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Otti’s govt, now a confused bunch – PDP *Says things falling apart
Unless the Abia State Government ends the gale of unrestrained sacking of top officials trained at huge costs to the state, and recalls those already shooed out, so long would it descend more into the morass of confusion, such as it has currently found itself, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned.
The main opposition in the state which lost power to the Labour Party (LP), after 24 years in the saddle, accused the government of Alex Otti, of incessant sacking of the good hands it met on ground, said this has resulted in a state of flux, accentuated by bad policies and inexperience of those it has recruited to work with.
Abraham Amah, Vice Chairman of the Abia chapter, of the party, while noting that the government had been groping in the dark and running in confusion like headless chicken, said this has accounted for its frenzied activities as seen in the further sacking of its appointees in the past two weeks, adding that running helter-skelter to redeem itself would come to naught without doing the right thing.
The party, which claimed to have burst the pipe of propaganda, the government had since embraced as its major working tool, maintained that its well-oiled media machinery, would not relent in puncturing all the lies being fed to the people of the state by painting the right picture of the state of affairs.
Citing the sacking of Kazie Uko, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor and Ngozi Okoronkwo, the Commissioner for Health, the party said, the government had introduced an air of uncertainty into its operations as nobody, was now no longer sure where and on whom the axe would fall next.
Informing that the PDP had it on good authority that many of the commissioners and other aides of the governor, were now considering throwing in the towel rather than being disgraced out of office were the fate of their former colleagues, Amah, who is also the spokesman of the PDP, said: “A fortnight ago, Alex Otti suspended the Commissioner for Health, Ngozi Okoronkwo, on allegations of massive corruption in the Ministry and placed her under investigation.
“When the PDP released a statement claiming the suspension was more than meets the eye, as she was not the only one that has exhibited many excesses in the Alex Otti team, his Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, overreached himself and bared open the mindset of Alex Otti and his methods to the public when he started their usual PDP-bashing press statement with a quote by the infamous Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist who helped Hitler to slaughter over six million Jews.
“The condemnations from well-meaning Nigerians that trailed Okey Kanu’s infamous quote are yet to settle, and Abians now know the copybook of Alex Otti and his operatives and the reason why he has been dealing ruthlessly with Abians, particularly the state finances, pensioners, sacked workers, and unpaid workers, in Hitler-style methods that brought the Third Reich to an inglorious end.
“Last week, Alex Otti sacked his Chief Press Secretary, Kazie Uko, and replaced him with one Ukoha Njoku Ukoha. We had expected that Ukoha N. Ukoha would understand that his duty is to tell Abians and Nigerians how his principal has delivered on his campaign promises and showcase his good works, if there are any, beyond re-asphalting roads done by the previous administration.”
Amah, while describing as unfortunate the hurry of Ukoha to please his boss, instead of heeding good advice, noted that this had led him to make the same error of his predecessor as could be gleaned in “his first misstep in his first outing by continuing with the deja vu bashing of the PDP, which earned his principal the bad reputation he was called to come and clean up.
“Our sympathy lies with the new CPS Ukoha because his fall would be more calamitous than that of his predecessor since he has failed to learn that his job is not to profile the PDP wrongly. As the fire in the Alex Otti media and propaganda team raged, the axe fell on Mrs Joy Maduka, former Head of Service, whom Alex Otti bypassed due process and promoted ahead of her superiors, as she was summarily dismissed and asked to proceed on compulsory retirement.
“Having sacked all the senior directors and permanent secretaries who were trained with state resources prematurely and out of an alleged insensitive hatred for the PDP, Otti is currently allegedly grappling with a shortage of trained manpower with whom to govern without the daily missteps that put him and his government into ridicule.
“It was the same confusion and lack of direction that caused the governor’s Chief Security Officer, CSO, to summon civil servants who had not been verified to his office, in utter defiance of Abia State Civil Rule, CS Rule 04102, which empowers only the Civil Service Commission to exercise disciplinary control over Abia civil servants. Such autocratic disposition reflects the character of the governor, which his Information Commissioner and Chief Press Secretary unknowingly pushed out to the public by endorsing the Joseph Goebbels quote time after time, even when they knew Abians would not accept such infamy.
“Presently, Alex Otti’s house is falling apart, and we advise him to come down from his high horse, swallow his pride, and recall those he sacked ignominiously so that they will help him in the good governance and administration of Abia State before the roof finally collapses on his head. The people he sacked were not Okezie Ikpeazu loyalists, not PDP members, but Abia civil servants, who ordinarily must be loyal to any government in power, as they are loyal to him now. No time is too late to do the right thing.”
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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