Author: Editor

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has promised to boost economic activities and support businesses in Abia with $10 billion if voted into power. Atiku who made the pledge Saturday in Umuahia during his presidential rally, also promised to actualise the Aba Dry Port project which he said, he flagged off as Vice President. He promised to rehabilitate the deplorable Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene federal road and other federal roads in the state if elected President in the February 25 presidential election. The former Vice President also promised to rehabilitate the Eastern rail lines…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia United States Embassy, has acknowledged the receipt of a petition seeking visa ban for Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, over barbaric killings by Ebubeagu militia group. The petition was written by the Human Rights Writers Association HURIWA. HURIWA, had urged the US and other foreign missions to deny visa to Umahi and members of his family over “barbaric use of the Ebubeagu militia to commit crimes against humanity.” The civil society organisation decried the level of senseless killings going on in Ebonyi State. HURIWA’s Country Director, Amina Mohammed, in the petition, chronicled the atrocities of Ebubeagu security…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu Mr Frank Nweke Jr., the Governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for Enugu State has urged the electorate to vote for Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, on February 25, and cast other votes for APGA candidates. Nweke made the call while addressing the 48th Annual Synod of the Methodist Church of Nigeria in Enugu. He said that of all the three major presidential candidates, Mr Peter Obi was the best because he has character, capacity and integrity. “But in Enugu State vote for APGA candidates for the same reasons in all other elections,” Nweke…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu Residents of Enugu Saturday were said to be rejecting the old naira notes as means of transactions even as the Supreme Court had directed the Federal Government and its agents to maintain the status quo on the deadline for old naira notes. Ikengaonline Enugu correspondent reports that many residents who are still holding on to the old naira notes are finding it difficult to dispense with them. Mr Chinedu Attah, a resident of Agbani road, said that he observed the situation when he gave a bus driver an old N500 note which he rejected. “I was surprised for the driver to…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia The Abia State governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, AA, Onyekwere Akym Uche, has regretted the deplorable economic condition of the state, saying that few individuals are richer than the entire state. Uche who stated this while unveiling his blueprint for the state, promised to rescue the state from stagnation and transform it into a model state if elected. Blaming lack of development in the state on greed and avarice by present and past leaders, OAU as he is popularly known, vowed to re-set the state if given the opportunity. “Those who were privileged to superintend over…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Mr Bruce Fein, United States lawyer and Spokesman for the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has accused the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, of colluding with the Nigerian authorities and personally sabotaging efforts to free Kanu from captivity. The US Attorney in a letter to the British envoy sought to know why she and her country would keep mute over the continued illegal detention of Kanu, a British citizen, but champion the international offensive against the Russian President, Vladimir Putin for attacking Ukraine. Fein expressed his disappointment with the British High…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu The continued rise in prices of petrol and the artificial scarcity of the product in parts of Enugu State have taken a different dimension, as  residents of Nsukka on Friday embarked on a peaceful protest over the shutting down of filling stations by their owners. Ikengaonline learnt from the protesters that their grouse was that owners of the filling stations shut down their stations without giving any reasons or explanations to the public. The protesters numbering about 2000 comprised commercial motorcyclists, popularly called ‘okada riders,’  tricycle operators (Keke), students, and other concerned residents. The peaceful protesters blocked the busy Nsukka Total Roundabout, thereby…

By Agbo, Ochonu & Kperogi In the face of existential challenges facing Nigeria and leading up to the 2023 presidential election, the ensuing conversation arose among three Nigerians in the Diaspora on the way forward for a nation in crisis. Osmund: Each time I think about Nigeria’s 2023 election which by the way is just a mere 18 days away, what comes to mind is the Igbo proverb: “Echi d’ime, anyi amaro ihe oga amu.” This proverb speaks to the unpredictability of the outcome of a pregnancy and that the most a husband could do is anxiously await the day of…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Barely 48 hours after an Abuja Court nullified the governorship primary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA in Abia State, the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri Imo State, Friday, re-affirmed Professor Greg Ibe as the authentic candidate of the party. Justice S.A Bola, who delivered the lead judgment in the appeal brought before the court by one of the governorship aspirants, Gen. Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (retd.), said  that the appellant failed to prove the allegation of unfair hearing by the lower court. The Appellate Court,  said that  “the appellant was unable to convince the court…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Two weeks before the February 25 Nigeria presidential election, the presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, has again topped the scale in a fresh poll conducted by Bloomberg. The former Governor of Anambra State, was the preferred choice of the majority of the respondents. Obi scored 66 per cent of the 93 per cent of respondents who said thy had decided how to vote to finish ahead of his All Progressive Congress, APC, counterpart, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar. While Tinubu trained with 18 per cent, Atiku came a…