Politics
Enugu Assembly To Blacklist Erring Contractors
The Enugu State House of Assembly Committee on Works, has vowed to blacklist contractors, sabotaging the efforts and good intentions of the State Government.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Chima Obieze said this in Enugu last Saturday, when the committee visited Igboeze North and South Local Government Areas of the state, as part of its quarterly oversight function.
Obieze expressed sadness that some contractors would spend years in a job that should last for just six months.
While visiting the site for the construction of two Magistrates Court buildings at Igboeze North LGA, the committee noted with disdain, the slow pace of work at the site being handled by Audi contractors.
Obieze complained that in the five sites belonging to the same contracting firm, the story is still same.
He said the committee would do the needful to ensure the house get the list of erring contractors and by a resolution, pass a no confidence vote where necessary.
The chairman said the house would write the governor, the executive council and the Ministry of Works, naming the firms that are no longer needed to continue to work for the state.
Obieze said that the committee was satisfied with all the state government projects in Igboeze South, apart from one road contract that is being handled by Fenotex Construction Company.
In his remark, the Executive Chairman of the Igboeze South LGA, Mr Fidelis Odo, commended the committee for its dedication to duty even under heavy rain.
Odo extended his gratitude to Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the wonderful job he is doing across the LGAs.
He said that the governor has embarked on numerous road and other developmental projects in LGAs.
Politics
LP Crisis: Ex-NWC Member Dumps Dumps Abure Faction
Mr Ojukwu, who recently returned to the interim National Working Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, noted that the party had 34 elected members in the House of Representatives, eight Senators, and 80 members at the state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections.
“Now we lost all of them,” he said. “I don’t think we have as many as five members in the National Assembly.”
The former national officer of the LP talked to journalists in Abuja and said he chose to join the caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi-Usman because they are now the officially recognized leaders of the Party.
“I chose to work with the caretaker committee to help save the Labour Party, for the benefit of the party. I also want to use this chance to ask my colleagues at the national, state, and local government levels to come together and help rebuild our party.
“Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So I’ll reach out to all my friends in the other group to get together and work on making this party stronger again.
“The caretaker committee has formed a reconciliation committee. Let’s come together and talk so that we can restore the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”
Mr Ojukwu, who was part of the Julius Abure’s group, said there are no more factions in the LP.
He added, “There is a court ruling, and since it is valid, the right people are in the correct positions.”
He urged Barr Abure and others to drop the legal cases they have filed because they are not helping the party.
“Litigations are killing political parties”, he said. “They’ve seen many political parties disappear because of legal battles, and the Labor Party is losing support every day, which makes me feel sad.”
Mr Ojukwu said he did not think joining the Senator Nenadi-Usman’s NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group, describing himself as “the oxygen” of that faction.
“I’m with this group because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed,” he added.
