Analysing the Chances of Ikpeazu's Candidature

By Martin Eze

IN 1991, the administration of Major General Ibrahim .B. Babangida created additional states including Abia State, God's Own State. Administrators were appointed to run the state's affairs until 1993 when Dr. Ogbonnaya Onuh became the first democratically elected Governor of the state. He couldn't complete his term because of ministry intervention.

Abia State is divided into three electoral political zones, Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South. Since the creation of the state nobody from Abia South has ever Governed the state either as an administrator or as Executive Governor. In 1999, the north through Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu governed from 1999 - 2007 and Chief T.A. Orji from Abia Central took over, but by May 29, 2015 his administration comes to an end and a successor must emerge. The question is from which zone? That is the issue of the moment. Zoning, though not written in our constitution is one of the major factors that will influence the electorate come April11, 2015.

When it was time for aspirants to emerge,a man from Abia South, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu indicated interest on the platform of People Democratic Party, PDP. After a well conducted and contested primary with other aspirants from all the zones in the state, Victor emerged, a first stage in the race of Government House. As we enter the next phase which is the general election were other political parties will present their candidates, surely the issue of zoning will likely play a major role in the voting of the electorate.
It is unlikely that Abians will vote for a candidate from the same zone with the present Governor Chief T.A. Orji, that equally extends to any candidate from Abia North.

Although, Abia State is largely a people democratic party state but there are some other parties with some presence such as the PPA which is a poster & billboard party. In All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, with less than forty days to general election, the electorate is not sure who the governorship candidate is. Some people say it's Alex Oti while others mention the name of another candidate. If it's Alex Oti, where is he from, is he from Arochukwu (Abia North) or from Aro-Ngwa (Abia Central). Some say he was born in Arochukwu but grew up in Ngwa while others claim he was born in Ngwa but grew up in Arochukwu, with this ambiguity, either way, he is certainly not favoured by the zoning permutation.

Secondly, the performance of the present administration which is a PDP government should have some bargaining chip for its candidate. Many are of the view that with Chief T.A. Orji, who also doubles as Chairman of the Eastern Governors forum , Abians have had a good taste of real dividends of democracy. All the previous government carried out the business of State from Temperance government House while the new Government House he started is almost near completion. He also built a modern state secretariat for office complex unlike his predecessors who made use of scattered rented building as offices which was siphoning the state money. The roads, education, health care, spots etc, all got the attention of the government space will not allow me to enumerate all.
In fact, he ended the reign of kidnappers and robbers thereby making the state a safe haven for private investors from within and outside the country. Ikpeazu as a PDP candidate will likely benefit from these legacies of Ochendo.

The third determinant factor will be the position of the political stake holders in the state. It is not in doubt that almost all the political bigwigs in Abia State are members of the People Democratic Party. Some of these bigwigs influence the voting pattern of the electorate from their constituency because of their past achievements. In Abia Central, we have the likes of Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, former NDDC Chairman who presented a formidable opposition during 2007 election. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, minister of Finance and co-ordinating minister of the economy is also from the central. Some families are benefiaries of the scholarship scheme of some of the bigwigs. Some got employment through their assistance, widows are equally catered for. Some built boreholes and other developmental projects.
The fourth index that could crown it all is the pedigree of the candidates. For Dr. Alex Oti, he is relatively new in the politics of Abia, nothing much is know about him accept that he is a retired banker. His political platform APGA is unpopular in the state. His candidature is still been contested for by another candidate. This crack will certainly affect him negatively.

Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is the only candidate that is sure of a hundred percent vote from a political zone, the Abia south.

He has held political positions in the past and impacted the life of many citizens, built bridges across all strata. He is not a new entrant into Abia political firmanent.

Mr. Martin Eze, a political analyst, wrote from Umuahia, Abia State.

Abia: Orji’s shoes are big but I’ll run faster — Dr Okezie Ikpeazu

Says I can’t be anybody’s stooge

AMID a tight campaign schedule, the Abia State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, in this encounter spoke among others on his plans for Abia and how to actualise them, if elected. He admitted that Governor Orji has set a hurdle in terms of achievements but said he will run faster because he is younger.

BY Clifford Ndujihe

His take on comments that he is a neophyte and stooge of Governor Theodore Orji

I had my doctorate degree before my 30th birthday. I have taught in four universities, including being the external examiner of master’s degree students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It is not possible for someone to think of me as a stooge. All this can only exist within the realms of political propaganda. Almost every candidate in the race was once in the PDP, so apparently they all wanted to be stooges. They started singing different tunes when the PDP people said, “we want change but we want to change into certainty not into darkness’ and the civil servants said, “we want someone who can keep our jobs and pay us, not someone who will do right-sizing or down-sizing and retrench us at the end of the day.”

Okezie Ikpeazu
Okezie Ikpeazu
There is no governor in Nigeria that is anybody’s stooge. And if you played a role in canvassing for votes or helped a governor to be elected, you can’t expect the governor to be your stooge. You can only bring ideas that are beautiful on the table and if its falls into the main frame of a focused administration.

Superior logic

Abia people know that I am the only person that is humble enough to entertain all shades of opinion, logic and suggestions. If your logic is superior we will go and test it. If mine is superior you go with me. I am not coming with any airs of arrogance. I am humble enough to say that I need the support of the people of Abia and hopeful that they will give me.

The challenge of taking over and matching Governor Orji’s records?

The governor has enormous goodwill and he has carried himself as a gentleman. He has a lot of respect among the elders, and the common people of Abia. He is a huge challenge. But I know that by the time the people understand my style, the difference will show. I will try to be as meticulous as Orji but I will run faster because I am younger.

His plans: The first plan is our people. Abia is peopled by people with capacity in various areas. Our human capital is second to none and we are the best traders and very good in commerce. We are also very good with the things we can do with our hands. So in the years ahead we want to leverage on these advantages that God has given us to make sure that the economy of Abia rests on strong pillars of trade and commerce, small and medium scale enterprises.

Of course we are in oil and gas but we want to let the advantage of oil and gas recede to the background because we are just marginal producers. So oil will not be on the front burner of our economic decisions in the days ahead.

We have another advantage. If you look at Aba for example, the city is at the confluence of about seven other cities in the South-East and South-South. The city is about 30 minutes drive to Ikot Ekpene, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Umuahia among others. The strategic location of this city makes it what sugar is to ants and it attracts people. So we must leverage this strategic geographical location of Aba to place world class infrastructure around Aba so that we can return trade and commerce and build industrial clusters using the German model.

What I mean by that is the apprenticeship system where we have family line businesses. But government must intervene in terms of giving access to world class finishing and equipment so that there can be mass production, finished products that can compete for space in shops in top shops in European markets.

European markets

We will also do a mass reorientation of the way our people think. The time has gone when people will talk down on the people of Abia. We want to say that we are the best in the world and that we will attract the attention of not only the best in Nigeria but also in Africa to Abia in the days ahead. This is our focus.

Plans for Aba… People talk about Aba just because they are thinking about votes. I talk about Aba with more passion because that is where I come from. I don’t have a house in any other part of the world than in Aba. Nobody is more interested in the Aba problem as myself, because you can’t be more Catholic than the Pope. And nobody has a better plan for Aba. First, I have a proper diagnostics of the Aba problem. Aba’s problem is rooted in the fact that infrastructural stock, in terms of drainage, houses, roads, have been static for awhile and the population has grown geometrically. And when that happens, it means that there will be more pressure on the roads and the drainages and they will start collapsing.

The drainage system has remained unmanned and unserviced because it is underground. Once you have underground drainage system, you must maintain it. You must go through it every year. And it has been left for almost 50 years and some people have also constructed buildings across the drainage system. We have three storey buildings and churches across the drainage systems.

What we want to do is first of all to do a ring road around Aba. I said earlier that Aba is in the centre of our plans because it is at the confluence of the states in the South-East South-South and our industrial clusters are going to take off from Aba. What you can get in Aba in terms of internally generated revenue can help you develop other parts of Abia including Umunneochi and other places.

So we want to do a ring road while we revisit the existing roads, remodel them and redesign them.

We have two options on draining and de-flooding. One, there is an underground drainage system, which has been silted to the brim and that is why each time it rains there will flooding.

Underground drainage

So, do we open up and use open drainage system or do we continue with the underground system where we have to get experts to open the underground drainage for it to enter into the Aba River? But draining straight into the Aba River is also not environmentally sustainable. So we are thinking about a secondary water plant around Aba River that would capture the storm water, treat it up to secondary level and then return it to the river so that aquatic life can thrive.

Do you have the political will to redesign Aba given the houses that will be affected?

Politically and socially, you have to localize your strengths and weaknesses. What did it take the incumbent governor to remove the market in Umuahia to Ubani? He is a son of the soil. His people are the people that own shops there and he found the political will.

For those who have constructed buildings across the drainages, those buildings will go. One kilometre of drainage will serve the entire city of five million people but a single house will serve just a family. We can’t allow your selfishness to put us all at risk. So we must do what we need to do when we get there.

Okezie Ikpeazu PhD makes a triumphant return to the class room

 

* Delivers lecture at Abia State Polytechnic
* Promises to review fees 

The PDP Governorship candidate for Abia State, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu PhD, returned to the classroom today to teach students of Abia State Polytechnic Aba. 

A former lecturer at Calabar Polytechnic and former Head of Biochemistry Department at Enugu State University of Technology, Okezie Ikpeazu  was the guest lecturer at a seminar for science students organized by Grace Uduma Foundation in conjunction with the School of Science of the institution. 

His presentation which lasted for more than an hour focused on "Effect of garlic extract on body fat" and "Waste to wealth: a biochemical perspective". The renowned scientist and researcher kept the enthusiastic students spell bound as he reeled out scientific facts based on the research he co-authored with an Indian national on the efficacy of garlic extract in reducing body fat, especially when combined with exercises.

Speaking on "wealth to waste", the frontline gubernatorial candidate in Abia who was the immediate past Deputy General Manager of Abia State Environmental Sanitation Agency (ASEPA) told the students that Aba currently generates more than 5000 tonnes of waste daily. According to him “this waste can easily be converted to wealth by the citizens from collection at homes to the anaerobic and alcoholic fermentation of the waste to produce fertilizer, methanol, biogas etc through recycling, reuse and sorting”. The former lecturer who obtained a doctorate degree in Biochemistry at age 30 highlighted the biochemical processes involved in the anaerobic and alcoholic fermentation reactions that converts waste to other useful products. He explained to the students how they can make enormous wealth by keying into the available opportunities within the waste management systems as the volume of waste is expected to increase with improvements in income.

Answering a question from one of the students, Okezie Ikpeazu encouraged the students to see themselves as the best and work hard towards their life goals. He promised to ensure that the students receive bursaries regularly as well as get large multinational corporations to partner with Abia tertiary institutions in supporting education through endowments, sponsoring beneficial research work and supporting infrastructural development at the schools. According to him: "education is the key to guaranteeing the present and future of Abia State and no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that education at all levels is prioritized with no child left behind and the welfare of teachers taken care of as a matter of priority".

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Dean of School of Science & Industrial Technology, Rev. Engr. David Dimoji informed the students that Okezie Ikpeazu with his vast experience in the educational sector, public service and private sector possesses all the relevant skills and capacity required to transform the fortunes of the institution and Abia State rapidly. He further appealed to  Okezie Ikpeazu to make the lecture an annual event to enable the students benefit from his wealth of knowledge and experience.

The Rector, Prof Uche E. Ikonne, presented a special award to Dr Okezie at the end of his presentation and urged him to treat Abia State Polytechnic as his own institution and partner in manpower development in the State. He prayed God to grant him success at the polls as according to him: “ Okezie Victor Ikpeazu PhD possesses the required humility, intellect and energy to take Abia to the zenith in Nigeria”

Other notable attendees at the massively attended lecture include the immediate past Rector of the school, Elder A. A. Onukaogu, President of the students Union, Comrade Maxwell Eze as well as lecturers and management staff of the institution..

However, after the lectures, the excited students led the PDP candidate, who is also an Aba resident, with chants of "Okezie is our Governor" to the school pavilion where he addressed thousands of students of the school. Dr Okezie promised to review fees payable by the students, if elected as Governor, as well as ensure uninterrupted academic calendar at all State owned educational institutions. He asked the students to reciprocate by taking their studies serious with a view to graduating in flying colours and make their Parents, School and Abia  proud.

Opposition Politicians and their worthless propaganda...Madubuko Hart

The opposition politicians in Abia State are playing dangerous politics of blackmail and propaganda against the government of Governor Theodore Orji. In their desperate quest in the smear campaign, they would bomb their political offices and label the government as the perpetrator.

They would want to plant dangerous weapons in the state to cause chaos and would run to the media shouting that the government was it that wanted to do so. They would not have money to pay for their children’s school fees and you see them shouting that teachers in the state are on strike.

Then it baffles one to pause how a government that had spent billions of naira in fighting insecurity that it met in the state would go back to abet it. Impossible! It will never.

It is the sheer crassness of the opposition politicians to sully the government of Governor Orji and, they are not succeeding. Governor Theodore Orji remains the only honest and sincere governor of Abia State since its creation 23 years ago. The state did not take off till Governor Orji came to power.

Because the governor has a listening ear, many people who absconded to other states like Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja are now returning to the state, creating full action in urban life in all areas of the state.

Governor Orji is so transparent that Abia people had wanted him for a third term in office if the constitution had allowed that. He is an honest and visionary leader. He is not into politics like some people to steal but to leverage the state from the level of woes; and he has achieved that.

One aspect of Governor Orji that is so alluring is his love for education and making sure that education in the state tops in his priorities. Youth empowerment has become his trademark, and the youths in the state would be missing him as his tenure as governor is fast approaching.

Government is continuum. I was so elated when the PDP delegates elected Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (PhD), as the party’s flagbearer in the state. Ikpeazu is a man that knows administration and cares.

He would create a lot of job opportunities and see to the welfare of pensioners and sundry. So, Ikpeazu would be improving on the areas that the present government has laid the foundation and map out other measures on the areas where the present government is yet to carve a niche.

Abia people are not playing the ostrich and the state is not the worst state in Nigeria. It is propaganda when critics write that Aba is one of the worst towns to live in, in the world. If it is so, then the millions of people we see residing and doing business in Aba would not have been living in that place. Opposition politicians should desist from their worthless propaganda.

Hart writes from Lagos

Abia PDP guber candidate denies evading tax, certificate forgery

Abia State governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has debunked allegations that he forged his first degree certificate and has irregular tax papers.
He noted at his campaign office in Umuahia yesterday, that those who went to court with the allegation were misguided and bad losers, saying that the Abuja court vindicated him by dismissing the allegations and awarding cost to the applicants when it was proved that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The PDP candidate however, said that there was another Chief Okezie Ikpeazu, a businessman and a farmer, who also hails from Obingwa but whom they mistook for Dr. Ikpeazu, stressing that he is not addressed as a chief.
He explained that as a civil servant for 12 years, he paid his taxes as the tax of a civil servant is deducted at source and therefore could not be evaded.
“Payment of tax was not a matter of choice but I paid compulsorily as a civil servant, therefore payment or non-payment cannot be an issue for a public servant, every public servant pays tax on pay as you earn system,” the PDP candidate said.

He stated that he had submitted the requisite documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the issue of tax evasion came up in court. He however, added that the constitution and the Electoral Act have nothing against tax evasion, saying that even if it were true it was not enough to stop him as a candidate of the party.
In his remark, the legal adviser of the Okezuo Abia campaign organisation, Mr. Teddy Eruba, INEC has not withdrawn or disqualified any candidate, let alone Ikpeazu who emerged through a transparent process.

Answering questions on other allegations of forged certificate and god- fatherism, Ikpeazu noted that he consulted all the major stakeholders in the state before the governorship primary and has the assurance of Governor Theodore Orji that he would not suffer what he (governor) suffered. He added that he could not have taught in four universities and risen to the rank of head of department with forged certificates.