mood and resolve of Ndigbo – their intelligentsia, clergy, business and professional leaders, traditional institution, market and community leaders as well as town unions – to reverse the trend and return their land to path of glory. Anambra is arguably the leading state in this effort. Since the days of Dr. Chris Ngige as governor, it has not looked back; for neither Mr. Peter Obi nor Chief Willie Obiano went close to the abysmal performance of Dr. Mbadinuju. This is quite commendable.

On its part, Enugu appears to be oscillating power between performance and non-performance with the Chimaroke Nnamani-Sullivan Chime-Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi scenario. Ditto Ebonyi with her Sam Egwu-Martin Elechi-Dave Umahi outlook.

Abia and Imo appear be trapped in a web progressive retrogression. Orji Uzor Kalu and Achike Udenwa were alike in several material respects, and they both handed over power to incompetent successors who sank their respective states deeper into the cesspit of underdevelopment and moral quagmire. That is not all, their present governors have performed worse than their predecessors-in-office, hence the clamour for their forceful political retirement next year through the ballot box.

For Abia, things appear to be looking up with the growing mass appeal Dr. Alex Otti’s governorship aspiration is enjoying. If Dr. Otti triumphs at the poll, it would be hope-rising for Abians who cannot wait to join Anambra in having a renowned economist and seasoned technocrat as its chief executive.

With the prospects of Abia beginning its journey to redemption next year and Ebonyi and Enugu equally having opportunities to craft a great future for themselves by electing the right people as governors, all eyes will be on Imo’s off-season governorship election later 2023. And the big question is: can Imo people muster enough courage to radically depart from their past record of making birds of same plumage governor? They all look alike – especially their profiles. After the unrivaled Chief Sam Mbakwe, the nearest Imo has come to competent and decent leadership, many believe, was in late Engr. Ezekiel Izuogu’s governorship bid and most recently the 2007 spectacular outing of Chief Martin Agbaso – another brilliant economist and man of the people, with a good head on the shoulder. He actually fits the elaborate description of an Igboman above. As the quest for good governance and moral reawakening sweeps across Igboland, the best of Imolites which Chief Agbaso represents are challenged to offer themselves for service, so that this salvation can go round. Imo people deserve a better deal – Run Agbaso Run! A new Ala-Igbo is possible.

Akamadu contributed this piece from Abuja

2023: Wike Asks Nigerians To Condemn Muslim-Muslim Ticket, Retention Of Presidency In The North

By
The Source
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Tinubu-Wike and Atiku

By Charles Igbo

“If Wike is so much against Atiku’s candidacy because Atiku is from the North, why did he desperately lobby to be Atiku’s Running Mate?” – PDP Stakeholder

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has condemned the Presidential tickets of both the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Wike spoke at a Special dedication Church Service for Rivers State PDP candidates at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Porthacourt on Sunday, December 11, 2022.

He said there is no difference between the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC, and that of the PDP which wants another Northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Both of them, he said, should be condemned by the public.

He said it is hypocrisy to condemn the APC ticket of same faith, and not condemn the PDP ticket which seeks to retain the Presidency in the North after Buhari.

He said to sideline the Zoning principle of the PDP, is an insult to the South.

In a release, on his behalf, by his Spokesperson, Kevin Ebiri, after the Service, the Governor, apparently referring to his party,  the PDP, said:

“You play on people’s intelligence. You say Nigeria is not ripe for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I agree. But Nigeria is ripe for Presidency to remain in one Zone? I mean, just look at the insult. You blow hot and cold.

“Most of you just sit there, you don’t ask yourself questions. Somebody continues to sell this type of cheap ideas. You don’t ask the person, ‘I agree with what you are saying, but look at what we are saying here.’

“Your Party wants the Presidency to go to the same Zone where President Muhammadu Buhari is coming from. Who is cheating who?

“It is not now that politics has come, you want to come and tell the Church a different story for your own personal interest. We have to be careful so that the Church is not destroyed because, all of us, for example, we are Anglicans. I will not allow anybody, for his selfish interest, to destroy the Church of Nigeria. I will not allow that.

But many people have  accused Wike of selfishness, and playing to the gallery. They say he is condemning the PDP ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Dr Ifeanyi Okowa because he was not given the Vice Presidential ticket. Asked one PDP high profile member: “If Wike is so much against the President coming from the North, why did he lobby to be Atiku’s running mate? Why did he contest for it? Did he forget Atiku’s Northern origin when he wanted to be his Running mate? Why did he hit the roof when he lost out to Okowa? If he had been given the Vice Presidential ticket, as he desperately wanted, could he have been condemning Atiku’s candidacy? Does Wike think he is talking to fools?”

The Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the APC are Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, both Muslims. Tinubu is from the South and Shettima from the  North. Those of the PDP are Atiku Abubakar a Muslim from the North, and Ifeanyi Okowa, a Christian from the South.

For the records, Wike failed in his bid to be Atiku’s running mate. Since then, he has been waging a war against the ticket.

PDP Crisis: I Have Tried With Wike – Atiku

By
Adesina Soyooye
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Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike

By Adesina Soyooye

Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, said he has done his best in trying to sort out areas of disagreement between him, the Party and the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.

Speaking Sunday, 11th December, at a Town Hall Meeting on Channels Television, Atiku said that the opinion held by not a few members of the public that he had not met with Wike, and not tried to find a solution to the crisis was false.

Contrary to that opinion, Atiku revealed that since the crisis started, he had met, one on one, with Governor Wike five number of times.

He explained that he met with him once in London, twice in Abuja, and twice in Porthacourt.

From all indications, the meetings brought no appreciable solution to the crisis. Therefore, Atiku said he is “waiting for the other side.”

The Presidential candidate did not reveal which “other side” he is waiting for, but over the weekend, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, and the Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, met with one of Wike’s staunch political allies, Samuel Ortom, in a bid to resolve the crisis.

Atiku: “I have met with Wike two times in Abuja, two times in Porthacourt and once in London, personally.”

But it does seem that after each meeting, Wike’s refrain is usually: “I go pepper them.”

Atiku distanced himself from the non-resolution of the crisis, and emphasised: “I am waiting for the other side.”

Wike is the arrow head and leader of five PDP Governors and some other stakeholders who rebelled against the leadership of the Party and its Presidential Candidate when Wike lost both the Presidential and Vice Presidential tickets to Atiku and Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, respectively.

The other Governors working with Wike are: Samuel Ortom, Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, Seyi Makinde, Oyo, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu.

They are asking for the vacation, from office, of the Party’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, for a Southerner, and have vowed not to have anything to do with the National body of the PDP, or its Presidential Candidate.

Aside from blaming Ayu for Wike’s losses, they asked Ayu to keep to the agreement reached, and promise he made before the Presidential Primary, to quit office if a Northerner wins the ticket. They insist that both the National Chairman and the Candidate, cannot come from the Zone, which Wike revealed was, also, Atiku’s promise when he won the Presidential ticket of the Party.

However, Ayu has since shunned the agreement, and insists on his four-year tenure in office. He has the support of the National Executive Council of the Party, its Board of Trustees and Atiku.

Wike and his group, popular as G-5, and now, Integrity Group, have distanced themselves from the activities of the Party at the National level, and vowed to have nothing to do with the Presidential Campaign unless Ayu steps down.

For now, they are in the habit of de-marketing the Party’s Presidential Candidate, in clear anti-party activities.

The PDP seems helpless.

Finally, Atiku Condemns Deborah’s Murder; Cleric Says It Is Political Condemnation

By
Adesina Soyooye
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Deborah Samuel and Atiku Abubakar

By Adesina Soyooye

Seven months after the gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubu, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has, finally, publicly condemned it.

Deborah, a 200 level student of the Federal College of Education, Sokoto, who was of the Christian Faith, was stoned to death, and her body set ablaze, for alleged blasphemy on May 12, 2022.

She was alleged to have expressed concern on a Class Whatsaap Group, over the proliferation of Islamic materials on the Platform, and said she thought it was meant for Class issues only.

That was termed blasphemous, and she was killed on the school premises by some of her Islamic fanatical colleagues.

Her murder, especially, the cruel way she was killed, sparked outrage within and outside the Country. It was strongly condemned by many Countries, including the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Most Nigerian politicians, especially, Presidential Aspirants, feigned deaf and dumb to her murder. But a tweet which condemned Deborah’s murder, appeared on Atiku’s verified Tweeter handle within hours. It read: “There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her murder must be brought to justice.

“My condolences to her family and friends.”

Surprisingly, within 24   hours, Atiku took the post down, claiming that it was posted without his permission. What happened, however, was that Islamic fundamentalists attacked Atiku for the post, and threatened to not vote for him in 2023.

But  the deleted post and his explanation, angered most Christians who accused him of preferring his votes to the life of a young student so cruelly cut down at 22 years.

Since then, Atiku, as did other contestants, neither condemned  Deborah’s murder, nor consoled her family which has, since, been relocated to Porthacourt, Rivers State, by a benevolent Christian Cleric.

But on Sunday, at a Town Hall on Channels Television, Atiku finally condemned Deborah’s murder. He described it as un-Islamic, and posited that there was nowhere in the Holy Qur’an where such a murder was recommended. He said there is a process before it, and Deborah was not given the privilege of that process. He, also, repeated his reason for deleting the post – it did not have his permission, he emphasized.

Atiku on Channels: “I condemned it (the murder). There is nowhere it is said or there is an injunction in the Islamic Faith that you can go and take someone’s life. It has to be through due process.”

However, not a few people dismiss Atiku’s condemnation on Sunday as “medicine after death.”

Asked an angry Christian Cleric who pleaded anonymity because he did not want to get involved in what he called “the politics of Atiku’s silence on Deborah: “Atiku condemns the murder now because he needs Christian votes. Let me assume that the first tweet was not authorized by him, why has he not condemned Deborah’s murder since then. Why did he not re-tweet? Why did it take him seven months to condemn it. I am not impressed.”

Tinubu Will Win Without Support Of The Igbo – APC Chieftain

By
The Source
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Gbazuagu Nweke

By Akinwale Kasali

A Chieftain of the  All Progressives Congress, APC, Gbazuagu Nweke has said that the Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will win even without the support of the Igbo.

Nweke the Coordinator of the Independent Campaign Council of the Tinubu/ Shettima Presidential Campaign, spoke weekend in Enugu at the inauguration of  the State and Local Government Area Coordinators of the Tinubu/ Shettima Independent Campaign Council, by   former Senate President, Ken Nnamani.

According to Gbazuagu: “He (Tinubu) will win even without us (The Igbo), but we won’t be left behind. But we are just complementing his election.”

Inaugurating the ICC, Nnamani said his support for Tinubu is not  to get a Ministerial appointment or other benefits if he (Tinubu) wins the 2023 Presidential Election, rather, he said, his motive of supporting Tinubu is for the benefit of the  South-East Zone.

The former Senate President stressed that it is for the Igbo to use their support for Tinubu in 2023 to build bridges across the country, adding that the Presidential Candidate is set to give the Igbo a sense of belonging.

“I’m not looking for Ministerial position because I have outgrown that. We are doing this in the overall interest of our people.

“Ndigbo are using our support for Tinubu and the APC in 2023 to build bridges across the country,” Nnamani said.

He said the Tinubu/Shettima Independent Campaign Council does not take the place of the APC in Enugu State, explaining that it is an initiative of the Presidential Candidate.

He, therefore, urged the Campaign Councils to ensure that the people of Enugu State understood why they needed to vote for Tinubu and the APC.

“Don’t join issues with people who are resorting to insults. Just concentrate on the goal because this is a very serious business,” he added.

Nnamani was the Senate President under the PDP controlled Federal Government. He decamped to the APC a couple of years after his tenure.

However, he has not been able to make much impact in the South-east or Enugu State politics since then.

Enugu has remained firm in the hands of the PDP.

PDP Crisis Is Product Of Arrogance – Governor Ortom

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has disclosed that the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has to do with arrogance.

Ortom, who is part of the G5 also known as the Integrity Group which has in its camp Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State is calling for the resignation of PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Meeting with Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who is the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council of the party ,Ortom stated  that the meeting was at the instance of his Sokoto counterpart, saying  that arrogance of the Party leadership aggravated the crisis.

He said, “This meeting is at his (Tambuwal) instance. We have discussed quite a number of issues including the division in the PDP; the G-5 which I am a member. He is here principally to see how we can team up and work together as a party.

“I have told him he is welcomed, we are together, we are members of the PDP. But I have said that the leaderdhip of this party has failed to take advantage of the challenges of the party and make it stronger.

“Right from when we held our convention, instead of the leadership deploying its internal dispute resolution mechanism to look at the grievances that arose as a result of the dispute that arose from the primary, no matter how stupid they were, they have failed to do this.

“Rather, it is arrogance, nonchalant attitude; and nobody has cared to reach out to us even when we voiced out that things were not going on well.

“And we have discussed on my opinion on how I think this matter can be resolved. And I believe that as a leader and the DG of the campaign, he would do the needful because I am not alone. Talking to me alone will not solve the problem but reaching out to the others. I believe he will do the needful to pull the party together.”

Tambuwal said that work was in progress towards resolving the crisis.

While stating that dispute was not alien to group or family, Tambuwal stated that efforts were on to ensure that the crisis was resolved.

“Even in our families, we have reasons to disagree and agree, at some other times when you have such disagreement and you come back together, you bond more stronger and wax stronger.

“So, it’s work in progress and we have met several times but we are working to bring everybody together to work for this party. That is the mission of my being here in Makurdi.

“He (Ortom) is a principled person on the issues we are handling and we have had a very strong conversation with him and of course, I will engage with the rest of our colleagues and our leaders to see how best we can come back together as one family and work towards making sure that the PDP come out stronger and win the elections in 2023.”

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