The All Progressives Congress(APC) in Abia State has rejected the nomination of Mr Henry Ogbulogo to represent Abia in the Board of Federal Character Commission(FCC) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday appointed 38 persons to the board of the Federal Character Commission (FCC).

The appointment was contained in a letter seeking the Senate’s approval.

The letter was read by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday.

Recall that the Senate had on February 25 urged President Buhari to reconstitute boards of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) with immediate effect.

But, according to Abia APC, in a release signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Comrade Benedict Godson, and issued to newsmen in Umuahia, on Thursday, the appointment of Henry Ogbulogo amounted to a loss of opportunity and a massive disservice to committed, qualify and loyal members of APC.

“When an appointment meant for them are given to strangers who they never saw in the battlefield of campaigns and elections, it typifies a total disservice and blatant neglect of true and loyal APC members in Abia State.”

APC is centred on strong leadership and ever dedicated and committed members who give their all for the betterment of the party, our state and the country at large”.

APC noted that “As a party still growing and developing in Abia, our achievements so far can only be sustained by the meritorious reward of the hard-working, eminently and academically qualified members of the party in every available appointment.

“Our President is a good man who appreciates hardworking people, but the reality is that some people must have done a recommendation with no sense of justice and merit, because the said person may have been an APC member-only in his dreams”.

The Abia APC leadership reminded the National leadership of the party and the presidency that appointments like these (Henry Ogbulogo) are a massive political loophole.”

It asserted that the appointment was tantamount to the indigenous English Parlance of “Monkey dey work, Baboon dey chop.”

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“A party that won a Senatorial seat, two House of Representatives seats and two State Assembly seats ought not to have an appointee whose name sounds very strange among members in the state.

“It’s an unceremonious burial for hard-work and party loyalty and it’s capable of weakening a higher percentage of our members and reducing their morale and commitments towards party affairs.

“Should appointments like this stand, what will be the fate of our dear party come 2023?

“What level of motivation are we expected to give to all the strong, dedicated, educated, vastly experienced, and loyal party men and women of Abia origin who believed and worked for APC in 2015 and 2019?

The APC, however, asked the National Working Committee(NWC) and the Presidency to kindly reconsider Ogbulogo’s appointment as one tantamount to shooting oneself on the leg.

“As our neighbouring Imo is currently building a strong APC centred on dedicated members, we have to key in and join forces with them to take over Abia.

“The reality is that if we really want a better and stronger party, we must not allow strangers who shy away from work to get appointed into positions meant for party men.

“If this stands, hard-work, dedication, and party loyalty will go into oblivion”.

Continuing, “We are very sure that our party’s National leadership knows the value of loyalty and very well appreciates the cost of betrayal. The feeling of our members in Abia is that this appointment is a total betrayal.

“The appointee never worked with us, never fought with us, and is not known by us. How come he is appointed in a position meant for a member of Abia APC?O Our message is very simple.

“The only way to save and keep APC strong is to appoint loyal, qualified, and dedicated party men who love Abia and Nigeria. Anything contrary, we shall be playing into the hands of the opposition come 2023,” the party opined

An Ex-lawmaker who represented Ehime-Mbano state constituency in Imo State House of Assembly, Lawman Duruji has challenged the current speaker of the House to make public his qualifications to justify his educational claims.

Lawman, in a press statement last week, alleged that the speaker parades a forged certificate hence, should be shown the way out and arraigned for forgery of his certificate.

He denied being sponsored to challenge the authenticity of the speaker’s certificate, insisting that he will stop at nothing in exposing the truth to the general public.

The ex-lawmaker claimed that the speaker’s acclaimed PhD was fake and the NYSC exemption certificate forged.

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According to him, Chiji Collins claimed to have graduated with his first degree in 1981 when he was 24 years of age, an age he said was under average to be entitled to an exemption.

Similarly, he alleged the speaker has failed on several occasions to honour NYSC invitation to Abuja with the clerk of the House.

Duruji further accused the speaker of lobbying with the Adhoc committee set up by the Assembly to investigate his certificate status, to drop the matter in order to save his head.

But speaking in an interview, the speaker described the allegations as unfounded, challenging the ex-lawmaker to provide veritable facts to his claims.

He wondered why his certificate detail is gradually becoming an issue when, according to him, it was in the public domain.

He insisted that he passed out from an Italian University and bagged a PhD in Architecture.

The Isiala-Mbano lawmaker further described the ex-lawmaker as a confused man who lost his second term bid at the Appeal Court and is looking for where to transfer his aggression.

He, however, challenged his accusers to go to court and present facts rather than using the media to attack.

[Daily Post]

Cross River State Governor Benedict Ayade has called on the Federal Government to allow healthy Nigerians work and move freely noting that it is unnecessary to imitate Western approach in tackling the spread of COVID-19 while the economy suffers.

The governor said this on Wednesday at the rice seeds and seedlings factory in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital while deploying agricultural equipment to some parts the state for the commencement of another farming season.

Ayade said Nigeria’s demography is different from Europe’s hence shutting down our economy is uncalled for. He added that the Federal Government should rather lock down sick and vulnerable people only.

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“This is the opportunity for Africa to play catch-up instead of adopting what they are doing in Europe. It can never be the same in our circumstance. Our demography is not the same.

“We don’t have the same number of aged people that they have, we have young people whose immune system are strong. So, for the virus to takedown somebody in Africa, it has to be really prepared.

“That is why I insist, just wear your nose mask. Loosen up the country. Those who have confirmed cases, those who fall within the suspicious line are the ones to be lockdown to allow healthy Nigerians to work,” Ayade said.

The governor added that the Federal Government should allow airlines to commence operation and enforce the use of facemask for protection.

“Let the airlines start working. Insist that nobody get into any plane to fly within Nigeria without putting on a nose mask. We don’t need to shut down our economy. Protection is good with the nose mask,” he added.

Ayade stressed that it is counterproductive for a healthy person to be on lockdown.

He urged the Federal Government to rather improve its productivity and allow young and vibrant citizens to go about their businesses freely.