Politics
Anambra Guber: It’s choice between freedom and chains – Ngige
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has warned the Anambra people to be careful in the choice of candidate in the November 6 governorship election in the State, describing it as a choice between freedom and chains.
This is as the minister expressed gratitude to the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano for the truth-telling tribute he sent on his 69th birthday.
A statement from Senator Ngige Media Office in Abuja, Wednesday insisted that Senator Ngige was however not flattered by the rediscovery, since no amount of suppression could kill the truth, noting that “the innate characteristics of truth which are constancy and irrepressibility will continue to frustrate every onslaught. Truth never fails. It can only be suppressed but only for a while and not forever.”
According to the statement “The 34 months renaissance of Senator Chris Ngige as Anambra Governor is indelibly etched in the minds and sub-consciousness of the people and it is very unlikely official lies can ever suppress it. Ndi-Anambra have been faced with this strange official suppression of their history. Thus, the tribute from our Governor is an escape of suppressed official facts from the highest state quarters. For the first time, a successor government acknowledged Ngige as the architect of the modern Anambra, thereby smashing the over a decade long billow of lies from the chimney of mischief at the Government House, Awka
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“Governor Obiano deserves commendation for breaking away from the years-long official suppression of the superlative achievements of the Ngige liberation era. And we pray that this political catharsis by our Governor will break further bounds so that Ndi-Anambra will continue to bind in freedom. The scripture is sacrosanct.
“Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set ye free! The State government has finally told the truth that Ngige pioneered a revolution in education, health, security and incapacitated the godfathers who enslaved the state resources.
“However, we wish to add that this re-discovery is non-inclusive of the in-depth exploits Ngige made in these and other areas of infrastructure development. In spite, Governor Obiano’s decision is overly instructive for a time there was when the official policy of the Anambra State Government was to deny and vitiate Ngige legacies.
“It was to the extent that his immediate successor, Peter Obi denied a whopping sum of 13. 8 billion which Ngige bequeathed on 15th march 2006 when he left office. Obi subsequently set up the Justice Ononiba Commission to probe Ngige. The commission’s verdict did not only confirm this sum and others but urged Obi to commend Ngige for his selfless service to the people. Obi never did.
“ Even his attempt to use the judiciary to invalidate Ngige’s years through a suit, Mike Balonwu and others, which he engineered and funded, fell flat, starting from State High court of Justice C.O Nweke on September 17, 2007, to the lead judgement of Justice Victor Omage of the Enugu Appeal Court on June 28, 2008, and finally to the lead judgement of Justice Mahmud Mohammed of the Supreme Court, December 4, 2009, that “the fact that Ngige had to vacate office at the end of court proceedings challenging his elections by the provisions of the Electoral Act, cannot invalidate any powers or duties exercised or performed by him while in office.” Of note is that the three courts – high court, Appeal and Supreme court all pronounced Ngige as Governor de facto and de jure. But even with these pronouncements, Peter Obi pulled down his portrait from the hung portraits of former governors of the state and put it on the floor, face facing the wall. According to his incredible pedestrian reasoning, Ngige prevented him from being governor for 34 months!
“ Ngige did not only return the first set of 14 secondary and 51 primary schools to the mission on November 2005, but he also concluded every arrangement for the return of all mission schools in November 2006. He built new classroom blocks and refurbished old ones, recruited teachers, paid N1.2billion UBEC counterpart funding and buoyed up school enrollment. And to cement the process and save it from the vagaries of funding, he generated an aggregate N2.4 billion UBE fund in the state’s Zenith Bank account. No wonder Anambra won the UBEC prize for excellence
for primary and junior secondary schools, first in 2004 and second in 2005 and 2006.
“ Ngige further built infrastructures at the state university and decentralized it into a multi-campus system, securing accreditation for 32 courses including Law, Engineering and Medicine in 2005.
“ Also, the payment of salaries as and when due was initiated under Ngige in June 2003 through the Governor’s Executive Order, which brought the payment of salaries and pensions to first line charge, ensuring that till today, civil servants and pensioners are paid.
“ He subsequently cleared N22billion state salaries and gratuity arrears as well as N15billion at the local government, and liquidated debts owed banks and international lenders. He recalibrated pensions; hence Anambra State became the second state in Nigeria to pay 143 percent increment. Thus, pensioners who were earlier referred to as deadwood by his predecessor started receiving N21, 000 up from N8000.
“ In health, Ngige ended the infamous 18-month strike by doctors in the state and re-opened all the government-owned hospitals closed under the Mbadinuju administration. He set out to upgrade four general hospitals in Onitsha, Enugwu-Ukwu , Amaku Awka and Ekwuluobia to specialist centres, starting with Onitsha which Governor Obiano truthfully acknowledged that Ngige brought “ to scratch,” to standard. He also brought in medical and hospital equipment from the USA in two forty feet containers as well as ambulances. He further attracted home, renowned physicians, Prof. Nwako, Mbonu and Dr Enweonwu from UNTH Enugu to Onitsha to bring the institution a standard fit for the training of specialists in residency programmes. The accreditation came two months after Ngige left office.
“Ngige recruited a total of 73 doctors and posted some of them to the rural areas under a special incentive package, opened eye clinics in all the general hospitals and hired ophthalmologists to run them, apart from the Guinness Eye Centre at Onitsha. At the same time, he equipped and fenced the Enugwu-Ukwu General Hospital and others who were then at the mercy of weeds and land grabbers.
He built the School of Health Technology at Nkpor and further attracted international health agencies like UNICEF, UNFP among others. His plan for a modern, comprehensive teaching hospital was not executed resulting in the halfhearted centre, we have now.
“ Ngige also revived the Onitsha and Awka township water supply and decongested the Onitsha metropolis by developing a new market for building materials, textiles and electronic/electrical at Ogidi-Ogbunike, BridgeHead and Oba respectively. He also mapped out agricultural zones in Anyamelum towns of Omor, Ifite Ogwari and Ogboji in Aguata L.G.A .
“ His impact on security through a law by the State House of Assembly, creating the Anambra State Vigilante Service which reduced crime to the barest minimum is lasting. Under him too, Anambra was changed to the Light of the Nation.
“Little need talking about roads which are on the lips of all but to note that 109 roads, stretching 500km, across all local governments and zones, some leading to the neighbouring states of Enugu, Imo, Abia and Rivers States, are the only roads standing like the Rock of Gibraltar in the state today.
“ Ndi-Anambra did not forget their hero for in
2007 governorship election, though Ngige was banned from contesting, the masses sighted the broom of the Action Congress and poured in votes. Of course, we all know how that election ended.
“In 2010, when vote suppression and disenfranchisement in Idemili North and South, as well as Onitsha, couldn’t ease the design by the then INEC, Ngige’s votes were decapitated
with over 45, 000 votes to return Peter Obi with a paltry 96,000 votes in a governorship election in which close to 2 million Ndi-Anambra registered for!
“2011 was not different as Ndi-Anambra backed Ngige to defeat a formidable combination of the incumbent Governor Peter obi, Victor Umeh and Uche Ekwunife who amalgamated with late Dora Akunyili for APGA against him in the Anambra Central Senatorial election at a time it was a taboo to mention Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, in the South East.
“Therefore, Governor Obiano’s birthday tribute has offered me another opportunity to urge all political office holders to strive to live in the minds of the people through quality stewardship. I have done my best to liberate our dear state. I didn’t only lay a new foundation; I also took the building above the lintel.
“While I acknowledge that my predecessors have as well done their best, I state that the rest belongs to the people and the Almighty to judge. The burden of eternal vigilance over our freedom falls squarely on Ndi-Anambra. To me precisely, the November 6 governorship election is theirs to choose between total freedom and chains.
Vanguard News Nigeria
The former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, to focus on ensuring the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections.
In a statement on Sunday in Enugu, Okechukwu noted that credible elections remained the strongest antidote to intra-party impunity.
He was responding to the INEC Chairman’s recent call on political parties to adhere strictly to principles of internal democracy during a courtesy visit to former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, in Minna, Niger.
According to Okechukwu, the INEC Chairman has consistently emphasised the issue of internal democracy, having made similar remarks in Akwa Ibom in March 2026 and again in Abuja in June 2026.
He said, “Whereas one agrees with the Chairman that strict observance of internal democracy within political parties is of paramount importance.
“However, the greatest incentive for political parties to uphold internal democracy is the consistent conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections by INEC.”
He argued that political scientists had long maintained that political parties were more likely to respect democratic principles and popular will when electoral processes are credible and transparent.
“Political party leaders will do everything within the ambit of the law to keep their houses in order and present the most acceptable and popular candidates when they are confident that elections will be free and fair.
“In such circumstances, they are compelled to obey the wishes of the electorate. However, when elections are perceived as lacking transparency, internal party conflicts and impunity are more likely to thrive,” he said.
Okechukwu also dismissed the allegation of other political parties feelings that INEC is the handgun of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The APC chieftain said that APC needed free and fair elections as core patriots who are committed to the genuine growth of our fledgling democracy and overall progress of every Nigerian.
“I dismiss the handgun allegation, as APC needs free and fair elections,not only for legitimacy with our 31 state governors, but for the genuine growth of our fledgling democracy and overall good governance,” he said.
He maintained that the APC remained a formidable political force and that credible elections would ultimately strengthen Nigeria’s democratic institutions and political parties alike.
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, says Buhari didn’t publicly back Tinubu in the 2023 All Progressives Congress primary due to religious and ethical concerns.
In an interview with Symfoni TV released on Saturday, Lawal revealed that Buhari was initially hesitant to back Tinubu due to religious and ethical considerations regarding his suitability as a successor.
Lawal claimed that, however, after extensive discussions, the late president agreed to remain neutral and allow party delegates to decide the candidate at the convention.
According to the former SGF, Tinubu played a critical role in previous APC election campaigns by providing resources and political strategists, making it difficult for Buhari to oppose his presidential ambition outright.
“Bola Tinubu brought people and we coarced him to change the trajectory of the campaign through those his people.
“Buhari is a human and he’s a decent guy. So I am the only person that confront him with these facts.
“He will not say I don’t know. He would not say it’s a rumour because I was there.
“So why would he deny him (Tinubu)? Why would he… in the end he said okay,” Lawal said.
Lawal added that before the APC presidential convention, he advised Buhari to refrain from backing any aspirant and allow party delegates to choose the candidate.
“As we were going to the convention, I said, ‘Oga’, let’s make a deal. I said look, this man (Tinubu), we now know that on the basis of your religion and your ethics and your upbringing, you don’t want to hand over to this man, but he has helped us get here.
“So there’s no way. Let’s make a deal. Stay neutral and allow me to run the process.
“If we go to the convention and the party faithfuls defeat him, so be it. Your hand is not in it.”
Lawal said Buhari initially rejected the proposal, insisting that if he allowed him to manage the process, Tinubu would emerge as the party’s candidate.
“But Buhari said that’s not an excuse. I know you, you will give Bola Tinubu this ticket.“I say, are you God now, sir?
“Buhari said, no, you started with me since 2002. So I know how you work. I know your methodologies. That man, if I leave him to you, he’ll get the ticket.”
Lawal said he responded that even if Tinubu secured the APC ticket, Nigerians would still decide the outcome of the presidential election.
“I say, okay, okay, granted. If he gets the ticket, it means you are now a prophet. However, you’re ascribing to me qualities I don’t have.
“But let’s assume it happens. Supposing the general election rejects him, is that you?”
He added that Buhari also expressed concern over whether Tinubu would be fair to members of their political camp if elected president.
“He mentioned some things. This man, is he going to be fair to our people? Is he going to be this?
“I said, yes, as long as I’m there, you know, I can checkmate him.
“He said, ‘Okay, deal.’”
Ahead of the APC presidential primary in June 2022, Buhari repeatedly urged party delegates to choose a candidate they believed could advance the party’s ideals but stopped short of publicly endorsing any of the aspirants, despite intense lobbying by contenders, including Tinubu.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, went on to defeat other leading aspirants, including former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, to clinch the APC presidential ticket.
He later won the February 2023 presidential election and was sworn in as president on May 29, 2023.
Politics
Enugu NDC Passes Vote Of Confidence On Dr. Johnpaul Anih-Led State Exco, Warns Against Destabilisation
The Enugu State chapter of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has unanimously passed a vote of confidence in the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led State Working Committee (SWC), reaffirming its confidence in the current leadership and warning individuals allegedly plotting to destabilise the party to desist.
The resolution was reached on Saturday during an expanded meeting of the state working committee, party stakeholders, candidates and members, who commended the state executive for its leadership, commitment and efforts at repositioning the NDC in Enugu State.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the meeting, the Chairman of the party in Isiuzo Local Government Area, Hon. Jonathan Ogbu, said the current state leadership had transformed the fortunes of the party in Enugu.
“This is the only leadership of the party that emerged through a valid congress monitored by INEC, and any attempt by Enugu politicians spending dollars in Abuja to destabilise the party will be firmly resisted”.
“Without the current leadership, nobody would be hearing about the NDC in Enugu State today. The Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led executive has given the party life and made it attractive through its programmes and grassroots mobilisation,” he said.
Corroborating his position, the Igboeze North Local Government Chairman of the party, Hon. Kingsley Ape and his Aninri counterpart, Hon. Stephen Ajah, stated that the achievements of the present leadership had positioned the party to participate effectively in the forthcoming local government elections.
According to them, without the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led executive, the NDC would not have been on the ballot for the forthcoming local government chairmanship and councillorship elections in Enugu State.
The party leaders declared that they remain firmly behind Dr. Anih and his executive, insisting that the State Working Committee enjoys the overwhelming confidence and support of the party’s grassroots structure across the 17 local government areas of the state.
They further warned that any attempt to tamper with the existing leadership could trigger a mass exodus of members from the party in Enugu State.
The stakeholders also cautioned individuals allegedly fomenting crisis within the party, urging them to steer clear of activities capable of undermining the unity, stability and progress of the NDC.
According to them, any attempt to create parallel party structures or sow discord among members would be firmly resisted in the interest of preserving the party’s cohesion ahead of future political engagements.
The members equally expressed concern over what they described as the actions of the party’s national leadership, alleging that recent developments could further deepen internal disagreements if not handled with fairness and respect for due process.
They urged the national leadership to refrain from actions capable of escalating tensions within the party, stressing that internal disputes should be resolved in line with the party’s constitution and democratic principles.
Reaffirming their loyalty to the NDC, the stakeholders called on members across the state to remain united, focused and committed to building a stronger political platform.
They pledged their continued support for the Dr. Johnpaul Anih-led State Working Committee and maintained that the Enugu chapter would continue to protect the integrity of the party while working tirelessly to advance its political objectives in the state.
Kwankwaso disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, saying the agreement was aimed at ensuring power returns to the North after a single four-year tenure in line with the party’s power-sharing arrangement.
The former Kano State governor said he had no reason to doubt Obi’s commitment to honouring the agreement.
“Oh yes, I personally believe him. I don’t think, based on what I now know about him, that he will change his mind when the time comes. We are all gentlemen,” he said.
Asked whether the understanding had been documented, Kwankwaso replied that both the party and the two candidates signed separate agreements.
“We have done one for the party, and we have done another one between the two of us,” he said.
Explaining the substance of the agreement, Kwankwaso said it provides for a single four-year tenure for Obi before the presidency returns to the North.
“The agreement is what you said, that for four years, we will work together, team together as a group, party, friends and brothers so that after his term of four years (2027-2031), it comes back to the North. That is the general agreement.”
“Together we felt that the presidency should go to the South for four years; thereafter it will come back to the North.
“We believe that should be the consensus of everybody in this country so that we can move together as a family, both North and South,” he said.
On whether he intends to contest the presidency in 2031, Kwankwaso said the party remained focused on winning the 2027 election while keeping its long-term political plans in view.
“We have a short-term plan which we are executing now and, of course, we also have our medium and long-term plans for the country, and that is what we are working on now,” he said.
Obi had in May announced that he would serve only one term if elected president, saying the decision was intended to promote political stability and strengthen national unity.
“I want to be a one-term president because of stability. I would not stay a day, with a gun to my head, longer than four years,” Obi had said.
The NDC has consistently defended its power-sharing arrangement, presenting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as a consensus aimed at balancing the country’s regional interests ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The leadership crisis rocking the Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) took a fresh turn on Monday after the Federal High Court in Abuja granted a stay of execution on its earlier judgment that removed Sen. Emma Anosike as the party’s state chairman.
The order effectively restores Anosike to office pending the determination of the legal proceedings.
The dispute began after a faction of the party led by Ifeanyi Osegbo approached the court, seeking recognition as the duly constituted State Working Committee (SWC) of the APC. The application was opposed by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Following the initial judgment, the Anambra APC dismissed the ruling as a “kangaroo judgment,” alleging that the plaintiffs misrepresented facts before the court. The party further claimed that some individuals listed as plaintiffs were unaware of the suit and that their names had been inserted without their knowledge.
The party also argued that Anosike and the state secretary, Mr. Obi Okpala, were not joined as parties in the suit, making the judgment unenforceable against them.
Relying on the earlier judgment, members of the Osegbo faction reportedly took over the party secretariat in Awka, gaining access to the offices and holding a meeting there.
In response, Anosike, Okpala, acting on behalf of themselves and other elected executive members, filed an application challenging the judgment. They asked the court to set aside the ruling delivered on June 24, 2026, by Justice M.G. Umar, describing it as a nullity.
The applicants also sought an order staying the execution of the judgment pending the hearing and determination of their application.
Among the grounds for the application were alleged non-service of originating processes and hearing notices, denial of fair hearing, misrepresentation of facts, forum shopping by the plaintiffs, estoppel, and the court’s inherent jurisdiction to set aside a judgment obtained through procedural defects.
Speaking after Monday’s proceedings, counsel to the APC, Douglas Najime, alleged that the earlier judgment was secured through misrepresentation and without proper service on the affected parties.
According to him, the court’s decision to grant a stay of execution means that Sen. Emma Anosike remains the substantive chairman of the Anambra APC, alongside the existing executive committee, pending the outcome of the appeal.
He maintained that the stay of execution effectively suspends the enforcement of the earlier judgment and preserves the status quo until the legal dispute is finally resolved.
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