News
Town Union Election: Enugu Community Accuses Commissioner Of Bias
SummitNews gathered that Commissioner Ogbodo has unilaterally slated Saturday, December 14, 2024 as the date of election-by-delegates, which the incumbent Executive and most people in Awhum firmly charged as strange and foreign to the Awhum Town Union Constitution of 1985.
Their Constitution, they said, states, in Section 28, that “election shall be by raising of hands at the assembly of the General Assembly or standing in line behind candidates of choice of each member/voter.”
They wondered where Mr. Ogbodo was bringing his election-by-delegates from since their Constitution had a position which had run from time immemorial or about the era before the Nigeria – Biafra war and the 1970s.
The problem of the incumbent Executive of Awhum Town Central Union, started in early July this year when it formerly wrote and notified the Ministry of impending end-of-tenure on September 15, 2024.
According to the President General, Comrade Ralph Ochubelu, “the letter notifying the government was to first raise awareness on the approach of end of tenure, and secondly for a date to be fixed and announced for new elections before the expiration of tenure.”
The Ministry, our Correspondent gathered, had formally received the memo, stamped and acknowledged it, but strangely, this memo soon got missing until an alarm was raised.
The incumbent Executive and members of the Community soon developed fears that something unbecoming was being hatched as there was still no word from the Ministry.
Their fears were confirmed, September 4, when the Commissioner summoned the PG; members of his Executive Council; Chairmen of Village Assemblies and some stakeholders and, from the blues, announced that he had powers to set up a “Caretaker Committee” or appoint a “Sole Administrator” for the Community.
It was gathered that he was challenged there by one of the stakeholders, an Ex-Commissioner, who told him that he was departing from the path of peace if he allowed some manipulators to lead him into such thing as the Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator.
“There is no emergency, whatsoever, to warrant a Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator. The tenure of the present Executive is still running and even if it exceeds by a few weeks, it was not going to be the first, as the immediate past administration had nine months in excess of the tenure. The one before that ran for two extra years. So, why the hurry to talk about Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator?”
The former Commissioner was said to have firmly stated that only crisis or breakdown in law and order would necessitate the appointment of Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator, and none of such was in place.
The Commissioner then asked members of the Community to go back to the village and await his announcement on radio. This, the Community felt, was unusual. It was never this way. Much as they had in the past encountered attempts by officials of government to help Candidates in Town Union elections, as elsewhere, this appeared pointing in a scary direction.
Unsettled by this development, the P.G, his Executives and some stakeholders quickly retained the services of BackBond Law Firm, which promptly outlined the legal implications of the Commissioner, and reasons for him to intervene.
Commissioner Ogbodo soon called the Town Executives and stakeholders to announce that the Governor had directed that an election be conducted, according to the Constitution of the Town Union.
He announced the setting up of an Electoral Committee, and named the Members, without the input of the Community, except those for whom he appeared to be working for, to install a Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator.
In the words of the Deputy President General, Comrade Okey Ngwuagu, he, Commissioner Ogbodo just “announced an Electoral Committee, all by himself, without reference to the Community or their leaders, himself not being from the Community” but believed to be manipulated by some minority elements who are scared of general elections.
He set November 9, 2024 as the date of Election but his Electoral Committee moved it to November 16, without informing the Community.
Our Correspondent gathered that this election produced less than 10 percent of expected results as voting was held only for the office of the P. G, largely due to what one resident described as the “incompetence of Ogbodo’s Electoral Committee and seeming connivance of the officials of the Ministry, on ground.”
“Counting of votes was not well-coordinated,” a Ministry source disclosed.
According to the source, Chairman of the Electoral Committee, a said Mr. James Ugbor, “started the counting from the four and half lines formed by the supporters of the incumbent PG, Comrade Ochubeku, in favour of whom he recorded and announced 671 heads/votes.”
In the case of the opponent, Mr. Okey Okolo, he was observed to be lax with measures to control the crowd or prevent double appearance on the line, “and that was what finally marred the election. People were caught on camera voting multiple times. Some were seen using fuel and other chemicals to remove the ink-marks on their fingers so that they voted again and again. From the two and half lines formed by Okolo’s supporters, the Electoral Committee scored him 633 votes/heads.
Election into that post alone, against several experiences in the past, lasted over seven hours.
Yet, strangely, Commissioner Ogbodo refused to announce Comrade Ochubelu (the incumbent PG) the winner.
Rather, the Commissioner refused any further communications with the Community.
He was also reported to have ignored all the letters written by various lawyers, asking him to act quickly to stem any unbecoming development from his seeming curious interest in installing a Caretaker Committee or Sole Administrator in the Community; or to be guided by the Constitution of the Community in question before he embarked on his “strange” election-by-delegates.
“He ignored all,” our correspondent gathered.
President of the town’s Youth Association, Prince Tyla Onoduenyi, last Saturday, led a demonstration of the youths in the old Nkwo market square, where they sang their disapproval of the Election-by-Delegates, amid brandishing of placards.
He said, “Elections in the Town Union Executive Councils are always by general elections where voters stand in line/s behind their preferred candidates where they were counted, ever so since the 1970s or before, till date.”
The placards bore such wording as “Delegates Election is strange to our Constitution,” “We have never heard of such election before”, “Who will select the delegates?” “By what criteria would the delegates be selected?” “Commissioner do not bring confusion into Awhum”, “It is General Election or Nothing”.
But what has suddenly made a quiet, sleepy community as Awhum so attractive to the Honoruable Commissioner and officials of his Ministry to throw every caution to the wind to interfere in election of mere Executives of the Town Union?
Sources attribute this development to deft moves of operatives of mineral explorers in the vicinity who are said to be ever discomforted with independent locality administrators wherever they operate, except they are their puppets.
However, there is no evidence to back up this claim.
Other sources believe that these interferences arose from the absence of, and the tussle for, the vacant stool of the traditional ruler (Igwe) of the Community. MmThe last Igwe passed away in June of 2018, and the incumbent Town Union Executive Council had almost completed the process of a new one emerging, having narrowed it to one candidate following the withdrawal of one of the two frontrunners.
Some members of the Community, especially believed to have had stints in government are said to be opposed to the 1976 Igweship Constitution of the town already published in Government Gazette of 2010, and which amendment can only be undertaken “if approval by the Governor is first had and obtained.”
Hon. Chief Kevin Tobias Chukwu, the NDC candidate for the Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has called on Nigerian leaders to rediscover the country by spending their vacations and leisure time within Nigeria.
Chukwu made the call while reacting to former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s position that Nigerian presidents should spend their vacations in the country.
He said the issue should be viewed beyond partisan politics, arguing that leaders must demonstrate confidence in Nigeria if they expect citizens and investors to do the same.
According to him, frequent foreign vacations by political leaders send the wrong message to Nigerians, particularly when the government continues to encourage citizens to invest in the domestic economy.
“We cannot continue to export our wealth and import our enjoyment while asking Nigerians to believe in Nigeria,” he said.
Chukwu suggested that a president could choose to spend holidays in tourist destinations such as Obudu, Yankari, Lagos, Enugu, Ebonyi, Plateau and Akwa Ibom, among others.
He said such visits would boost local businesses, including hotels, restaurants, transport operators, farmers, artisans and other small businesses, while also increasing public confidence in Nigeria’s tourism potential.
The NDC candidate also highlighted the security implications, saying a president who can comfortably spend time in different parts of the country would send a strong signal about the safety and viability of those areas.
“This should go beyond Peter Obi and beyond party politics. It is about a new culture of leadership,” Chukwu said.
He added: “If we truly want Nigerians to believe in Nigeria, those who lead Nigeria must demonstrate that belief themselves. Charity, they say, begins at home.”
The Director of the Enugu State Fire and Rescue Service, Chief Okwudili Ohaa, has said the swift mobilisation of emergency resources by Governor Peter Mbah led to the rescue of five occupants trapped in a collapsed building in Enugu metropolis.
The uncompleted four-storey building, located along Ogbaru Street, by Alvan Ikokwu Street, Independence Layout, Enugu, collapsed in the early hours of Sunday.
Ohaa told newsmen on Sunday that all five occupants of the building, as confirmed by the security guard on duty, were successfully rescued.
Ohaa
He said four of the occupants were rescued alive and conscious, although they sustained injuries, while the fifth person was rescued unconscious.
Ohaa commended Governor Mbah for his swift mobilisation of emergency response agencies, including the Red Cross, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Enugu State Ambulance Services, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Other agencies and organisations at the scene included the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA) and a Chinese construction company, which provided four heavy-duty cranes.
According to Ohaa, the governor alerted him about the incident early Sunday morning, prompting the immediate mobilisation of officers of the Enugu State Fire and Rescue Service to the scene with extrication equipment.
“His Excellency, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, must be commended for also mobilising adequate rescue equipment such as heavy-duty cranes, bulldozers and excavators, which ensured the rescue of the five persons,” he said.
Ohaa explained that rescue officers initially relied on information from the security guard to determine how many people were trapped in the building.
“As rescue officers, what we did was to ask the security man how many people were here. He said there were supposed to be six. One person had left before it happened.
“So, we were able at that initial time to rescue four persons. Out of the four, two sustained minor injuries and they were all rushed to a health facility for proper checks,” he said.
The Chief Fire and Rescue Officer said the fifth person was eventually recovered unconscious and taken to a health facility by the Enugu State Ambulance Services.
The NEMA Information Officer in Enugu, Mr Nnanyelugo Ezeani, also confirmed that five people were rescued.
He said the situation could have been worse because the state government had earlier sealed the construction site.
“One person among the six residing in the collapsed building was not on the site at the time of the incident, while five others were rescued and taken to the hospital,” Ezeani said.
Speaking on the incident, the Executive Chairman of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA), Mr Uche Anya, described the developer as one of those who failed to comply with building regulations.
Anya said the ECTDA had earlier taken regulatory action by sealing the site, which was originally approved in 2021.
“This property was approved in 2021 before the advent of this administration. But usually, we have a habit of stocktaking and checking on every construction at every stage.
“When I personally led the team that inspected here, we found out that there were serious integrity issues and non-compliance with their 2021 approval.
“I personally issued the first ‘stop-work order,’ which, due to the violation, resulted in our sealing the place over the last six months outrightly.
“So, I think within the last 30 to 40 days, the representative of the owner, whom they say lives abroad, has been interfacing with us to remedy the situation. This is the process that we are still trying to interface on, and it came down.”
Anya added that he had handed the owner’s representative over to the police to assist with the investigation.
“This is really a very unfortunate situation,” he said.
A four-storey building under construction in Enugu has collapsed, killing at least one person and trapping several construction workers beneath the rubble.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at the uncompleted structure, reportedly being developed as a hotel, causing panic among residents and passersby.
According to authorities, six workers were believed to have been sleeping inside the building when it collapsed. Four workers have so far been rescued, while the body of one victim has been recovered.
Authorities said one of the six workers reportedly left the site shortly before the collapse, raising hopes that fewer people may be trapped beneath the debris than initially feared.
The rescued workers were taken to the Enugu State Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Emergency responders, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Red Cross Society, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority and the police, are participating in the rescue operation.
The cause of the collapse has not yet been established, while rescue efforts continue at the scene.
The member representing Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chinedu Ogah, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to investigate the financial activities and source of wealth of socialite and businessman, Paschal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest.
Ogah, who is Chairman of the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions, made the call on Thursday at a press conference in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
The lawmaker said the businessman’s financial dealings should be subjected to scrutiny regardless of his public profile.
“I am urging the EFCC to thoroughly investigate him, investigate his bank accounts, investigate all the things he does,” Ogah said.
He also accused Cubana Chief Priest of undermining President Bola Tinubu’s political fortunes in the South-East ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Ogah questioned the socialite’s claim to political influence in Ebonyi State and challenged him to make his membership card of the All Progressives Congress (APC) public.
The lawmaker further criticised recent comments attributed to Cubana Chief Priest on social media in which he reportedly called for the resignation of Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru.
Ogah demanded that the comments be withdrawn and followed by an apology, warning that legal action could be taken if the businessman failed to comply.
“Who is Cubana Chief Priest? What is his address that gives him the impetus to speak against our governor, the most performing governor in Nigeria?” he asked.
According to Ogah, Cubana Chief Priest had no electoral mandate to speak on behalf of Ebonyi State or demand the resignation of its elected governor.
He also questioned the businessman’s political influence, noting that he had previously contested an election in Imo State but failed to secure the party’s primary ticket.
Ogah alleges plot against Nwifuru
The lawmaker further alleged that unnamed political actors were sponsoring campaigns aimed at discrediting the Nwifuru administration and weakening the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.
He defended the state’s security architecture, particularly the Commissioner of Police, Hope Okafor, against what he described as an orchestrated campaign for her removal.
Ogah urged the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS) and other relevant agencies to investigate those behind the alleged campaign and determine whether any law had been breached.
“All of us can attest to the peace and security we enjoy in Ebonyi State. The Army, the police, the Civil Defence and the DSS are doing marvellously well in Ebonyi State,” he said.
Lawmaker accuses Otu of mobilising protesters
Ogah also accused another critic of the state government, Charles Otu, of allegedly mobilising people from outside Ebonyi State to participate in a protest against the government in Abuja.
He claimed that some of those involved were presented as Ebonyians despite allegedly coming from other states.
Ogah said his lawyers had previously petitioned the DSS over allegations involving Otu and urged the agency to investigate the matter.
He also challenged Otu to substantiate allegations he allegedly made against him during an appearance on Arise Television.
“My own is that whosoever defaults the law, we take it legally. I cannot mention who I have not known. But when we get there, it is for the security agencies to investigate,” Ogah said.
Ogah lists Nwifuru’s achievements
Defending the Nwifuru administration, Ogah cited the state government’s scholarship programmes, school construction, road projects and other development initiatives as evidence of the governor’s performance.
He said hundreds of Ebonyi indigenes had benefited from postgraduate scholarships in Nigeria and abroad, while roads and schools were being constructed across the state’s 13 local government areas.
Ogah also praised Nwifuru for what he described as political tolerance, saying opposition parties had been allowed to operate freely in the state.
He argued that the people of Ebonyi should determine their political leadership through the ballot rather than through media campaigns and protests.
“Ebonyi people will choose who is their leader. They should stop using the media to castigate the governor,” he said.
Questions Nwifuru’s omission from Tinubu campaign council
The lawmaker also questioned the reported omission of Governor Nwifuru from President Tinubu’s campaign council, describing it as an error that should be corrected.
“How can a governor that has done much in APC not be included in the campaign council? How can a governor that is elected under the APC not be included?” Ogah queried.
He maintained that Nwifuru’s political influence and the APC’s electoral performance in Ebonyi made him an important stakeholder in Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.
Ogah warned political actors against using the media to destabilise the state and urged all parties to pursue their grievances through legal and democratic channels.
The lawmaker, who is also the Ebonyi State Coordinator of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), was accompanied by other members of the group at the press conference.
He reiterated his call for security agencies to investigate the various allegations raised and take appropriate action against anyone found to have violated the law.
The Federal Character Commission (FCC) has urged youths in Enugu State to disregard the belief that federal government jobs and other opportunities are already allocated before they are advertised.
FCC Executive Chairman, Hulayât Motunrayo Omidiran, gave the charge on Thursday at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, during the Peter Eze Enugu Youth Connect 2026.
Omidiran urged the youths to acquire relevant skills, embrace technology and actively pursue legitimate opportunities, stressing that federal character should promote both equity and merit.
She also warned against fraudulent recruitment schemes and advised applicants to authenticate employment opportunities before applying.
The Enugu State Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, challenged young people to prepare themselves for available opportunities.
Onyia said government could create opportunities, but individuals must develop the capacity to take advantage of them.
The FCC Commissioner representing Enugu State, Peter Ogbonna Eze, said the programme was designed to bridge the information gap preventing young people from accessing federal employment, scholarships, grants, fellowships and training opportunities.
Eze said many youths were discouraged from applying for federal jobs because of the misconception that such positions had already been shared among influential individuals.
He urged them to apply whenever legitimate opportunities were advertised, warning that nobody should pay money to secure a federal government job.
He also disclosed that five participants in the programme would be selected for a full scholarship opportunity.
Eze said the initiative would continue as a platform for connecting Enugu youths with credible opportunities and urged participants to become “ambassadors of opportunity” by sharing useful information with others.
The event brought together youths and stakeholders from across Enugu State to discuss federal representation, employment, education, skills development and other opportunities.
-
Crime5 days agoMurder of Aiza Nwosu: Niece, 12 Suspected Cultists Arrested, Nephew at Large
-
News5 days agoAnambra Community Petitions Soludo Over Erosion Caused by Illegal Sand Mining
-
Entertainment5 days agoDavido Reveals How Dangote Drove His Mother Home
-
News3 days agoFCC Urges Enugu Youths to Prepare for Federal Job Opportunities
-
News5 days agoNigerian Army Announces Major Reshuffle, Appoints New Theatre Commander
-
Crime5 days agoMob Burns Suspected Motorcycle Thief to Death
-
Politics5 days agoAnambra APC Sidelined Over First Lady’s Visit, Says Chairman Anosike
-
Crime5 days agoWoman Recounts Rape By Nigerian Jailed 17 Years In UK