Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Some stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia State, are divided over the inclusion of some non-members of the party on the Governing Board of Tertiary institutions recently constituted by the President.
Aggrieved chieftains of the party under the aegis of Abia APC Stakeholders Forum (AASF), had on Monday, staged a protest in Abuja, demanding the withdrawal of the non-APC appointees, describing their inclusion on the list as “a typographical error.”
Some of the affected nominees include: former Military Administrator of Old Imo State, General Ike Nwachukwu (retd.), appointed as the Pro-Chancellor of University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN; Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, Pro-Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt; and Commissioner for Agriculture, Abia State, Professor Monica Ironkwe, among others.
While General Nwachukwu and Senator Ohuabunwa all represented Abia North senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Professor Ironkwe is a serving Commissioner in the Labour Party-led Government of Dr Alex Otti.
Commenting on the development, former Senator representing Abia Central, Nkechi Nwogu, agreed that the President should have first considered APC loyalists from the state before going outside.
According to her, “it’s not good for monkey to work and baboon to chop.”
She, however, acknowledged that “there must have been a lot of other considerations that made the President to appoint them.”
The former Pro-Chancellor, University of Calabar, further said: “Eventually, they (the non-APC members) will see what we saw and stayed with Asiwaju and join us.”
Similarly, another APC chieftain and member representing Umunneochi state constituency in the Abia House of Assembly, Hon. Ikedi Ezekwesiri, said “the protest makes meaning because you reap from where you sowed.”
The ex-lawmaker, however, noted that “the President has the prerogative to appoint who he deems fit into any position.”
But the immediate-past Chairman of Bende Local Government Area, Chief Emmanuel Onwuchekwa, dismissed the protest as “unnecessary” and urged the President not to be distracted.
The ex-Council boss said the President had the prerogative to appoint anybody he considered suitable to hold any public office.
According to him, the appointment could be part of the President’s inclusive agenda which should be applauded.
He said: “l I don’t think the protest is necessary. It’s obvious that what Mr President is doing borders on inclusiveness.
“Probably there are so many people in different quarters and different ways that gave him support outside the party. And now that he wants Igbos to be involved in his administration, if that will make Abia to fully support the President in 2027, it’s very strategic. By then we will no longer have any excuse not to deliver the state to him.
“So, since it’s Mr President himself that made the appointment based on his judgments, nobody should challenge it, otherwise they would be challenging the President himself. All we can do is to ask for more appointments.
“We can as well tell the appointees to be part of what we are doing. They should leave all the protest let’s run a government of inclusiveness so that APC will take over Abia in 2027.”
Similarly, Pastor Dike Okechukwu, another former Council boss and a member of the Benjamin Okezie Friends Initiative, a major support group of the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, also described the protest as “uncalled for.”
He sharply disagreed with the protesters that the inclusion of the non-APC members on the list of appointees was “a typographical error,” arguing that the affected individuals are all accomplished Abians.
“They can’t be typo errors. Those persons have all distinguished themselves in so many areas. Tinubu is the President of all Nigerians and if he deems any Nigerian fit for any appointment, there is no need for protest.”
Okechukwu urged the President to ignore the protesters, arguing that spreading political appointments beyond party affiliations helps to stabilise the polity.
“The President should ignore the protesters. They are the people that are bringing trouble to the tranquility of the nation which we don’t want now. We want a stabilised nation by spreading political appointments beyond party affiliations. The era of politics is over, we are now in governance.”
Responding, a former Commissioner in Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, ASOPADEC, Chief Orji Udeagha, said the President made no mistake in appointing non-APC members into any public position.
The APC chieftain described President Tinubu as a unifier and master strategist, urging him not to be distracted by the antics of those who are not broad minded.
“The President is a unifier, and he has a target of what he wants to achieve in every state. The President has been appointing people across board. I disagree with those who allege that these appointees fought against the victory of APC in the state in 2023.
“Anybody saying typo error should find a better way to play their politics. If you don’t get what you are looking for and it’s given to someone more qualified, just allow the person because they’re also Nigerians who must have worked for it one way or the other.”
