15092022

10 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
:Vanguard
News
I'm awaiting military's response to
attack on Ubah’s attack • —Buhari
By Vincent Ujumadu
A BUJA—PRESIDENT
Muhammadu Buhari,
yesterday, described as 'barbaric
and condemnable', the shooting
in Anambra State at the convoy
of the Senator representing
Anambra South District, Ifeanyi
Ubah.
According to a statement
signed by the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Garba
Shehu, Buhari said he was
“closely monitoring the situation
and waiting for further details on
the response to the situation by
the police, the military, and other
security agencies.”
The statement is titled:
‘President Buhari condemns as
a barbaric, attack on Sen. Ifeanyi
Ubah'.
According to the President:
"We are deeply concerned about
the activities of armed groups in
the region and other parts of the
country.
“We are closely monitoring the
situation and waiting for further
details on the response to the
worrisome situation by the police,
the military, and other security
agencies.
“The nation has lost four brave
policemen and other aides of the
senator. On behalf of the
government and the people, I pay
tribute to these security men and
the aides who were brutally
murdered. Our thoughts and
prayers are with their families at
this difficult time,” the statement
partly read.
The President, therefore,
prayed for the quick recovery of
the senator and all those that
were injured.
He also prayed for the early
return of peace and security in
Anambra State and all other
areas.
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
DEVELOPMENT—From left: Dr. Yetunde Fatogun, Social Development Specialist, World
Bank; Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, Deputy Director, Policy Innovation Centre, PIC; Stephen Dada,
State Coordinator and Policy Advisor, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale
Zusammenabeit, and Dr. Jumoke Adeyeye, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Gender and
Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, during the second leg of the Certificate
Course in Gender and Development, organised by the PIC, in Abuja, yesterday.
•Biafra agitators not responsible for attack —MASSOB
Biafra agitators not
responsible for
attack —MASSOB
Meantime, the Movement for
the Actualization of the
Sovereign State of Biafra,
MASSOB, has exonerated Biafra
agitators from last Sunday's
attack on the convoy of Senator
Ifeanyi Ubah, representing
Anambra South senatorial zone,
in which some of the senator's
aides lost their lives.
In a statement yesterday,
MASSOB described the attack
on Senator Ubah as an
assassination attempt and
politically motivated.
It advised the presidential
candidate of the Labour Party, LP,
Mr. Peter Obi, and the governor
Ebonyi gov poll: Supreme Court
declares Odii as PDP candidate
By Ikechukwu
Nnochiri
ABUJA—THE Supreme
Court, on Wednesday,
declared Chukwuma Ifeanyi
Odii as the governorship
candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in Ebonyi
State.
The apex court, in a
unanimous decision by a fiveman
panel of justices, vacated the
judgement of the Court of Appeal
that ordered the Independent
National Electoral Commission,
INEC, to recognise Senator
Joseph Ogba as flag-bearer of the
party for the 2023 gubernatorial
contest in the state.
The panel, which was headed
by Justice Amina Augie, held
of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike,
among other politicians and
religious leaders to beef up their
security.
MASSOB leader, Uchenna
Madu, who issued the statement
said those listed must redouble
and restrategize their security
apparati.
The MASSOB leader's
statement read: "This attack is
insensitive, barbaric and
unwarranted. The political cabals
stifling the economy and wealth
....Ndi-Anambra must not
succumb to fear —Ngige
ABUJA—MINISTER of
Labour and Employment,
Senator Chris Ngige, has urged
Ndi-Anambra not to succumb to
fear over the recent horrendous
attack on Senator Ifeanyi Ubah
that claimed the lives of aides and
security agents.
He tasked the security
agencies to hunt down and
bring the murderous
perpetrators to justice .
In a statement by his Media
Office, in Abuja, yesterday, Ngige,
who described the attack as
atrocious, wicked and evil, said it
was a big setback to a relative
calm restored to the state in the
past few months.
“It is certainly a setback, at a
time many
had
thought reprieve had come from
the dreadful darkness that lately
enveloped our dear state.
"However, we must not
allow that daylight horror to
that the appeal, marked SC/CV/
939/2022, which Odii
lodged before the court, was
meritorious and deserved to
succeed.
It held that the appellate court
was without jurisdiction when it
heard and determined Ogba's
appeal.
In the lead judgement that was
read by Justice Lawal Garba, the
Supreme Court held that
Ogba, as a person having interest
in a pre-election matter, but who
was not made a party to the
proceedings, ought to have
obtained leave of the trial court
to appeal as an interested party.
It held that his failure to obtain
leave before appealing the
Federal High Court judgement
that was in favour of Odii,
of Nigeria are not comfortable that
a positive change that will abolish
their illicit and corrupt means of
embezzling the wealth of Nigeria
is coming, hence they are
sponsoring the political
assassination of eloquent and
outspoken political leaders who
are not in their evil and corrupt
wagon.
"The Enugwu Ukwu
assassination attack is not only
about Senator Ifeanyi Uba but
against people-oriented political
leaders across the country."
trip our determination to the
crosshair of another cycle of
tragedies. Evil must not win.
“I, hence, charge the security
agencies to double their efforts to
fish out the criminals as quickly
as possible.
"Ndi-Anambra must not
succumb to fear, but rally
round the government and the
security agencies to track
the criminals terrorising our
state.
rendered his appeal incompetent
and robbed the appellate court of
the jurisdiction to hear his case.
It held that Ogba's purported
notice of appeal, filed on June 17,
was therefore incompetent in law.
Consequently, the apex court
reinstated the decision of the
Federal High Court in Abuja that
recognised Odii's candidacy.
"The judgment of the trial court
is restored. The primary election
of the PDP is valid and the
appellant is declared candidate
of the PDP, " the apex court held.
Meanwhile, in his reaction
shortly after the judgement was
delivered, Odii, lauded the
judiciary, even as he urged all
aggrieved members of the party
to close ranks to ensure victory
for the party in the governoship
election.
We back your senatorial bid, youths
tell Ugwuanyi
By Steve Oko
A
conglomeration of
youths from different
political parties and support
groups in Enugu North
Senatorial District of Enugu
State, under the umbrella of the
'New Era Youth Awareness and
Leadership Vanguard',
yesterday, commended
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for
his remarkable achievements in
Enugu North Senatorial District,
in particular, and the state in
general. They also endorsed his
senatorial bid to represent the
district in the National Assembly
in 2023, on the platform of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Led by the Director General of
group, Dr. Wilfred Ameh, the
youths appreciated Gov.
Ugwuanyi for the establishment
of the State University of Medical
and Applied Sciences (SUMAS),
Igbo-Eno, Enugu State,
stressing that it is a great feat
that "within your tenure you are
able to give us a state medical
By Ikechukwu Odu
NSUKKA—The Labour
Party, LP, in Enugu State,
has said that the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
administration in the state, under
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,
made more false promises to all
segments of the people in the last
seven years than others before
it.
The party said that the
government made false promises
to build access roads, create
autonomous communities, pay
workers' retirement benefits and
pensions, provide scholarship
schemes for students, as well as
improve agriculture, without
fulfilling most of them.
It stated that it would not make
promises it can not fulfill.
These were contained in a
statement, Tuesday, by the Media
Office of the governorship
candidate of LP in the state,
Chijioke Edeoga.
Pool Party: Awka residents
laud Soludo's action, urge
protection of businesses
SOME residents of Awka,
the Anambra State capital,
have reacted to the sealing of a
hotel annexe by the Anambra
State government, following a
viral sex video which allegedly
emanated from the facility.
The residents, who
commended the state
government for wading into the
issue, pleaded that a proper
investigation should be done,
and to avoid measures that
would kill businesses and
discourage investors.
It will be recalled that a group,
still at large, had hired the
annexe section of the hotel for a
party, which later degenerated
into an open adult sex orgy by
the pool side.
A recorded video of the sex
scene was sent online, with the
location of the incident.
Mr. Smith Obodozie, an Awka
resident, said "while it is
important to streamline
operations of hotels and pubs in
the growing capital city, it is also
important to protect businesses."
Obodozie regretted the bad
image created by the content of
the video and called on
operators of hotels and
university."
They also commended Gov.
Ugwuanyi for his
administration's unprecedented
infrastructural interventions in
the State Judiciary, stressing that
the governor gave the court
buildings in Nsukka and other
parts of the state a face lift through
renovation, construction and
equipping of the facilities.
The group pointed out that
magistrates courts and other
court buildings in Nsukka (built
with mud blocks) prior to
Governor Ugwuanyi's
interventions, were dilapidated,
adding that the ultra-modern
5,000-seat capacity Nsukka
Township Stadium, the new state
Secretariat Annex, with a
befitting Conference Centre
adjacent to it, are tesimonies of
Ugwuanyi's good works.
Polytechnic attracted to Ohodo,
Igbo-Etiti Local Government
Area, the road network in the
university town of Nsukka,
including the state-of-the-art
Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway
with street and traffic lights,
among others.
Enugu: PDP made more false
promises, LP alleges
The statement said that a
Labour Party government in
Enugu will "heal the divisions
created by the present PDP
government in all the
communities, which had pitched
brothers and sisters against one
another in a bid to maintain a
divide-and-rule policy in the last
seven years."
It read: "Under a Labour Party
government in Enugu State,
traditional rulers will also not be
made to attend political rallies
where they scramble for food and
drinks. Traditional rulers will not
be forced to wait for the governor
along the roads for several hours
under rain or sunshine while
visiting their communities. The
governor will rather pay courtesy
visits to traditional rulers as is
obtained in other parts of the
country, where monarchs are
respected and given the honour,
as custodians of our culture and
chief security officers of their
various domains".
entertainment centres to evolve
a more proactive check against
unhealthy social and moral
activities.
On her part, Ms Jacinta Ene,
an entrepreneur, said the
development is not strange,
noting that there was a new and
unfortunate trend in Awka,
where unscrupulous persons try
to run down businesses by videos
of real and imagined events, and
sending them out in the social
media.
"Remember, two weeks ago,
that there was a video where
somebody said that a popular
eatery (name withheld) was
serving customers the sacred
python, which was forbidden in
most areas of Anambra State. But
the same person later apologised
to the owner of the joint, saying
that it was a mischief sponsored
by some detractors. I understand
he is being investigated along
with his accomplices.
“Mr Bonny Akunna, BoT
Chairman of Restaurant and Bar
Owners, Anambra State chapter,
said the closure was in order but
should have come after
investigation is concluded.