36 Thursday 21 May 2015
Thursday 21 May 2015 Policies • Issues • Debates BUSINESS DAY 37 POLITICS Ikpeazu will reposition Abia, says Soludo GODFREY OFURUM, Aba Chukwuma Soludo, a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has described Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State governor-elect, as a man with clarity of vision and capacity to reposition the state. Soludo, who made the observation, while playing host to the Ikpeazu at his Enugu residence, stressed that he was not in doubt that Ikpeazu would reposition Abia. According to him, Ikpeazu, has the capacity and all it takes to reposition Abia and make Igboland great again. Soludo confessed that he had not been to Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, in the last 20 Okezie Ikpeazu (l) with Chukwuma Soludo years, but promised to visit the South-East state soon, after listening to Ikpeazu. very important town to Ndi Igbo, “Repositioning Abia is a task that Abia, Ndigbo and Nigeria is always “I’ve not been to Aba in the last because there is no Igbo family we must accomplish God helping on the down slope, but all of that 20 years, but after listening to you, that does not have link to Aba. I us, and we need the support and will be history after May 29, we I’ve decided to visit Aba very soon. commend you. partnership of people like you to are prepared to hit the ground “Abia is surely at the heart of “You have the clarity of vision. drive our vision. running.” rescuing Igboland and it will be And you’ve also done a thorough “I thank you for your kind “I appeal to you to leave your my pleasure to always brainstorm diagnosis of the Abia problem words and willingness to partner doors always open for us because with you to ensure this happens. that alone tells me you have the us in our resolve to reposition all hands must be on deck for us to I’ve seen the potential and I will capacity to reposition Abia and Abia. “The present state of Aba, the make Aba work again. We believe do anything you want me to do to make Igboland great again. You commercial town of our people, that if you get Aba right, Abia will help you succeed in Abia,” he said. will surely fill vacuum”. which is almost comatose, is part be right and we are determined,” Soludo further said: “Aba is a In response, Ikpeazu said: of the reasons the economy of Ikpeazu further said. ‘I’m proud to be Edo Assembly speaker not impeached’ Uyi Igbe, speaker, of the fifth session of the Edo State House of Assembly, last weekend celebrated his 50 birthday in Benin-City. In this impromptu interview with IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, he attributed his success as the first speaker of the house that will be completing his tenure since the advent of democracy in 1999 to openness, commitment and truthfulness to members. Excerpts: I How do you feel at 50? feel a bit younger. Thirty years ago, I never thought I am going to feel this way but now I feel quite young. Also, I know I don’t feel and look 50. If I don’t feel and look 50, then age is just a number. Therefore, to me, 50 is just a number, but I am really thankful to God. I am really thankful to God because in a week’s time or there about the fifth assembly of the Edo State House of Assembly will come to a close and by His grace, unless the members see something wrong in me within the remaining period I will be the first speaker that has presided over the assembly successfully in the state that was not impeached by the members. So, I am really very grateful to God in this my 50th birthday. Moreso, for your information my wife just gave birth to a bouncing baby girl few weeks ago. So, I am still in shape. Igbe What’s responsible for your success as speaker? Openness, commitment and truthfulness to members are my hallmark. I was a regular member of the house from 2007-2011 and I can tell you that, then I didn’t really understand the workings of the executives of the Principal Officers Council (POC) of the house. For me then it was a misery. What I tried to do was to demystify the POC of the state House of Assembly for everybody to see that there is really nothing in it, because before then a lot of people were thinking that there were issues to the POC. But I decided to open it up for members to see what is really there, understand the workings and avoid unnecessary suspicions. For me, there is nothing so special to be a speaker, deputy speaker or majority leader. My success in the past four years was as a result of my openness, truthfulness and commitment to the members. When the members accept you then you don’t have a problem and that’s what I tried to do. I tried to get the members to accept me. INEC denies plans to scuttle inspection of election materials ANIEFKIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo Austin Okojie, resident electoral commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, has denied the allegation of non-compliance with the directive of the Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in the state to allow the opposition parties inspect the materials used in the Presidential/National elections of April 28, 2015. Okojie said all the materials including voter register, ballot papers and all other sensitive materials needed for inspection, sorting, counting and scanning had been released and presented by the commission for inspection by the representatives of the various political parties as ordered by the tribunal. Besides, he said five instead of three representatives from each political party were approved for the exercise to check suspicion. Representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the ongoing inspection of electoral materials used for the Presidential/National Assembly elections of April 28, 2015 in Akwa-Ibom State had alleged collusion between the commission and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to scuttle the exercise. One of the APC representatives, Adedoyin Ewederin who spoke with Journalists at the Independent National Electoral Commission-INEC Secretariat in Uyo where the exercise was going on, alleged late commencement of the exercise on the instructions of the PDP chieftains and commission to make it impossible to complete the exercise within the scheduled ten days by the Presidential/National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in the state. But Uwemedimo Nwoko, commissioner for justice and attorney-general of the state, denied the allegations, saying the exercise has been smooth and without rancour or suspicion as all the representatives of the political parties were working assiduously to ensure the success of the exercise. “Even if this exercise is not completed within the stipulated 10 days, there is always a room for making up because I believe that the ultimate purpose of this exercise is to ensure that the ends of justice as it relates to the integrity of the electoral exercise is upheld,” Nwoko said.