Who Owns Baby Nimachi?

His name is Nimachi Ihegboro ( a typical name answered by the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria) This baby's parents (complete black couple) are seen posing with the entire family left. While Nimachi (right) has an Igbo name, everything about him is white, pure white!

Baby Nimachi has two other black siblings who, in no any way, bear resemblance with him.

So, who is the father of the baby? Almost all say Umegboro, who lives in London with his family, couldn't have (ever) been the father.

And our sister Icheoku is not buying the crap that this white kid is a biological child of two black Nigerian parents. Icheoku's contention is is that it is either the mother is not coming forth with the true identity of the baby daddy or there was a callous baby-swap or mix-up at the hospital. Look at her pale-skin, blue eyes and blonde hair and albinos do not possess of this whiteman's characteristics? Also any story of genetics mutation will not sell as buyers do not exist. For now, we wait for a DNA. It seems the only solution to this seeming mystery of our time.

Ekweremadu Under Probe

Apart from a third term ‘ban’, constituents of Enugu West Senatorial District demand an account of stewardship from the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.

Fresh trouble precariously hangs on the beefy neck of the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, in his home state of Enugu like the sword of Damocles.

Apart from a resolution ‘banning’ second-term-serving Mpu-born Senator from further returning to the senate, a section of Ekweremadu’s constituents in Enugu West District have ‘summoned’ him to come forward to render his account of stewardship for his over six years of serving in the senate on their behalf. First elected senator representing Enugu West in 2003, Ekweremadu would be serving out his second-term by the 2011 general elections. (Picture up left is Senator Ekweremadu; immediate right is Sir OAU Onyema, possible replacement to Ekweremadu)

Evidently, the majority of Ekweremadu’s constituents (mainly from Ezeagu and Udi council areas of the state) have, of late, stoutly risen in opposition against his touted third-term ambition in the senate. Awgu, Oji River and Ekweremadu’s Aninri, also, make up the senatorial zone.

In a resolution, dated February 9, 2011, the Ezeagu General Assembly resolved against supporting Ekweremadu for a third term outing in the senate. The resolution, signed by Prince Richard Obiora Ozobu and Chief Charles Nwokike, President and Secretary respectively, among other things, affirms thus: ‘The current senatorial seat for Enugu West senatorial zone which shall fall vacant in 2011 is considered zoned to Ezeagu and Udi for representation in keeping with the known and age-long method of rotation of political offices for the area’.

Ezeagu General Assembly adds that endorsement for second term appointment or election for political office holders representing them should not be automatic, but ‘shall, hence-forth, be based on record of credible performance of the office holder during his first tenure’.

To underscore their seriousness, the Assembly, recently, in a letter signed by Prince Ozobu, dated July 7, 2010, invited Senator Ekweremadu to appear for an interactive session before her on August 7 in Enugu. The interactive session, according to the letter, is meant to offer the senator the opportunity to address his constituents on how he has managed their affairs at upper legislative chambers of this nation.

Specifically, Ekweremadu’s constituents want him to account for his management of all the constituency allowances to the constituents within his period in office. The embattled senator is, also, expected to address the constituents on constituency projects he executed in the council, as well as across the entire senatorial district.

It is worthy of mention, at this junction that this letter for scrutiny was, also, sent out to other elected politicians from the area, including Paul Anikwe, loquacious legislator representing Ezeagu constituency in the state Assembly and Chief Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, representing Ezeagu/ Udi Federal Constituency.

Prince Ozobu laments the alleged insensitivity of some political office holders to the plights of their people, stressing that none of the national assembly members from Enugu West District has ever taken time out to render account of their services to their people over the years.

“We only hear of constituency allowances in the media. We do not feel the impact of these constituency allowances in the zone. We need to know what they (our representatives) are doing at Abuja. It is our constitutional rights to know what our representatives are doing for us”, Ozobu submits.

Ezeagu General Assembly is not alone in her equivocation that there is no third term tenure for any of its elected representatives, Senator Ekweremadu inclusive.
To this effect, the Assembly, in a joint resolution with Udi People’s Assembly, foreclosed any third term outing in the zone for any of their elective officials.

Of course, the position of the Udis is not, in the least, new, as they have been in the vanguard of the struggle for a more competent and humane candidate to take over from Ike Ekweremadu as soon as his second tenure expires 2011.

Apart from his alleged woeful failure in positively impacting on the lives of the constituents of Enugu West, irrespective of the huge constituency allowances at his disposal, Ekweremadu’s constituents continue to accuse him of crash insensitivity to their general wellbeing. It is part of the complaints of the constituents that, rather than deploy the constituency allowances in bettering the lot, he endlessly acquires property running into billions of naira to their detriment.

For instance, the senator stands accused of shunning the Udi Day Celebration which was held at the council’s headquarters on June 5 this year. During the event, all the traditional rulers in Udi land handed over an ‘ofor’ (traditional authority) to Governor Sullivan Chime for his excellent performances in office so far. The monarchs and, indeed, the Udis, similarly, used the opportunity to endorse Chime for a second term in office. But this occasion, as well attended as it was, was snubbed by the invited Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

But will Senator Ekweremadu honor this particular ‘all important’ invitation to appear before his constituents to tell them how he has managed their affairs at the national assembly in these past years?

Although nobody can lay claim to knowing the Mpu-born senator’s mind-set for now, his high-pitched utterances and defiant body language tend to suggest that he is likely to ignore the invitations extended to him from both the Ezeagu General Assembly and Udi People’s Assembly, an organization of his constituents.

This is more so as Ekweremadu, while speaking to journalists in his Enugu palatial home on Saturday July 18, literarily threw due process and courtesy over-board, and declared his intention to run for Enugu West senate slot for a third term. And while countering some of the earlier reports on him by Insider Weekly magazine, Ekweremadu, taking a voyage in self-conceit, dared anyone who thinks he can challenge him at the polls in 2011 to come forward for a political duel.

‘I will run for the senate for the third term in my zone in 2011. Anyone who thinks he can match up with me should pick form let us try’, the Ikeoha reportedly boasted.

As it were, many political analysts have continued to wonder why Ekweremadu, even if he would remain in the senate ‘for ever’, should not have the courtesy to consult with the Governor Chime who is the party’s leader in the state, as well as the entire party leadership before making his intentions known to members of the public.

‘Could this action of his be interpreted to mean that Senator Ekweremadu is bigger than Governor Sullivan Chime, and Enugu state chapter of the PDP as a whole?’ said an agitated constituent.

Yet another constituent opines: ‘The foregoing shows to what extent Senator Ekweremadu insults us as his constituents. Apart from not having any regard and respect for His Excellency, Governor Sullivan Chime, this Deputy Senate President thing has entered Ekweremadu’s head so much that he has no regard for us as a people. How does he think he can just secure another ticket without inputs from us, his constituents? Let’s watch and see!’

Ekweremadu’s constituents simply believe that he is not in the senate to better their lot. Outside the constituency allowances, Ekweremadu, on record, receives a total of N41.581 million (N41.6 million) as salary from the national assembly. His constituents affirm that the senator has never used his elevated position to, even, change the miserable lives of indigenes of his Mpu community, let alone impacting on the lives of constituents from the other parts of the senatorial district.

Little surprise, therefore, that the powerful committee of ‘Friends of Sir OAU Onyema’ have been ceaselessly campaigning for him to come up to challenge the now third-term-seeking Ekweremadu.

‘Friends of Sir OAU Onyema’ describes Ekweremadu as a man with an unquenchable thirst for political power which he ultimately converts to his personal benefits. The group has been campaigning for ‘Onyema for Senate’ since February this year, and has vowed to stop at nothing to get OAU Onyema, a Knight of St. John International (KSJ) installed senate in place of the lack-lustre Senator Ekweremadu.

But unlike Ekweremadu, Onyema, Co-ordinator of Industrial Parks Development in the office of the Governor, is a stickler to due process. Thus Sir Onyema maintains that he is waiting for the nod of his boss, Governor Chime, as well as the endorsement of the PDP leadership in Enugu state to go into the race for the titanic political battle with the largely ‘Abuja’ based Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Findings show that Sir OAU has been subjected to incessant threatening messages since his political friends started mounting pressures for him to run for Enugu West senate seat. Perhaps, to justify the direction such threatening messages have been coming from, Ekweremadu, during his recent media chat, alluded to the fact that most of the campaigns of calumny and publications by Insider Weekly (which, of course, critical on his person) were sponsored by one of his neighbors. But Ekweremadu stopped short of mentioning the name of Sir OAU Onyema as his possible assailant.

On his own part, Onyema denies sponsoring any publication or campaigns of calumny against the Deputy Senate President, even when he (Onyema) advises him (Ekweremadu) to climb down from his Olympian Height and play the game of politics according to its rules, instead of groping in the dark, looking for escape goats.

However, Insider Weekly magazine authoritatively gathered that Ekweremadu’s boasts are traced to his suspected infiltration of Chime government. What this infiltration is aimed at achieving is that some commissioners and political appointees of the Governor were, hitherto, working in concert with him (Ekweremadu) to achieve his third term desire. The magazine learnt that Governor Chime had got a wind of this, and, as a result, carried out a minor cabinet shake-up which sidelined the suspected (bad legs) officials in the scheme of things in his government.

For now, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has a date with history and his constituents come August 7. Will he answer to their calls? Or will he call their bluff? Is it really difficult to render an account of steward for constituents who, actually, have the right to know? Will the Enugu West constituents fold their arms and allow Ekweremadu slight all of them, and eventually move to walk back to the senate unchallenged? Answers to these posers, certainly, lie in the womb of time!

Culled from: Insider Weekly Magazine, Nigeria

Enugu's Hotel of Death

Workers of Hotel Presidential, Enugu, owed several months of salaries and other entitlements, continue to die out of frustration, hunger and starvation.


‘There is no doubt that the Hotel Presidential, Enugu has run out of business and competition in the hospitality industry for a very long time’

The above is an outcry by the impoverished workforce of the hitherto thriving Hotel Presidential, Enugu to Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime. The workers, operating on the platform of ‘All Staff of Hotel Presidential, Enugu’, in a letter to the Governor, dated March 21, 2010, disclosed that they are, at the moment, owed over twelve months salary arrears by Godwin Nomeh management of the hotel. (Picture left shows a Hotel Presidential suite; Right is Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State)

Signatories to the workers’ petition entitled: ‘Save Our Souls’, include Enebechi Jonas, Augustine Obiekwe and Richard Eze. The trio, understandably, signed for and on behalf of other workers of the hotel outfit.

The petition which the suffering workers, equally, addressed to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Barrister Eugene Odo and Chairman of the hotel’s Board of Directors, Sam Onyisi, complains that the management of the hotel has, in the past four years, refused to pay them promotions, leave allowances and service charge, as contained in the company’s conditions of service.

Worst of the situation, according to the working people, is that the hotel management has willfully refused to implement the new salary structure introduced by Chime’s government at his assumption of office way back in 2007. What this means is that while other civil and public servants in the state have been enjoying the minimum wage of N7,000.00 since the Chime era, their Hotel Presidential counterparts go home virtually empty-handed at the end of the month, a situation considered to be sub-human and anti-workers.

‘The core reason for writing this letter titled, ‘Save Our Souls’ is to implore you, Your Excellency, to use your good offices and pressurize the authorities concerned to release and ensure that our arrears of salaries are paid without further delay’, the hungry workers enjoined Governor Chime.

It seems that the greatest casualty being suffered by the workers include intimidation and harassment by the management. Most pathetic of all, many of them have been disengaged without the due process of law because such workers dared demand for their wages. The implication of the foregoing is that, as far as the Hotel’s Board of Directors, led by Sam Onyisi, and the management, headed by Nomeh, is concerned, the universally acclaimed dictum that laborers deserve their wages should go to ‘hell and burn to ashes’.

‘We seize this opportunity to inform you that majority of our staff in the hotel have been retired or forced out of office unjustly for daring to ask for our salaries and allowances. To this effect, so many workers have been forced out of the establishment unjustly without paying them their entitlements’, the aggrieved workers lamented in their petition.

But many indigenes and visitors to Enugu are not new to the pathetic story of Hotel Presidential, Enugu which was established by the Eastern Nigerian government of Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara in the 1960s alongside that of Port-Harcourt, Rivers state. But while the Presidential Hotel, Port-Harcourt makes ‘big’ business and thrives for the comfort of both the staff and people of the state, the proceeds from the-day-to-day running of Hotel Presidential, Enugu continue to swell the personal pockets of few of its management staff.

Part of the information at the disposal of the magazine is that the Hotel recently generated N3.5million from a function held in one of its halls, but this ‘clique’ of managers that runs the outfit sat down in a room and shared out the money to themselves.

And this was in spite of the fact that workers of Hotel have been owed twelve months salary allowances and other entitlements. Is it not intriguing that, despite the efforts of Chime government to pay up salaries of workers of Enugu state before the 25th of every month, workers of Hotel Presidential, Enugu languish in abject poverty and frustration? It is believed that some of the workers have, following the inhuman treatment and degradations, borne out sheer refusal of the hotel’s authorities to pay them their entitlements, died. And the number of these casualties continues to swell by the day.

The remaining workers of the hitherto burbling hotel outfit brimmed with hope when, sometime last year, Chime government appointed the Onyisi Board of Directors to look into its management, but it is yet to be seen what inputs the new management has made to revive the moribund edifice.

The level to which Hotel Presidential, Enugu had, over the years, degenerated is not only embarrassing but tear-evoking. The edifice which, also, used to be a major center of attraction east of the Niger and beyond, is now basically a home for rodents and reptiles, as well as a laughing stock.

Rather than making efforts to make the hotel more profit-oriented so as to pay the workers their entitlements, the management of the hotel appears to be in a fix on how best to run the edifice. While most rooms of the five storey hotel no longer have electricity, the few lighted rooms are, often times, given out to political appointees as guest rooms, a situation which was so common during the past administration in the state. And over the years, there have been serial looting of the hotel’s furniture and other important items under the very eyes of the hotel’s management.

Funny enough, the very few patrons who pay to use any of any of the halls or restaurants of the hotel are, in addition to such payments, always asked to pay for the gas or diesel being used in the hotel’s generating sets. Even at that, some of the functions get interrupted half-way following the dilapidated nature of the generating sets.

Information at the disposal of this magazine shows the disgusting use which the Hotel Presidential, Enugu has been turned into in the recent times. One of such uses is known as ‘short time’ business. This is said to involve some fraudulent staff of the hotel charging non-lodgers certain amounts of money for a short stay inside the hotel rooms with their sex mates. And this practice is said to have become more rampant than it was in the past.

As it were, the workforce of the Hotel seems hopeless over their pitiable situation. Even the appointment of Onyisi-led Board of Directors does not seem to hold any special promises for the staff, as there are no visible signs of things turning around for the better, at least, in few months ahead.

Another nagging problem still being suffered by the Hotel Presidential, Enugu is encroachment into its expansive premises. Over the years, some outfits listed as Niger Foundation Hospital, Rock Family Church and some car servicing and repair firms have dangerously encroached on the premises of the Hotel. Although the state government has made one or two attempts aimed at recovering the lost plots of land, not much seems to have been achieved in this direction.

However, efforts by Insider Weekly Magazine to get the Hotel management to react to the issues making the rounds concerning the Hotel were fruitless. A proposed interview with Godwin Nomeh, General Manager, did not, eventually, hold, as the GM was, on Friday July 9 while Insider Correspondent waited in his office reception, holed up in his office for a certain seeming endless meeting. The magazine remains in possession of more revelations concerning the can of worms in Hotel Presidential, Enugu, and this will be given future treatment.

Oh, can GOD (through Governor Chime) come down to Enugu State to touch the stony hearts of Hotel Presidential management to address the plights of the working people?

Ekweremadu's Home Trouble

Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, is in political quandary in his Enugu state home front, as both his third term senatorial and governorship ambitions crumble.


These are, particularly, trying times for Chief Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President and Senator representing Enugu West District. (Pictures left show Ekweremadu, outgoing senator representing Enugu West District; right down is Sir OAU Onyema, hopeful replacement of Ekweremadu)

Ekweremadu is, at the moment, visibly torn between the Devil and deep blue sea, uncertain of his political future which, to all intents and purposes, is irretrievably hitting the political rock of Enugu state under the firm administration of Barrister Sullivan Iheanacho Chime.

Just last Monday, July 4, the Deputy Senate President received the rudest shock of his life. The occasion was a gala-night organized in honor of the newly elected National Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, by the government of Chime at the Old Governor’s Lodge, located on Abakiliki Road, Enugu.

It is worthy to recall that during the struggle for the post of the PDP national chairmanship position, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu visibly threw his support behind the candidacy of Chief Ozichukwu Chukwu against that Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, his fellow Enugu man. Chief Ozichukwu Chukwu, one-time Vice Chairman of PDP, in the South-East zone, is an an indigene of Imo state.

Ekweremadu’s clear support of Ozichukwu, actually, ran counter to the wishes and aspirations of his Enugu state people who had been lobbying, over the years, for the position to be zoned to them. And it was in response to the outcries of the citizenry that Chime’s government, alongside a few other Wawa irredentists, spent restless days and sleepless nights in Abuja to install Nwodo as National Chairman of PDP. Apart from being the first Executive Governor of Enugu State, Nwodo was, also, the pioneer Secretary of the PDP.

Now that the Deputy Senate President’s candidate (Ozichukwu) did not emerge victorious, political analysts had expected him (Senator Ekweremadu) to retrace his steps and transfer his full support and solidarity to Nwodo, but that did not seem to be the case, at least, during the church reception organized in Nwodo’s honor at the Holy Ghost of Cathedral, Enugu last Sunday, July 3.

Senator Ekweremadu conspicuously shunned the church service, and many read politics into his behavior. It was learnt that his absence at the church service could have been his own way of still protesting the loss of Ozichukwu, his candidate, and the emergence of Nwodo as National boss of his party (PDP).

To some others, Ekweremadu’s later visit to Nwodo’s GRA residence following the deluge of blames and persuasions from his dwindling followership, was nothing but a face-saving devise, and the same impression dogged his subsequent appearance at Nwodo’s grand reception ceremony held at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu. Nwodo’s grand reception, of course, attracted eminent personalities, including Governors across the southeast geopolitical zone.
Perhaps, the snub he (EKweremadu) earlier received from Governor Chime at the Old Government House Lodge venue of the gala-night in honor of Nwodo would have jolted him (Ekweremadu) to the reality of the fact that the political situation of things in Enugu state no longer favor him. Put differently, the Deputy Senate President now seems like a political leper, with the very few that still interact with him doing so from a reasonable distance.

Governor Chime, particularly, at the gala-night, shunned Senator Ekweremadu when he (Ekweremadu) stood up from his seat, moved closer to the Governor and invited him (Chime) to join him in an on-going victory dance at the floor. Other personalities including former governors and senators had, at this point, joined in the merry dance.

Like an episode in an outdated love film, Ekweremadu stretched out his hands for over five minutes, beckoning on Governor Chime to join him in the dance floor, saying: ‘Your Excellency, come now, let’s dance now. Come now, let’s dance’.

The Mpu-born senator even moved closer to pull the Governor by the hands, but Chime neatly folded his hands across his chest while watching the dance of joy which he, alongside other committed few other compatriots, fought out their hearts to ignite for Enugu people, of course, in exclusion of this Deputy Senate President.

The dazed Senator Ekweremadu, who can presently best be described as a political orphan in his home Enugu state, later, (out of his own shame?) moved over to the floor to join in the dance. Of course, his own dance steps became highly feverish and discordant, having been treated with such level of ‘irrelevance’ by the very people he ‘lies’ in Abuja to represent.

Ekweremadu’s argument in supporting Ozichukwu against Nwodo, his Enugu kinsman, appeared to have been born out of his touted claim that the duo were both ‘Ndi Igbo’ who he argued he is entrusted with equal responsibility to protect.

But this reason, as far as the majority is concerned, is as baseless as ever. The truth, some insist, is that Senator Ekweremadu, whose new craze is primitive accumulation of property across Nigeria and beyond, opted to support Ozichukwu because both have worked together for a long time and have developed a lot of ‘winning rapports’.

Thus Ozichukwu, being his man-Friday, would easily create a platform which could offer him his much-sought-after Enugu state governorship ticket in a couple of months to come. And there is no gainsaying the fact that Ozichukwu was willing to be the Deputy Senate President’s tool which he could use to exploit political opportunities in Enugu state to his (Ekweremadu)’s advantages.
Of course, Ekweremadu rightly reckoned that Nwodo would not be such a willing tool to ‘manipulate’ to achieve his political whims and caprices, as Nwodo is, unarguably, noted for his calm, firm and procedural dispositions in handling political matters as they arise. At least, many expect that his political antecedents stand as a testimony to this. Nwodo is largely perceived as a man who sticks to due process, and he is not noted for allowing himself to be coaxed, under any guise, into taking any decision to the detriment of the party in the state and beyond.

It must be pointed out, for the umpteenth time, that the current intractable problem and dilemma of the second-term serving Senator Ike Ekweremadu (popularly known as Ikeoha), actually, started with his ambition to run for the governorship of Enugu state, even when he was yet to make any visible positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of his constituents in Enugu West Senatorial Zone.

Apart from what his critics describe as vaulting ambition of campaigning for the guber position without recourse to the PDP high command in the state, others insist that Ekweremadu, about to serve out two (fruitless) terms in the senate, should step aside for a more competent constituent to mount the saddle.

Sequel to this, Udi people, insisting on equity and fair-play, have called on the other council areas that make up Enugu West Senatorial zone, including Ekwereamdu’s tersely populated and developed Aninri, Awgu, Ezeagu and Oji River respectively to allow them to produce the Senator this time around.

Already, a constituent from Udi Local Government Area, Ogochukwu Agapitus Umunnakwe (OAU), Knight of St. John International (KSJ), is presently under persistent pressures by a circle of his friends cum supporters to run for the senate seat in place of Ekweremadu.
Incidentally, OAU Onyema (Akpaagu Ikenga), Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo (Enugu Chapter) and a tested politician, is yet to throw his hats into the political ring for the senatorial job because he is yet to get required endorsement of his immediate boss, Governor Chime and, of course, that of the PDP high command in the state.

To demonstrate their resolve in ensuring a stop to the perceived ‘lack-lustre’ representation which incumbent Senator Ekweremadu has subjected them to all these years, Sir Onyema’s friends, in a widely circulated booklet in February of this year, vehemently insisted that ‘it is the turn of an Udi man to be given a chance in the senate this time around’.

Of course, the iron cast logic of the Udis, as earlier reported by this magazine, is hinged on the fact that the people have not produced a senator (for Enugu West Senatorial District) for the past 30 years while all their neighboring constituent councils have, either produced twice or thrice. Examples abound.

And although Onyema, a would-be-lawyer, has tried to avoid situations of being thought over ambitious, the calls on him to stand out ‘to be counted’ remain strident.

Having on two occasions now prevented two other groups who came to ‘conscript’ him into the senate race, Onyema, a holder of two masters degrees, one in ‘Corporate Marketing’ and the other in ‘Industrial and Labor Relations’, says he would, in respect of his running for the senate, abide by the dictates of his boss (Governor Chime) and authorities of his party, the PDP.
Onyema, born on September 11, 1967, is presently, the Coordinator, Industrial Parks Development, Office of the Governor, Enugu state. A man of many honors and reputation, Onyema was, formerly, the General Manager of Enugu state owned Ikenga Hotel, Nsukka.
Intriguingly, ‘Friends of Sir OAU Onyema’ has, without recourse to him, continued with the campaign to install him the Senator representing Enugu West District come 2011.

Feelers show that the senate slot of Enugu West District is, for now, vacant, as Ekweremadu seems to have lost the opportunity to return to the seat for a third term. And the same scenario, also, applies to his earlier ambition to challenge the second-term running achievement-loaded Governor Chime. Nobody requires the services of a prophet to decipher that both opportunities have, in broad daylight, slipped off the hands of the Ebony black Deputy Senate President with the current political dispensation.

The reason is not far to fetch. Senator Ekweremadu will simply be unable to contend with the practical legacies the Chime administration is bequeathing to the people of Enugu state in all areas of development, including pipe-borne water, housing and electricity, roads, transport, agriculture and workers’ welfare among others.

Apart from the booklet authored by ‘Friends of Sir OAU Onyema’ which, also, supports Chime for second term in office, there are other eminent personalities who feel that the Governor has ‘surpassed what his predecessor tried to achieve in eight years’.

For instance, to Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, former Governor of old Anambra state: ‘Governor Sullivan Chime has changed the face of Enugu state. People have told me even as I move on, ‘Please whatever you are doing, allow this Governor to stay because we like him, and this is not based on nothing. It is based on the fact that he has performed. Roads are being built, there is calmness, and people can sleep with their eyes closed unlike before. It is no longer fight, fight and violence’.

Even before his death last year, Chief C.C Onoh, another former Governor of old Anambra state, had this to say of Governor Chime: ‘At my old age, Chime has wiped away my tears. Go to Enugu and see what is happening to our roads…’

Even the opposing Senator Ekweremadu cannot afford to sing any discordant tune on Chime’s project driven government. Thus says the Deputy Senate President: ‘The government has done extremely very well. A lot has happened in terms of infrastructure, but I think the greatest achievement for this state is the issue of peace, because there is nothing you can achieve without peace’.

For now, Senator Ekweremadu, although he remains number two man in the nation’s national assembly, continues to swim in the slippery and murky waters of Enugu state politics. Will he swim out of this fast flowing ‘political beach’ safely? Or will he be drowned, nay, submerged in it? Only time will tell.

Culled from Insider

PPA Cries Foul over Ebonyi LG Poll

The Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA in Ebonyi state has cried foul over the just concluded local government election in the 13 local government councils, 215 wards and 1784 polling units in the state where Peoples Democratic Party, PDP swept all the votes cast. (Pix shows Governor Martin Elechi)

Speaking to newsmen shortly after Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission Chairman, Mrs. Adline Idike announced the results and declared PDP winner of the election, the PPA Chairman, Mr. Cyril Obazi said that the election was marred by massive irregularities and violence ranging from kidnapping and other sundry acts against the wishes of the electorate.

Mr. Obazi went ahead to say as against the results earlier announced by EBSIEC that PDP won all the 215 wards that his party, PPA won the councillorship position in Ishimgbo ward 11, adding that despite the kidnap of their candidate by PDP supporters, the party still went ahead to win the ward.

The chairman of the most dreaded opposition party in the state went ahead to accuse EBSIEC of rigging the election in favour of the ruling party, PDP pointing accusing fingers on the commission for manufacturing the results to favour PDP.

“EBSIEC should tell us where they got the results because there was no election in any ward or booth throughout the state, many of our supporters were bundled up and beat up by PDP agents and we took one of the victims to NTA and made official reports to the police”

He also accused the ruling party of catalyzing trouble in Ezza North local government area where he said some of his supporters were infringed series of injuries ranging from matchete cuts and other degrees of injuries.

The party chairman also said that the party recorded another casualty in Ezza South as one woman who according to him is the party faithful was reported kidnapped by unknown gunmen who were reported to be working for PDP.

He accused the ruling party of beating up one woman to coma and went ahead to collect her cell phone on the same day that the election was conducted by the commission.

Meanwhile, apart from PPA that participated in the election, nothing has been heared of the Action Congress AC as the party fielded only two councillorship candidates in one of the local government areas in the state.

Some other prominent opposition political parties in the state like All Progressive Peoples Alliance, APGA and All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP had earlier before the election declared their intention for boycotting the election.

According to the chairman of APGA, Mr. Jerry Obasi, the EBSIEC has lost the trust and integrity to conduct free and fair election in the state, adding that since the commission is biased, the major option left for the party was to boycott the polls.
Also, the Secretary of ANPP had earlier briefed the press and accused the commission of siding PDP and went ahead to announce their withdrawal from participating in the poll.

Culled from: UkpakaReports