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My company shut down due to insecurity under Soludo – Ukachukwu *Six expatriates kidnapped
Business activities have been brought down in Anambra State, as a result of insecurity which has assumed an alarming rate since the coming of Chukwuma Soludo as governor, Nicholas Ukachukwu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 8 governorship election, said on Wednesday.
Ukachukwu, who claimed to be the largest employer of labour in the state outside the state government, while appearing as a guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS, said six of his expatriates were kidnapped at one time or the other, adding that he was not happy at the turn of events, but could not help the issue.
Hear him: “When somebody sets out to invest in his state, it means he loves the state. Don’t forget, I live in Abuja, but it can only take us to develop us. I don’t see you can see in the whole state where a Yoruba man or Hausa man having investments or factories. It’s only the Igbo that can do it in other states.
“So, I said, what can we do in order to develop our state and I set out. I’m happy they said I built 12 industries. Yes, it’s something one cannot, but they said some of them are not working. I used to have 74 expatriate workers who lived and worked in that factory. Six of them had been kidnapped at one particular time or the other and we paid heavily.
“Some of those factories by their nature cannot function without those expatriates and no matter what we were paying – at a time we had to increase salaries, increase allowances, we had to get insurance – and then when it couldn’t work anymore.
“Who is not happy that that factory is not working? Nobody, because I sank in so much money, to put up that factory. But the insecurity and other indices and indicators that make the place work – don’t forget Anambra State used to be the biggest market in West Africa – but can we say it is still the same? Of course, the answer is no.
“The indicators, the things that make business work that make people come and invest in a state, they are no longer there. That is why many companies are leaving. It is not a small factory. It is an international conglomerate that I put up. But unfortunately, the security situation and the other enablers that are the key factor – like what we spent on light and other things, could not help it.
“Then, we said, fine, what do we do? We had to shut it down and see how those things can come to bear. It is not only there, many of the other major factories in Nigeria are leaving, especially the ones as big as our own. So, that’s what happened. It’s something everybody from Anambra State and even Nigeria – we used to export everywhere. But now it is no longer the same.
“And that’s what we’re talking about. Those things have to be on ground if Nigeria has to grow and everybody has to play his role. And that’s what happened. But they said at least I built a factory. I used to be the highest employer of labour after the state government. It’s because of my love for my people and not for any other thing. I would have built it in Lagos, I would have built it in any other place.”
“Right now we’re building a cement factory in Port Harcourt, because that one has to be near the water. That’s what I’m talking about. We’ve been investing in the economy, not because of politics because our people have to be employed and things have to change.”
Against the backdrop of allegations from the Soludo camp that he would run the state like his private business, Ukachukwu said that approach was actually what was needed in moving the state to its potentials, arguing that his vision for the state centred on treating governance like a business, with measurable outcomes and visible dividends for the people.
Hear him: “Anambra State needs to be run as a business, so that people should see, because we are managing the collective wealth of the people. Every country worldwide, every government worldwide, every business worldwide, if you’re not running government as a business, dividends and profits cannot come out of it.
“Look at Nigeria, for instance. Maybe we’ve not gotten there yet, but if you look at it, it’s the first time that we’re not relying on oil revenue to run the budget of this country, because nobody knew that we can generate as much as what we’re generating now.”
Nigeria would not be in the sort of socio-political and economic mess it is currently facing but for the cowardice of the present crop of governors, Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, said on Tuesday, saying the country needed courageous leadership at the state levels to confront the ugly situation.
As chairman at the public presentation of Sule Lamido’s autobiography titled: Being True To Myself, written by Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State, Amaechi, who later became a two-time Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari, bewailed the parlous political situation where governors could no longer speak for the people.
Stressing the timidity of his successors, the former governor, who was apparently miffed at the rate at which opposition governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were defecting to the ruling APC, in spite the parlous economic situation in the country, he said such a crisis would never have been allowed during his own time.
Amaechi, who was chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during Lamido’s second term, but eventually defected to the APC to lead the campaign for the election of Buhari, told his audience: “I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors?
“You said no. And the answer is no. We would confront the government, confront the President. That’s how radical we were, that’s how our governors forum operated, that’s how determined we were to change things.”
Dwelling on his relationship with the ex-Jigawa governor, who was in office between 2007 and 2015, Amaechi said their working relationship was strong, despite occasional disagreements — including Lamido’s initial objection to his election as NGF chairman.
“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions. The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others.
“At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways. You must never forget the battles we fought.”
“There is no question that there are huge challenges. But if you look at the balance sheet that this President inherited — massive liabilities arising from the very reckless misuse of ways and means — you’d understand why these steps were necessary.”
These were the exact words of Adams Oshiomhole, Senator, representing Edo North at the National Assembly on the state of the Nigerian economy, expressing confidence that the way the President was going, it would not be long before the parlous situation would experience a marked improvement.
Oshiohmole, former Governor of Edo State and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was a guest of Politics Today, a public affairs progromme on Channels Television, said on Tuesday, Nigerians were justified to feel unhappy over the rising cost of living and the closure of businesses since the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, but urged them to be patient and maintain trust in the reforms.
He added: “It’s a work in progress. The surgeon has gone to carry out the surgery. He understands that there is a level of pain — there has to be pain. But the good news is that the patient is healing. Maybe he could heal faster, but there can be no question that the patient is healing.”
Stressing on the issue of the exchange rate unification as a painful but critical decision to align supply with demand, he warned that failure to do so could have plunged the country into a Zimbabwe-like economic collapse, adding: “The consequential increase in cost of living was predictable. But if that was not done, Nigeria was on its way to Zimbabwe.
“President Tinubu deliberately chose to make all the difficult but necessary decisions in his first term to pave the way for long-term recovery. He took the right decision by insisting that in the first term, he would take all the tough decisions — prayerfully — so that as we move on, the situation improves.
“There is no magic to governance. I don’t think any Nigerian who understands the macroeconomic environment that was inherited by this government would expect that, in 24 months, everything would be fixed. Truly, this economy was badly mismanaged. This is not to blame anyone, but to speak to fact. I can say the worst is over, and we are going to begin to witness improvements in standard of living.
“As a governor, it took me time to have a holistic view of the challenges I inherited and to decide, in terms of priority, what to do first. As a Nigerian, I live in the community and among the people. I can say that there is a level of hardship, but things are improving.”
“Given where we are today in the economy, Tinubu will still win the presidential election. The President eliminated an exploitative foreign exchange regime that previously benefited only a privileged few. Tinubu abolished the ‘benefit of exchange rate’ transfer to bureau de change. Today, what he gets in exchange rate is what I get. Eliminating that free rate — which was available to a few people connected with the CBN management — took courage.”
Senate on Wednesday brushed aside the objections of Abdul Ningi, Senator representing Bauchi South at the National Assembly to commence acerated hearing on a whopping ₦1.783 trillion statutory appropriation bill for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The bill for the appropriation of the amount, came through President Bola Tinubu to the Senate in charge of making laws for the FCT, urging them to approve the proposal for the 2025 financial year.
Shortly after reading the letter transmitting the proposal, the upper chamber on Wednesday, harkened to the request of the President to give the bill expedited consideration, noting that its passage was critical to ensuring an effective and service-oriented administration for residents of the FCT.
But an attempt by the Bauchi Senator, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to halt debates on it pending when the members were abreast of the details was ignored as the Senate invoked Order 78 to allow the bill to scale second reading the same day it was introduced.
Palpably dissatisfied, Ningi, who was once suspended for questioning the financial integrity of the Senate, had raised concerns about the procedure under Order 77 (3 and 4), pointing out that lawmakers had not been provided with copies of the bill prior to the debate.
Leading the debate on the bill, after the objections were brushed aside, Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader, explained that the proposed legislation seeks to authorise the issuance of ₦1,783,823,708,392.00 trillion from the FCT Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund to finance personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures between January 1 and December 31, 2025.
The budget breakdown includes N150.35 billion for personnel costs, N343.78 billion for overhead, and N1.29 trillion allocated for capital projects.
Bamidele underscored that the primary objective of the budget was to drive an effective and enduring service-oriented administration, with a strong focus on completing ongoing projects that have significant impacts on infrastructure and essential services in Abuja.
He noted that the budget prioritises the continuation of existing projects in the FCT, with the introduction of new ones deemed crucial.
It was on the same day that the Senate also confirmed the appointment of five Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) submitted by the President in March for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The confirmation, which followed the receipt and consideration of a report by Simon Lalong, Chairman of Senate Committee on Electoral Matters during plenary on Wednesday, who urged members to confirm the nominees having passed the screening exercise.
The approved RECs are Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano State), Sa’ad Umar Idris (Bauchi State), Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziako (Anambra State), Umar Mukhtar (Borno State) and Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem (Bayelsa State).
Tinubu having his way because today’s governors are cowards – Amaechi
Tinubu almost clearing Buhari’s economic mess – Oshomhole
Wike to get N1.78trillion as 2025 budget *Senate ignores Ningi’s objection
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