Imo State
Senator Okorocha not in alliance with Emeka Ihedioha to remove Governor Uzodinma – aide
Rochas Foundation A former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has denied media reports that he is in alliance with ex-Governor Emeka Ihedioha to sack incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma from office. Senator Okorocha, who denied the reports which he said was credited to the Director-General of (DG) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State, Cajetan Duke, advised that such claims should be stopped, maintaining that it is only ‘making a mockery of the APC.’ Sam Onwuemeodo, the media adviser to the former governor, speaking on behalf of Okorocha, disclosed this in a press statement in Owerri. According to the statement: “To say the least, Okorocha is not in alliance with Ihedioha for removing Governor Uzodinma or for any other reason. Those behind the story should stop makin...
MASSOB urge police to release arrested members
FIle Photo The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has called on the police to release its members arrested on Friday in Imo State. MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Sunday Okereafor, who condemned the mass arrest of the movement’s members, said they did no wrong and did not deserve to be apprehended by the police. Four persons had been shot when the police operatives clashed with MASSOB members at Orji axis of Owerri, the Imo State capital, while those injured were rushed to the hospital. The State Police Public Relations Officer, Orlando Ikokwu, who confirmed the clash, alleged that MASSOB members attempted to snatch firearms from policemen. Ikokwu said the MASSOB members also inflicted machete cut injuries on two policemen in the New Owerri area of t...
CAN: Igbo presidency will be Nigeria’s political solution
File Photo The Imo State Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Dr. Divine Eches Divine, has said that Igbo presidency in 2023 is incontestable, arguing that it will be Nigeria’s political solution. The cleric spoke to newsmen on Monday in Owerri, the state capital. He said that it would amount to injustice if Igbos are denied the opportunity to produce the next president of Nigeria, describing it as long overdue. “We are laying a serious foundation for people to understand that the Igbo presidency is not a zoning issue. Every agitation should surrender at the feet of the Southeast presidency as a doctrine of necessity. “Southeast leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria, as well as other religious groups, are seriously consulting. There should be a fair share of power wher...
PDP alleges plot to ‘derail’ Edo guber poll
The Peoples Democratic Party has alleged plots by the All Progressives Congress to use the trio of Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, and Yahaya Bello of Kogi State to derail the September 19 Edo State Governorship Election. According to the party, the people of Edo were already aware that the trio “were selected by the APC to lead its campaign so as to force a combined formula of Kano and Kogi electoral violence as well as Imo State mandate robbery, to subvert the will of the people of Edo State in the governorship election.” This was contained in a statement signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, on Friday. It read in part, “The PDP described as pathetic that the APC only has a person who has become a butt of inter...
Petrol price hike a move to end subsidy regime – expert
AHA Taxis Nigeria’s first professor of the Capital Market and former Imo State Finance Commissioner, Prof Uche Uwaleke, on Wednesday described the hike in petrol price from N123.50k/litre to a price band of N140.80 to N143.80 as an indication that the Federal Government was ready to gradually exit the fuel subsidy regime. The Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), in a memo to oil marketers on Wednesday, said that the upward review of petrol price stemmed from existing market realities which were taken into consideration before the new pump price was released. Prof Uwaleke told newsmen that exiting the subsidy regime was necessary in view of plummeting government revenue and the pressure on government finances occasioned by COVID-19. ‘Fortunately for the Nigerian economy...
Panic in Imo community as ‘herdsmen’ kill security operative
There is palpable fear in Umuanuma community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State as suspected herdsmen murder a private security operative, Mr Hycinth Ikegwu, at about 6 am on Sunday while returning from work with his motorcycle. A source from the community who revealed the incident to our reporter noted that the community suspected herdsmen because of the brutal way he was murdered. Ikegwu who worked as a private security operative as we were reliably informed was said to have been brutally chopped with a very sharp objected on the head that caused him to blead to death. “Houses were around the road he was returning, he was very close to his home before they killed him. We don’t know what happened to him but because of the deep cut on his head, we just have to suspect the he...
Imo governor abolishes pensions, gratuities for former governors, speakers, deputies
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has assented to a bill repealing the law that created pension allowances and gratuities for former governors, deputy governors, assembly speakers and deputy speakers. Signing the bill into law in Owerri on Friday, the governor noted that the erstwhile law runs contrary to the 1999 Constitution as amended, which stipulates that a pensioner must have worked for at least 10 years and must be up to 45 years of age. He regretted a situation where some of the beneficiaries of such payments also get a huge amount of money as salaries and allowances in other positions they occupied, such as serving as senators or members of the House of Representatives. He said: “Apart from the inconsistency of such a law to the provisions of the ground norm, which is the Consti...
Minister lauds Kaduna, Imo, Katsina, Plateau governors for complying with right of way resolution
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), has commended Governors El-Rufai, Uzodimma, Masari and Lalong for implementing Right of Way Resolution. The Minister in a statement signed by his Technical Assistant (Information Technology), Dr Femi Adeluyi, on Friday expressed delight with the strides that have been made by the Governors which he said aligned with the resolution of the State Governors under the auspices of the Governors’ Forum. Recall that the Governors’ Forum had on the 22nd of January 2020 agreed to address the lingering issue of Right of Way (RoW) charges in a bid to deepen broadband penetration in the country and promote a Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria. At that meeting, the Executive Governors had resolved to adopt the 2013 reso...
Anambra intensifies community searching for coronavirus
The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Don Adinuba said the state government had decided to establish a COVID-19 task force in each of the 21 local government areas. According to him, each task force would be headed by the chairman of the local government Transition Committee, while members would compromise the Health Officer, the Information Officer, the Disease and Surveillance Officer, as well as the Ministry of Health Covid-19 Liaison Officer in the LGA. Adinuba also the government had also decided to set up a COVID-19 task force in each of the 326 wards in the state, with membership to be drawn from the Ministry of Health, the officer in charge of the Primary Healthcare in the ward, the youth leader in the ward, the woman leader in the ward, the development ward...
YCN, IPC warn Imo governor over suspension of journalist
The Young Citizens of Nigeria (YCN) has asked Imo State Government to reverse the indefinite suspension of a journalist, Vivian Ottih. This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by its Director of Media, Augustine Nwaobi. Ottih, also a lawyer, is a Senior Editor with Imo Broadcasting Corporation-owned Orient FM in Owerri, the state capital. YCN advised the Governor Hope Uzodinma and his administration to “thread cautiously on issues of public importance”. They condemned the suspension of Ottih, the Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), over the request for payment of three months’ salary on Facebook. YCN noted that one of the characteristics of a progressive government is the ability to respond positively to issues affecting citizen’s welfare. “Imo Governor sho...
Journalist suspended for requesting salary on social media
A journalist with the Imo State government has been suspended indefinitely from her job for taking to Facebook to request her three months unpaid salary and the wages of her co-workers. Officials said the Facebook post was an “embarrassment” to the Imo State government. The suspended journalist, Vivian Ottih, is a lawyer and a senior editor with the government-owned IBC Orient FM radio station. She is the chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), in Imo State. Mrs Ottih, on May 4, posted a message on Facebook, appealing to Governor Hope Uzodinma’s media aide, Modestus Nwamkpa, to make a case to the governor on behalf of the workers in the government-owned radio and television stations who were yet to get their February, March, and April salaries. Ottih described ...
Rivers PDP expels wanted youth leader
File Photo Ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of new Rivers State Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party has expelled its Eleme Local Government Area (LGA) Youth Leader, Princewill Osaroejiji, who is wanted for alleged role in demolished Prodest Hotel’s saga. The development comes as elder statesman and PDP stalwart, Prince Emma Anyanwu chided leader of the Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, over “hate” comments against Governor Nyesom Wike. A statement by Felix Obuah, outgoing Chairman of Rivers PDP, noted that Osaroejiji of Eleme Alode Ward 2 of the party was being expelled for “insubordination, flagrant rascality, disobedience to directives of the State Government on COVID-19 and acts of criminality.” Obuah furt...
