Politics
Council Boss Hails Umahi’s Re-Election
Dr Eni-Uduma Chima, Chairman of Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi has described the re-election of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi as a testimony of his outstanding performance.
Chima made this known at a news conference in Abakaliki on Tuesday.
The council boss said that the landslide victory of Umahi, the Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s election, was a verdict passed by the people.
He congratulated the electorate of Ebonyi for supporting the re-election of the governor, saying that the action was a demonstration of appreciation of what the governor had done in the state during his first term in office.
“The overwhelming votes received by the governor in the election was a demonstration of the people’s love, admiration and appreciation of his laudable achievements in the areas of infrastructure development, human empowerment and agricultural development.
“The performances of the governor in all sectors made the victory swift and total.
“This victory is for continuity of good governance, more infrastructure development and delivery of more democracy dividends to the people,’’ Chima said.
He called on losers in the governorship election to team up with the governor-elect to fast-track development of the state during the second term of the incoming administration.
“In every contest, there must a winner and there must be loser. Losers must be kind enough to accept defeat while winners must be magnanimous in victory.
“The governor has displayed this unique quality of a good leadership by extending hands of fellowship to those that lost in the contest.
“He urged them to place the interest of the state above personal and party considerations and to join hands to develop Ebonyi.
“The governor is open-minded, liberal and will easily bring in opposition politicians who are willing and have something to offer for advancement of good governance in the state.
“The governor will not neglect them on the basis that they are not of the same political party. In fact, toward the end of the electioneering campaign, most opposition candidates from different political parties joined the PDP to support the second term bid.
“Bringing oppositions into the administration will not be out of place; after all they are Ebonyi people before belonging to the political parties,’’ he said.
Chima assured the people that the governor would not abandon infrastructure development projects started in his first tenure.
He said that the governor was bound by his words to complete all projects embarked upon by his government.
“The flyover project at Abomege in Onitcha Local Government Area is a promise made in November 27, 2018, and work has since commenced in the site, moving steadily and speedily.
“For a governor who is running a campaign to have found time to commence fresh project of such gigantic nature shows that he is committed to work.
“Most of the projects are ongoing and will be rounded off because it will be unwise not to complete them.
“The governor is not afraid of embarking on projects that will positively touch on the lives of the people and he is committed to realising the Ebonyi Airport project which is a `pet’ project for him,’’ Chima said.
The council boss said that arguments that workers in the state were being under-paid in terms of salary, were not based on verifiable facts.
He said that workers would continue to enjoy regular monthly salary payments in the second term of the governor.
“Ebonyi workers receive their monthly salaries regularly and the government even pays better than most states including those in the oil-rich Niger Delta states and government is not owing salaries, despite the lean monthly allocation accruing to the state.
Politics
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
Senegalese politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, (44), is set to become the youngest elected leader on the African continent.
While Faye’s main rival, Amadou Ba, from the ruling coalition had said a run-off might happen to determine the winner, at least five of the 19 candidates in the race had issued statements to congratulate Faye as of early Monday.
“For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst case scenario, we will go to a run-off,” Ba, a former Senegalese Prime Minister, had said.
But as Faye’s lead got wider, Ba called to concede victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, BBC quoted a government official to have said.
Faye’s lead had spurred his followers to troop out in celebration on the streets of the capital, Dakar, on Sunday.
Reports revealed that millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal’s fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that triggered violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.
Faye is a Senegalese politician and a former tax inspector, who also served as the General Secretary of dissolved PASTEF.
He contested the highest political position in the West African country in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese voters had a choice among 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Sonko.
The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.
In a country of over 18 million people, 7.3 million people were registered to vote, and about 71 percent voter turnout was recorded, Senegal’s State TV reported.
Politics
Writing Judgment For Presidential Election Tribunal Allegation, FG Arraigns One
The Federal Government has arraigned one Chike Ibezim for allegedly defaming Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Works and Housing.
Ibezim is one of three individuals who alleged that Fashola had written the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ibezim was arraigned on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
The matter is before Bolaji Olajuwon and has been adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”
However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”.
The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.
Politics
Soludo’s Performance Assessment, APGA Tackles LP Chieftain
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has faulted a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Valentine Ozigbo, over his comments that the performance of Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after two years in office, was “not impressive.”
Mr Ozigbo, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 Anambra State governorship election, now a chieftain of the LP, stated during an interactive session with journalists last weekend that he was not impressed about Governor Soludo’s performance and has therefore decided to contest the 2025 governorship election in the state.
He said, “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years, and some of you may be impressed, but I am not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on, and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I am not impressed, and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I am here to share my thoughts with you, what I think, and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I am a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.”
Mr Ozigbo said further, “I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia State will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Peter Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
But reacting to the development in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source on Monday, APGA spokesman, Tony Olisa-Mbeki, dismissed Mr Ozigbo’s utterances, insisting he has nothing to offer the people of the state.
Mr Olisa-Mbeki said, “He is a political stooge. What could he possibly bring in? Last I checked, he only managed Transcorp Hotel. Is that a qualification to be a governor in Anambra State? Soludo runs an inclusive government in Anambra; that is why he holds town hall meetings with different sectors. What other approach to governance is Ozigbo talking about?
“Anambra State governance is not for learners like Ozigbo. Ozigbo can’t even give a good lecture; he would be better suited working as a PA to any governor. Ozigbo’s aspirations in the previous gubernatorial contest in Anambra found him trailing in third place under the banner of the PDP, despite the staunch endorsement from former APGA governor, Peter Obi.
“That alone should tell him that APGA is like an apostle’s creed to Ndi Anambra. However, what reforms could Ozigbo propose? Anambra State, under Governor Soludo’s leadership, is a testament to political and socio-economic ingenuity.”
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