Category: Press Release

In less than 48 hours, Nigerians will head to the polls to determine who will be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I have been clear on my preferred candidate from the onset, and my faith in seeing a Peter Obi victory has only grown stronger through the duration of the campaign.

The national acceptance of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate has been a display of the grace of God as millions of well meaning Nigerians across the South, North, East, and West have come to believe in the competence, character, capacity and compassion of Obi ahead of the other candidates.

I am proud of his antecedents of excellent service and integrity. I am equally elated that he is an Igbo man. For someone like me who has been an advocate of reclaiming our identity as a people of honour, hard work, and honesty, the leadership he has provided is one I am glad to support in its entirety.

This is why it is a shock to me that a good number of the attacks against Mr. Peter Obi has come from our own people. I must make it clear that Obi is not an Igbo candidate.

I must also state that I am proudly Nigerian, and as many know, I grew up in different parts of the country and speak the three major languages. However, this fact co-exists with the reality that I am of Igbo extraction. As I respect my brothers in the North, the South and the West who lay claim to their Nigerian citizenship but also recognize and promote their ethnic origin, I am not afraid to bear my father’s name and speak up in the interest of our people.

Recently, while making a formal endorsement of Obi, Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State asked ndi Igbo a critical question – “What do you want? What are you looking for?”

For years, there has been a general outcry about the marginalisation of ndi Igbo since the end of the civil war. At no time have we had the opportunity as we do today to reclaim a prime spot at the helm of affairs in the country.

Why then do we have prominent sons and daughters of Alaigbo who have chosen to condemn their own while trumpeting support for people who history has shown will never do the same for us?

We recall Atiku Abubakar’s blatant statement to his kinsmen in the North in October that “What the average Northerner needs is someone from the North. He doesn’t need a Yoruba candidate or an Igbo candidate.”

It feels like watching a hen that eats its young before it has a chance to hatch. We must stop explaining or apologising for our Igboness. We must stop berating the good people who have the courage to challenge the status quo.

While meritocracy remains my top criteria for the selection and election of leaders, it smacks of puerile brinkmanship to fail to recognise the geo-ethnic sensitivities that exist. I am inspired by the rainbow-support that the ObiDatti candidacy has garnered from tens of millions of people across all ethnic groups in Nigeria.

I celebrate Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nzuko Umunna, and Anya Ndigbo for taking a firm stand with Peter Obi, as well as the Nigerian Christian Elders, Boot Party and the African Democratic Party.

I am thankful for leaders such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Pa Adebanjo, Atedo Peterside, TY Danjuma, Samuel Ortom, Pastor Paul Enenche and many more people and groups who have openly supported and campaigned for an Obi presidency.

As we head to the polls on Saturday, I urge ndi Igbo to ask again and answer honestly – what do you want?

If the answer is the progress of Nigeria ahead of personal interests, you have every reason to cast your vote for Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

God bless Nigeria.

Frank Nweke Jr.
APGA Gubernatorial Candidate, Enugu State.

CAN PRESS STATEMENT

February 12th, 2023

1. The attention of the national leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has been drawn to a purported letter currently in circulation on social media, alleging that a certain sum of N2bn was given by the presidential candidate of Labour party, Mr Peter Obi to Churches under the umbrella of CAN.

2. I use this medium to categorically state that the so-called letter of petition reportedly signed by one Pastor Frank Onwumere and addressed to my office is illogical and can best be described as a failed attempt to drag the apex Christian body into the politics of 2023. However, we will investigate the source of the letter in the interest of the public.

3. To set the records straight, I am not aware of any N2bn given to Churches in Nigeria to mobilise votes for any 2023 presidential candidate and never received the said petition dated December 22, 2022.

4. Nigerians should note that CAN, as a faith-based entity, maintains its non-partisan stance and will not endorse or mobilise support for any candidate in the upcoming elections as against the social media post being circulated by some elements bent on soiling its name and image

5. CAN, therefore, urges members of the public to disregard the purported letter of petition as its content are not only untrue, but malicious.

6. We warn those peddling the falsehood to desist from such acts because they are capable of defaming innocent people and revered religious institutions as well as breaching public peace.

Signed:

Archbishop Daniel C. Okoh

President, Christian Association of Nigeria

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the strongest terms condemns the attack on President Muhammadu Buhari today in Kano State by miscreants allegedly sponsored by the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

This organized attack on the person of the President is outrightly treasonable and a sacrilegious assault on our national sovereignty which must be condemned by all.

Our Party is alarmed that this attack is part of APC Presidential Candidate’s alleged plot to undermine the Presidency, cause confusion, trigger violence in the country, disrupt the conduct of the 2023 general elections and derail our democracy: having realized that he cannot win in a peaceful, free and fair electoral process.

The PDP invites Nigerians to note how Governor Abdullahi Ganduje attempted to abridge President Buhari’s movement and even tried to stop him from visiting Kano State.

More disquieting is the fact that the APC Presidential Campaign sought to humiliate and harm President Buhari, while performing his official duties in Kano.

It should be noted that the APC Presidential Candidate has been displaying open aversion and making inciting statements against President Buhari since Mr. President’s declaration, in line with democratic best practice all over the world, that Nigerians should freely vote for any candidate and Party of their choice in the 2023 general elections.

The apparent frustration of Asiwaju Tinubu to resort to encourage or condone violence is fueled by his entitlement mentality, that it is his turn to be President, despite his numerous ineligibility and disability baggage.

Nigerians are reminded about Asiwaju Tinubu’s infamous statement in London where he declared to his supporters that “political power is not going to be served in a restaurant, it is not served a la carte. It is what we are doing: It is being determined; you do it at all cost; fight for it, grab it, snatch it and run with it”.

Only recently, Asiwaju Tinubu further incited his followers against President Buhari at APC’s Presidential Rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he accused Mr. President of attempting to subvert the electoral process.

It is now clearer why the APC Presidential Candidate brazenly established a militia code-named “the Jagaban Army” which is designed to undermine our national security, unleash violence on institutions of democracy and disrupt the electoral process.

The PDP counsels the APC Presidential Candidate to come to terms with the fact that Nigerians are determined to have free, fair and credible elections and that they are unwavering in their choice of the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as the next President of our country.

Asiwaju Tinubu should note that no threat by any means can divert Nigerians from the path to rescue and rebuild our nation; which aspiration is embodied in Atiku Abubakar.

Signed:

Hon. Debo Ologunagba

National Publicity Secretary

TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE ENUGU PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) CAMPAIGN COUNCIL AT THE CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS AT INDEPENDENCE LAYOUT ENUGU ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2023

Gentlemen of the press,

It is no longer news that some members of the Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), staged a massive protest against the leadership of the APC in Enugu State. The aggrieved members, who protested under the aegis of Concerned Members of Enugu State APC, were very clear in their grievances, namely: the impunity, gross misconducts, incompetence, divisiveness, maladministration and embezzlement of party funds, which they said were being perpetrated by the Chairman of APC in Enugu State, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, and the governorship candidate of the party, Chief Uche Nnaji.

Their grievances and allegations were listed as follows:

1. Embezzlement of the sum of N283 million provided for the purchase of expression of interest and nomination forms for their party members to make sure that their party fields candidates for all the elective positions in Enugu State, from the Governorship to the National Assembly and State Assembly.

2. Embezzlement of about $1.5 million (approximately over N1 billion), which they said various presidential aspirants gave to the state delegates to the APC national convention and presidential primaries through Chief Ugo Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji.

3. Syphoning of the funds given to the Enugu State chapter of the party by an APC governor in the South East to help their party prepare for the presidential rally of the party in Enugu on January 11, 2023.

4. The fraud in parading Barr. George Ogara from Enugu North Senatorial Zone as the deputy governorship candidate of the APC in Enugu State, whereas the real Deputy Governorship candidate on INEC list and website is Chief Robert Ngwu, who hails from Nike, which is in Enugu East Senatorial Zone as Akpugo, where the governorship candidate, Chief Uche Nnaji, hails from.

5. They complained about what they saw as illegality in simultaneous occupation of the deputy governorship candidate and State Secretary of the PDP by Chief Robert Ngwu.

In view of the above, the group, in the petition signed by their Leader, Comrade Adolphus Ude; Chairman, Dr. Mike Chukwu; and Secretary, Engr. Vincent Asogwa, asked the national leadership of the APC to:

1. Immediately remove Chief Ugochukwu Agballah as the chairman of the APC in Enugu State and to appoint a Caretaker Chairman to pilot their party through the 2023 general election.

2. Cause Chief Ugochukwu Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji to immediately make available to the state’s delegates to the national convention and presidential primary election the allowances totalling about $1.5 million (about N1 billion) given to delegates.

3. Compel Chief Ugochukwu Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji to immediately account for the money meant for the interest and nomination forms.

4. Compel Chief Ugochukwu Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji to cough out the funds given to the party by an APC governor in the South East to prepare for their presidential rally in Enugu tomorrow.

5. Direct Chief Ugochukwu Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji to stop parading Barr. George Ogara as the deputy governorship candidate of the APC.

6. Correct the prevailing anomaly and illegality where Chief Robert Ngwu simultaneously occupies the office of the State Secretary and the position of Deputy Governorship candidate of the Enugu State APC.

Ordinarily, the Enugu State PDP should have no business with the self-confessed fraud, embezzlement and impunity going on in the Enugu State chapter of the APC, except to say that they have further exposed to the world that they have no good intentions for Enugu State.

Besides, the APC has never been a factor in elections in Enugu State, let alone now that all the key stakeholders of the APC in Enugu have abandoned the party to Ugochukwu Agballah and his godfathers. If the APC was in the ICU before his controversial emergence as the State Chairman, the party has now been effectively embalmed and consigned to the mortuary by the totalitarian, greedy, and corrupt leadership of Agballah and his two godfathers.

However, we have, as usual been dragged into a purely APC affair by the loquacious Ugcohukwu Agballah, who has claimed that the protesters were sponsored by the PDP. Of course, Agballah’s penchant for looking for scapegoats rather than face his demons is legendary.

As you are well aware, the crisis rocking the Enugu State APC is protracted and predates the current electioneering season. It is on record that even before yesterday’s protest by their aggrieved members, the cream de la creame of the APC in Enugu State had petitioned and physically led a protest to the National Chairman and leadership of the party in August 2022, raising about the same issues highlighted by the Concerned Enugu APC Members yesterday and called for Abgalla’s immediate removal from office and appointment of a caretaker chairman.

Among the party leaders were the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; former governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime; former Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odoh; former state chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye; Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu; member of the Police Service Commission, Onyemuche Nnamani, Member of the Federal Character Commission, Ginika Tor; Member, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Senator Ayogu Eze; Member, National Deposit Insurance Company, NDIC, Brigadier-General J.O.J Okoloagu; former Attorney-General, Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Nwoga; former governorship candidate and National Secretary of the United Nigeria Congress Party, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu; and Ambassador of Nigeria to Poland, Ambassador Christian Ugwu.

In any case, some of the issues raised by the APC protesters are self-evident. For instance, we know as a fact that while George Ogara is paraded as the deputy governorship candidate and while his portrait adorns APC campaign posters and billboards, the name of Robert Ngwu is effectively in INEC records and website as the actual deputy governorship candidate of APC Enugu State. Is that not 419? Is that not fraudulent and obtaining by false pretences?

We are also surprised that Ugochukwu Agballa is just coming out to deny that no dollars were given to APC national convention delegates through him and his governorship candidate; and that no funds were released to him for any nomination forms. But it is a fact that detailed reports on the funds so released have been trending online since November 2022.

Needless to waste our time on an attention-seeking rabble rouser, who has turned himself to a clergy without congregation, we wish to:

1. Call on Chief Ugochukwu Agballah to go home and settle with his aggrieved party members and restitute to them whatever he has taken from them. This is not a fight between the PDP and the APC; it is squarely a fight between angry and deprived APC members and a greedy and conceited party leadership.

2. State that it will be interesting to see Agballah go to court as he boasted. That is the civil thing to do. Probably his aggrieved party members will be able to provide details and showcase his nakedness to the world.

3. In any case, if anybody deserves to be sued over this matter, it is Ugochukwu Agballah, who has defamed the Enugu PDP and its governorship candidate by dragging them into a matter that has absolutely nothing to do with them.

4. Finally, we call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in to investigate the weighty allegations boldly made by well-known APC party leaders against the duo of Chief Ugo Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji.

Thank you for your attention

SIGNED

Nana Ogbodo
Director of Communications and Spokesman,
Enugu State PDP Campaign Council

As we look up to 2023 with renewed hopes and what the new year hold in prospect for our people, I encourage all Nigerians especially our people who have been in prayers for Nigeria in distress, hoping for a new dawn and a national rebirth that ushers in a new Nigeria with a new symphony of national purpose and renewed love among Nigerians of every tongue, region, creed or faith.

Our people craves a new deal in leadership, they seek a new era of responsible and responsive leadership that works for the good of all. I look up to a great tiding in our political sphere; the berth of of a prosperous nation effectively managed by visionary leaders who place country first above all other narrow interests or considerations.

As elections beckon, I urge our youths who have been yearning for a better country not to relent, and those who are still sitting on the fence, I urge them to get involved, get engaged and stand up to take back their country. We could achieve this by shunning all form of violence and all forms of sub-cultural behavior and avail the advantages and the opportunities the 2023 elections present, to elect competent and sincere leaders with the required capacity to change our fortunes.

This new year and the attendant elections hold the prospect for the reinvigoration we have so desired. Never have I so hoped and believed that our country is at the threshold of victory than now. Why not, the desire is there, the passion and resolve for a better Nigeria among the masses of the people is intense and palpable, the determination is almost tangible that one could feel it.

Ndi Enugu, It’s a new dawn and a new beginning, our homeland deserve a new deal and a new order,
let our thoughts,decisions and our actions reflect newness to enable us get rid of the old to make place for the new.
As I would say, Charity Begins at Home!

Happy new year.

Capt. Evarest Nnaji
Odengene

Welcome to 2023, the year where we make a choice for hope, economic transformation, potable and affordable water, good health infrastructure, accountable leadership and the safety of all residents in Enugu State.

This is the year we send the old order packing and take back our State for ourselves, for our future and for our children.

This is the year we create and begin to pursue the “Enugu Dream” which is to live in a State where everyone is secure, where every resident is treated with respect and dignity, where every resource – human and material, is judiciously deployed for the benefit of all and where every man, woman and child have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

It won’t be easy but I am ready for the ride. I invite you to join me.

Become a voice in your family and your community for our campaign. Share this information across your social media. Pick up your PVCs and prepare to vote at the polls and protect your vote.

It is time to Arise, take back our State and restore her glory.

Kunie! Ka anyi dozie Enugu!

Have a wonderful and productive New Year!

God bless you. God bless Enugu State.

Frank Nweke Jr

Enugu State 2023 All Progressives Grand Alliance Governorship Candidate.

One of the phenomenal experiences of the 21st Century is the impact of social media on almost every aspect of our national life. But it is unfortunate that some misguided members of the society have continually hidden under the anonymity of this virtual world to peddle sheer falsehood and utter malicious content.

Enugu State is not immune to this malaise. In the last few months especially since the beginning of campaigns for the forthcoming elections, those who ought to have known better, have sought to revile the prevailing civility in the state and drag the hard-earned reputation of Enugu’s illustrious sons to the mud of public obloquy. Lately, the state has been inundated with clearly malicious jingles and sundry content conceived with the devious intent to malign the reputation of our governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. Despite the disingenuous attempt to mask the identity of the purveyors, it is not difficult to deduce the source of these slanderous messages.

We are not in the least surprised by such discovery, as the messages are in sync with the characters of the linchpins whose political careers are typified by mudslinging. Whereas most of these pretenders have no record of success in any previous endeavor, they are wont to rate any other person’s successes from the warped prism of their serial failings, after all, it is often typical of scoundrels to assume that their enemies are the enemies of God! Rather than devote efforts to enunciate a functional blueprint, or nurture their tarnished reputations, these besmirched opposition elements have chosen, quite ironically, to contrive a campaign of calumny against someone who, by his sheer dint of hard work and revolutionary ideas, has been able, through the Pinnacle Oil success story, to give Enugu State a salient definition in the national map of entrepreneurship, thus underscoring that we are also blessed with men of distinct abilities. Such dirty ploy is reflective of the Socratic saying that slander becomes the tool of the loser when the debate is lost! Yet, the PDP Campaign Organization would like to emphasize that slander is never permissible in any society governed by the rule of law.

Indeed, it is gratifying to note that the Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has enthroned an enabling environment characterized by restraint even in the face of brazen provocation. Such unrestrained freedom, we all know, is not guaranteed in some states around Enugu. These purveyors of falsehood know this too well. Fortunately, such lies can only titillate a few. The larger section of the electorate would rather be treated to engaging debates and ennobling campaigns. This is what our candidate has been carrying out through his numerous town hall meetings across the state.

We hereby note that whereas the Nigerian constitution guarantees an array of freedoms, including rights of expression, it does not translate to a right to deliberately impugn people’s reputation. We therefore hereby call on the law enforcement agencies to dig deep and bring to law all those who have by these incendiary messages gone beyond the threshold of law and decency. It is also pertinent to restate that while we may have chosen to go high as they consciously plunge lower to depths of depravity, we are not averse to seeking legal redress when the line of decency is breached as presently obtains.

Nana Ogbodo Esq.

Director of Communications/Spokesman

Enugu State PDP Campaign Organization

Today, as family, friends and indeed the entire ndi Igbo mark the 89th posthumous birthday of the great Ikemba, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, I took some time to reflect on his life and what makes him our beloved hero.

Ojukwu was a man of great intellect, independence of mind, humility, and immense courage. He had many admirable qualities but today, I choose to remember and celebrate his selflessness and commitment to his people.

His driving force was the welfare, wellbeing and progress of his people. He was a staunch advocate of Shared Prosperity and an egalitarian society that would cater to the needs of every member without bias. He stood for justice and fought for it from his days as a young man in the military and as an elder statesman.

This is what earned him the loyalty, trust and love of his people. As we remember this great man today, I celebrate his legacies of transparent leadership, courageous service and dedication to the collective progress of all the people he served.

May the labour of our heroes’ past yield good fruit through us today.

The Okeifufe Campaign Organization.

Ndi Enugu n’ile, ndeewonu.

It is with a heavy heart but a strengthened resolve that I make this statement.

It has been a week since the kidnapping of dozens of individuals, including students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who were returning to school after the eight months long strike action by ASUU. I can’t imagine the trauma of these children and their parents, to have the joy of resumption after months of being home cut short by the failure of the State government to combat criminality and terror.

I encourage everyone to stay calm even while being alert to happenings around you.

It is also frustrating to keep calling on a government that has consistently ignored the plight of its citizens, shutting access to the State house and effectively telling us that they would rather protect themselves alone.

Still, I call on the PDP led government and the relevant authorities to make the rescue of these students the utmost priority. We have the advantage of geo-tracking technology that can be deployed to immediately track these bandits and rescue the abductees.

We must be resolute about this. It is my prayer and charge to the government and the relevant agencies that these students and other abductees are rescued on time, giving the appropriate care and therapy they would require after such a tormenting ordeal. All hands must be on deck to ensure that no one is left behind.

I will keep applying pressure where I can and following the updates closely.
We will overcome.

Ndi Enugu, God bless and keep us all.

Frank Nweke Jr
Gubernatorial Candidate
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
Enugu 2023