Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi state is among the four topmost governors in Nigeria,nominated for the award of the best performing governor of the year,in the country.

The award is to be bestowed on him alongside other three governors by the African reputable media organisation,the Business Day Newspapers,slated to hold at Transcorp Hotel,Abuja on the 20th day of November,2019.

This is not the first time some reputable media organisations,the mouth piece of the people,both home and in diaspora,are honouring governor David Umahi as the Best performing governor in Nigeria.
First was the New telegraph Publishing Company limited,the publishers of the New Telegraph Newspapers.

Others are the Sun publishing limited,publishers of the Sun Newspapers and of course,the Authority Newspapers,among others. This is in exclusion of other awards received from different groups and organisations,across the country and beyond.

In a statement released and made available to newsmen in Abakaliki,the Ebonyi state capital,by the commissioner for Information and state Orientation,Barr. Uchenna Orji,called on private and public Institutions,especially friends and well wishers of the governor and the state in general,to show solidarity and support,by sending in their congratulatory messages to appreciate what he described as the “God given governor of Ebonyi state”,Engr. David Umahi,on his well deserved honour by the Business Day Newspapers.

The statement further disclosed that the Special Guest of Honour,on the occasion would be His Excellency,Dr.Yacubu Gowon,the former Head of State,while the Royal Father of the Day would be His Royal Highness,Alhaji Dr.Yahaya Abubarka,the Etsu of Nupe.

Earlier,governor David Umahi,had while responding to questions posed to him by the organisation on the award,according to His Special Assistant on media,Hon.Francis Nwaze,said,his views about awards on governors was that the people of the state constitutes the ideal people to make assessment and give awards to the governors.

Umahi,described the award by the Business Day Newspapers as an encouragement to do more,

His words,”My opinion about awards is that it is the people of the state that should assess you,and that has been my position,but,I think this one is a bit different because,it is an organisation that is very reputable and it has to do with business”.

“I was a business man before I became a governor,so,I feel good and I am also encouraged,he explained.

By  Ewa Nworie

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday sworn in the trio of Chinedu Ogah, Samson Okwu, and Obinna Chidoka .
Gbajabiamila, during the plenary, supervised the oath-taking conducted for the three members by the Clerk of the House, Patrick Giwa.
Ogah of the APC was sworn in after the Court of Appeal in Enugu sacked Hon. Lazarus Ogbee, representing Ikwo/Ezza South federal constituency of Ebonyi State in the House.
Chidoka was alsosworn in after a Court of Appeal in Enugu had sacked Ifeanyi Ibezi, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) representing Idemili North and Idemili South federal constituencies of Anambra State.
The court in a unanimous judgment declared Chidoka of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the authentic winner of the election conducted in February 2019
Also, Okwu, a member of the PDP was equally sworn in after an Appeal Court recently upheld his victory as the winner of the 2019 House of Representatives election for Oju/Obi federal constituency in Benue State, and nullified the election of David Ogewu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Member representing Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency, Comrade Chinedu Ogah, of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has affirmed that the court of Appeal has restored his stolen mandate following its recent verdict which saw him as the winner of the 2019 national assembly seat of his constituency.
He disclosed that with his victory, the hope of the masses has been restored, and that the judiciary has proved to be the last hope of the common man.
Ogah who was reacting to his recent victory at Court of Appeal Enugu State, reaffirmed that the court has shown its interest in delivering justice for the masses no matter whose ox is gored.
My victory at the tribunal and Appeal court has shown truly that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man and it has also shown that the judiciary is the people that you cannot toy with, they are upright and doesnt collect bribe to pervert justice. They believe in what is right and saw that my constituents voted for me at the February 23 National Assembly elections.
The judiciary has restored the hope of the masses by restoring my stolen mandate. My coming into the National Assembly will bring tremendous changes in my constituency and the state in general in the sense that there will be no more time that the quota of Ebonyi in federal recruitment will be sold out as it used to be, he stated.
He also promised to ensure that Ebonyi indigenes are appointed into sensitive positions in the security agencies and other parastatals.
He dedicated his victory to effective representation of his constituency, stressing that its time to ensure that his people get their due quota from the federal government.
Ebonyi people have no Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS. It is the duty of a legislator to speak for it.
In the recent recruitment, Ebonyi quota was reduced from 150 to 100. I cant be in the National Assembly and such a thing will continue to happen, he said.
Ogah had on February 23, 2019 contested for the Federal House of Representatives seat to represent Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency against Lazarus Ogbee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Independent National Electoral Commission declared Ogbee winner at the end of the poll.
Ogah challenged the result and went to the election tribunal to seek redress. At the end, Tribunal declared him the winner of the February election.
Not satisfied with the appeal court ruling, Ogbee took the matter further to Appeal Court Enugu and on November 1, 2019 in a judgment delivered by Justice Ignatuis Agube on behalf of Justice Veronica Dongban-Mensem, upheld the tribunal judgment declaring Ogah winner.

The member-elect for Ikwo -Ezza South federal constituency, Comrade Chinedu Ogah, has been issued certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ogah, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), received the certificate of return in Abuja on Thursday, November 14.
The certificate was handed over to him by the National Commissioner of the Commission, South East zone, Prof. Ibeanu Okechukwu.
Recall that Appeal Court Enugu, declared Ogah winner of the February 23 National Assembly election in the state, after INEC had earlier declared Hon. Laz Ogbee, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the said election
Meanwhile, Ogah awaits his formal swearing-in by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

…Embarks on General Renovation of Council Headquarters

In a bid to drive the state government’s health policies and programmes down to the rural areas, the chairman of Ohaukwu local government area, Barrister Clement Odah, has donated deep freezer to the Local Government Immunization Officer to help preserve drugs and ice cubes.
Odah stated this while interacting with The Voice recently, adding that temperature is a major key to preserving drugs.
He noted that it was very important to ensure that the drugs given to children in the local government area are active and achieves its purpose.
Stating that apart from the deep freezer, the local government council also donated other health equipments to support the health system.
“It is necessary that the local government supports the health system of the state government, whether measles campaign, immunization, malaria campaign, tip-top team vaccination and all manner of health activities. Recently, we donated to the immunization officers several equipments including, deep freezer that will enable them create and preserve their ice cubes because these vaccines that our children are injected with only serve at a certain temperature. Once it is either too hot or too cold the vaccine will lose its potency. Heat especially is a major challenge so you must preserve it. I think the best condition is at a certain cold state, if you cannot keep the temperature of the vaccine at that temperature, what you give to the children is just liquid.
“So we have provided the equipments including deep freezer to make sure that what is given to our children in the hinter lands is the true vaccine that will achieve the purpose for which it is meant for.
“The items were donated to the local government immunization team leader. Just as we have the State Immunization Officer (SIO), local government has Local Government Immunization Officer that is their designations.
“There are other persons involved, that is the malaria focal person, Admin Sec of the department of health, they are all together”, he stated.

However, in another development The Chairman of Ohaukwu Local Government Area, Hon. Clement Odah, has also embarked on general renovation of the council headquarters located at 135 Ezzamgbo.
In an interaction with The Voice, Odah said the renovation and environmental improvement are imperative and will ensure adequate maintenance of the structures to prevent unnecessary decay.
He noted that the council also embarked on tree planting and ornamentation in other to make aesthetic improvements to the buildings
“The local government is now dotted with beautiful trees and flowers and it’s a cynosure of all eyes”.
“If you look at what is happening at the state level, you will know that the government house was renovated and some environmental improvements carried out and anyone passing there today wouldn’t need a soothsayer to tell him that, that is Ebonyi State Government House.
“So we want the local government to have such admiring look, most especially as it is on the express way”, he stated.

In line with stepping down Governor Umahi’s policies and programmes in the rural areas, the council chairman of Ohaukwu LGA, has paid bursary to students in his local government area.
The council boss, Barrister Clement Odah, was the first local government chairman to carry out this government intervention of assisting students in various tertiary institutions of higher learning by paying bursary to about 1, 200 undergraduates.

The exercise costs the local government a whooping sum of N9, 600, 000.

The bursary was distributed on Monday, Nov. 11, 2019 at the council headquarters were the beneficiaries turned out in their numbers.
Speaking with Barrister Odah, he noted that the underlining reason for the existence of the third tier of government is to bring government closer to the people, thereby empathizing with them, appreciate their difficulties and lessen their burdens by responding to their social needs.
He pointed out that these factors moved him to pay bursary to 1,200 undergraduates in the local government to enable them get at least textbooks for themselves without tasking their parents for such.
It was gathered that the last time bursary was paid in the local government was 12 years ago.
Odah stated; “I was happy when I saw the joy and happiness on the faces of the beneficiaries. It was as if they have been liberated from years of suffering and it is on record that Ohaukwu is the first local government to pay bursary to 1,200 students in the whole state’’.
He said that each student got N8000 which was double of what he got as bursary when he was a student.
“That was about twice of what was paid the last time bursary was paid which I benefited from as a student.
“The sum of N3, 700 was paid to students then, and I told myself that I must pay at least twice of what I received”, he added.
Odah revealed that the local government intends to double the money and also expand the number of students that will benefit in the near future.
Asked the criteria for the selection, he maintained that a beneficiary must be in a higher institution of learning, whether College of Education, Polytechnic or University.
A beneficiary is also expected to present as evident, his/her last school fees receipt and school identification card as well as admission later, adding that the person must also be an indigene of Ohaukwu local government area.
“And based on available data, the gender of the beneficiaries was 50/50. We have to accommodate many women because the chairperson of the local government insisted that her constituents which are primarily Ohaukwu women should be well represented”, he stated.

In a bid to rid the state of illegal miners, Ebonyi government has closed down some illegal mining firms operating in the state.
This was revealed to journalists in the state by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Solid Mineral Development, Hon. Edwin Onwe.
Onwe maintained that government would not tolerate further illegal mining activities in the state, adding that the ministry has concluded plans to install hidden cameras on borders linking the state to other states to stop illegal movement of solid minerals.
The SA told newsmen that solid minerals belonging to the state were being diverted out of the state through Cross River, Enugu and Abia states, and as a result, he has posted taskforce officials to different mining sites in the state to monitor activities there.
“The government of Ebonyi state is frowning at illegal mining in the state , just few days ago, I personally posted Technical Assistants(TAs) to our Governor to all the mining sites and all the borders; our borders between Abia and Enugu, I posted some people who are monitoring what is happening there. That of Enugu and Ebonyi, I also posted the TAs who serve as taskforce in this ministry.
“At the quarry sites, I posted some youths who are recording what is happening there. So, at the end of every week, they feed me back. In no distant time, all these leakages will stop.
“We also intend to put cameras in all the borders i.e. that of Abia and Ebonyi, Enugu and Ebonyi.
“We are trying to stop a situation where some investors are moving our solid minerals illegally. Some are moving through Cross River, Enugu and Abia,” he noted