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Significance of President Tinubu’s Enugu Visit

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By Tunde Rahman

President Bola Tinubu’s one-day visit to the Southeast, his first of 2025, was not just a routine event. It was laden with symbolisms, from the enthusiastic reception to the subsequent positive comments. The import of this visit, with its many remarkable aspects, was not lost on anyone. While many have spoken favourably and commended the visit, it equally throws up some questions.

Is President Tinubu’s January 4, 2025 visit to Enugu, the old capital of the Southeast region, during which he inaugurated Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah’s landmark projects and made important pronouncements a new level in his relationship with the Southeast geopolitical zone?

Is the President’s visit across the Niger a game changer and a subtle indicator of what lies ahead between him and the people of the South East?

The Southeast’s posture towards President Tinubu has not been enthusiastic, just as it was with President Muhammadu Buhari. Of course, the results of the 2015, 2019, and 2023 elections reveal the political aloofness of the zone towards the two leaders.

The Southeast was particularly lukewarm towards Tinubu’s presidential aspiration following developments in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election and the results that had arisen from it. In the run-up to the election, the Southeast put all its political eggs in the basket of homeboy Peter Obi, former Anambra State governor, who had broken ranks with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to emerge as the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate.

The boisterousness of the Obidients –as Peter Obi’s supporters had christened themselves – had somewhat captured the imagination of the Southeast. Any Igbo who sang a different tune in the 2023 election was, more or less, seen as an outcast.

Peter Obi himself did not allow the kind of amity that should prevail. He campaigned based on his Igbo ethnicity and overtly promoted his Christian faith to reap electoral benefits. When the election came, the Igbo voted en masse for him, signposting a strong correlation between region, religion and elections in Nigeria.

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As a geopolitical breakdown of the 2023 presidential election results shows, Obi and his LP polled 1,952, 998 votes from the five states of the Southeast, representing a massive 89.62% of the total votes in the region. President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress polled 127,370 votes, a paltry 5.85% of the votes from the area while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, got 90, 698 votes, amounting to a meagre 4.16%.

Although Obi recorded impressive results outside the Southeast, like winning Lagos, Nasarawa, Edo, Delta, Plateau, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, his 2023 presidential challenge was essentially a Southeast affair.

After the election, he and his ethnic supporters remained in their cocoons—or the alternate reality they had built. They acted like Obi had won the poll but denied victory. It seemed that the Obidients would rather not hear the name Asiwaju Tinubu, let alone President Tinubu. This trend continued even after Obi’s petition against President Tinubu’s victory in court failed. Any move of the President was criticised and condemned.

On assumption of office, President Tinubu made overtures to the zone in key appointments such as the appointment of Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, who hails from Enugu, and through key ministerial appointments like those of Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi from Ebonyi State, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Uche Nnaji, and the first Minister of Trade and Investment, now Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, among others.

Remarkably, when the President reshuffled his cabinet in October last year, he brought in, among others, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, wife of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. She got the portfolio of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. President Tinubu also established the Southeast Development Commission, a significant move to promote and accelerate the region’s development.

A top journalist who is a friend from the Southeast zone and a staunch Obidient who had never masked his dislike for Tinubu said those two appointments were sufficient to forgive President Tinubu’s perceived sins against the Igbo.

It was against that background that President Tinubu accepted Governor Mbah’s invitation to inaugurate some of his projects in the New Year.

At the inauguration of Governor Mbah’s projects and during an interactive session with Southeast leaders, President Tinubu made significant statements that gladdened the hearts of the Igbo.

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At the inauguration of the Command and Control Center, the President emphasised the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the Federal Government and the sub-nationals to drive development. (Thisday)

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Anambra 2025: George Moghalu picks Nov 8 LP Governorship form

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Dr George Moghalu
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By Chuks Collins, Awka

The immediate past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Dr George Moghalu, has picked the Labour Party’s nomination and expression of interest forms for the forthcoming Nov 8, 2025 governorship election in Anambra State.

The frontline aspirant reportedly procured both forms for N30 million at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

Addressing journalists shortly after receiving the forms, Dr Moghalu expressed high optimism that his chances to win the party’s primary and the November 8, 2025 election are very bright.

He said that he has all that it would take to dust the incumbent governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, in the election.

According to him, “For me, it is a privilege to run on the platform of LP because one may decide to run, but the party may refuse to accept you.

“It is not just about paying for the forms but also about being accepted by the people you want to represent.

“The assurance I want to give you today is that I will not betray your confidence and trust because I am a party man. I understand the dynamics, having served in a party Secretariat.

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“My loyalty to wherever I belong cannot be questioned. I have always remained in one party since the inception of this democratic dispensation.

“But had to leave for LP because, in every political consideration, two factors are always critical, -the party, and the person.

“Ambition is not war or a fight because, at the end of the day, one person will fly the party’s flag in Anambra State. It is my wish and firm belief in God that I will be that person.”

Earlier, while presenting the two forms, the party’s National Chairman -Barrister Julius Abure assured that his leadership would continue to guarantee a transparent, free, and fair primary.
He said, “I want to assure you that you have taken the right decision. The Anambra State primary will be free, fair, and credible.

“Our party members in Anambra will determine who becomes the governorship candidate.

“Abuja will not dictate who becomes the candidate. It is the people—LP members in Anambra State—who will decide. I want to urge you that while obtaining the form is a good step, you must return to engage with party members.

“We need to work to endear you to the party members, who ultimately have the power to nominate the governorship candidate. Without sounding immodest, I want to congratulate you and wish you the best of luck”, the chairman stated.

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Gov Mbah urges aggrieved PDP members to return to party

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Gov Mbah and the PDP delegation
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…describes Enugu as bastion of PDP

Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for peace and unity among the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southeast Zone and the entire country, urging aggrieved members to seize the opportunity presented by the ongoing reconciliation process to come back to their fold.

The governor made the appeal when he received in audience, Thursday, the members of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee led by the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was at the Enugu Government House on a courtesy visit to the governor to brief him on the progressive efforts of the committee.

Mbah, who described Enugu as the bastion of PDP, carrying the party’s banner with pride, enjoined the committee to ensure genuine and lasting peace in their efforts to bring back aggrieved members into the party.

He insisted that the only way the party could win elections was through a united front built on true reconciliation and justice.

“There is no way we can afford to go into a battle with a divided house. So, we must, as a matter of utmost urgency, integrate and constitute ourselves as a whole, which is why the task you are carrying out on behalf of our party is very critical and sensitive and it is one that requires patience, tact and absolute wisdom,” he said.

Mbah further added that the party in the Southeast operated with some peculiarity of brotherhood whose differences could easily be resolved as siblings and members of one family, stressing that the party in the zone had done extensive work to ensure those who left the party were brought back.

“We also believe that the Southeast is a stronghold of the PDP and if we have people who are out now, it is not necessarily their desire to be out. So, what we need at this time is to bring back our aggrieved members to where they belong. And of course, the PDP is still largely the party with the spread that is required to win any election in this country and still appeals to the people of this country.

“I have no doubt in mind that those our brothers who are just waiting for moments like this will be brought back to where they belong and we can forge a strong alliance going into the next general elections,” the governor stressed.

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Speaking earlier, the PDP National Reconciliation Committee Chairman said that the disunity in the party was one of the reasons the party lost the 2023 presidential election and other election cycles in the country.

Oyinilola appealed to the grief-stricken members of the party in the Southeast to sheathe their swords and embrace the idea behind the peace and reconciliation process for the good of the party and the wellbeing of Nigerians.

According to him, Nigerians had become disenchanted and disillusioned under the national ruling APC caused by the party’s anti-people policies, saying PDP was the only party that could rescue the country.

Also speaking, the state party chairman, Dr Martin Chukwunwike, said the reconciliation move would rejig the party’s ongoing efforts in the state and bring back disgruntled members.

He expressed optimism in the leadership style of governor in the state, noting that the party was already witnessing mass return of members who left for other parties.

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PDP crisis worsens as party suspends BoT chairman, Adolphus Wabara

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Senator Adolphus Wabara
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The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abia State chapter, has suspended the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, BOT, Senator Adolphus Wabara, over alleged anti-party conducts.

The suspension was announced after a state executive council meeting in Umuahia. It noted that Wabara’s activities are unbecoming of a former senate president and chairman of the party’s BoT.

In a motion by the Treasurer of the party in the state, Chief Chizuru Kanu, and seconded by the Organizing Secretary, Prince Obinna Okey, the party stated that Wabara declared that the state governor, Dr. Alex Otti of the Labour Party, LP, has won a second term, just five months into his first tenure.

The party alleged that Wabara had refused to apologise over the anti-party conduct despite the time given him to do so.

State chairman of the Abia PDP, Elder Amah Abraham, disclosed that in line with disciplinary procedures of the party, a seven-man disciplinary committee would be set up to investigate Wabara’s alleged anti-party conducts.

The state chairman further stated that in compliance with the provisions of Articles 59(1) (e) & (f) of the party’s Constitution (2017 as amended), Wabara is barred from holding any party office and also removed from office as chairman of the party’s BoT.

The party said: “As officials of People’s Democratic Party (Abia State Chapter) and members of the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the Party, who jointly and severally swore to protect and defend the Party’s Constitution (2017 as amended), we invite the attention of PDP members, stakeholders to the anti-party activities of the BoT Chairman of PDP, Senator Adolphus Wabara, to the resolution of the State Working Committee/State Executive Committee, to invoke the relevant provisions of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended) for the purposes of suspending from the party, Senator Adolphus Wabara, in line with the disciplinary procedures and guidelines and hereby unanimously resolved to State as follows:

His ‘crimes’

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“Our attention was drawn to a statement credited to Senator Adolphus Wabara, the BoT Chairman of PDP, in October 2023, and circulated on social media and national dailies, wherein the said Senator threw caution to the wind and in a brazen display of sabotage to the party, unilaterally endorsed the Labour Party governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, for a second term in office, barely five months after inauguration, and thereby brought the party to disrepute, hatred and/contempt, which is in violation to the provisions of Chapter 10, Article 58(c) and (f) of the Constitution of Party (2017 as amended) and therefore liable to punishment under Article 59(1) of the Party’s Constitution;

“Article 58(1) and Article 59(1) of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended) empowers the State Executive Committee, SEC, to discipline any member of the Party, who commits any offence(s) provided by the Party’s constitution, irrespective of the members status;

“Article 24(1)(v) of the same Constitution confers membership of the State Executive Committee (SEC) on the said BoT Chairman, as a former principal officer of the National Assembly, the said Senator being a former Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which he became under the platform of the Party;

“The unappealed Federal High Court judgement sitting in Ebonyi State, in Suit No. FHC/A1/CS/182/2024 Hon. OVUTA HERBERT ONYEDIKACHI & 2 ORS AND Chief ALI ODEFA & 2 ORS delivered on 29/11/2024, had declared unconstitutional and a breach of the principles of natural justice, equity and good conscience, the purported provision of Articles 57(7) and 59(3) of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended, which hitherto purportedly clothed the Senator with some molecule of immunity, from being sanctioned on disciplinary grounds by the State Executive Committee;

“The said Senator Adolphus Wabara has refused, failed and neglected to refute the said statement credited to him and circulated on social media and National dailies, since October 2023, despite repeated outcries, demands and notices to show cause why disciplinary sanctions should not be meted on him;

“The actions and inactions of Senator Adolphus Wabara have undermined the credibility of the PDP, demoralised party members /stakeholders and emboldened the opposition and gravely constitute gross anti party activity and conduct;

“The need to ensure discipline amongst party members across board, irrespective of status cannot be over emphasized;

“Consequent upon the far-reaching implications of Senator Adolphus Wabara’s acts of sabotage against the party, the SEC hereby invokes the provisions of Articles 57(1),(2),(3), 58(1)(b) & (f) and 59(1) of the party’s Constitution (2017 as amended) against Senator Adolphus Wabara and hereby places him on 1 suspension from party activities.

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‘Furthermore, in compliance with the provisions of Articles 59(1) (e) & (f) of the party’s Constitution (2017 as amended) Senator Adolphus Wabara is barred from holding any party office and therefore equally removed from office as BOT Chairman of PDP.”

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