IGBOS REJECT CAPTAIN IHEANACHOS MINISTERIAL NOMINATION

OHANAEZE NDI IGBO YOUTH COUNCIL

IGWE BU IKE

IGBO YOUTH HOUSE, OWERRI. IMO STATE CHAPTER

07056695689

20th November, 2008

His Excellency,

The President         

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Aso Rock, Abuja

Your Excellency,

RE- RUMOURED NOMINATION OF CAPTAIN EMMANUEL IHEANCHO

The leadership of Ohanaeze Youths leaders in Imo State after her meeting today at Concorde Hotel, Owerri unanimously resolved to write and state as follows:

That your forthrightness and deliberate effort to uphold the principles of rule of law is most commendable.

The recent rejection of former Governor Achike Udenwa’s ministerial nomination, an action which would have dented the avowed commitment of this administration to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law, was in tune with the yearning of the people

In view of the entanglement of the  Udenwa led Government in the assassination of Chief Ogbonnaya Uche (OGB) and the shameful looting of the state’s treasury during this administration, his ministerial aspiration was doomed to fail even before it commenced.

The merciless financial rape of Imo State through white elephant projects like the  Romix road scam, Orlu Regional Market, Teaching Hospital project and the State Secretarial contract which was inflated from N840 million to N2billion.

Most painful is the fact that Udanwa left the State with a debt burden of over 40billion and broke his oath of office to protect citizens of the State by allowing his government to degenerate into a killing spree with the death of Chief Ogbonnaya Uche, Mr. T. Agwatu, Captain Anthony Onyearugbulem to mention a few.

Like every good movie where the bad guys always meet their waterloo, Udenwa’s ministerial ambition was quashed with ignominy.

Rumored Nomination of Captain Iheanacho

Much as Udenwa’s rejection was in tune with the yearning of Imo people, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho cannot be said to be a fair and justifiable alternative.

We therefore urge you to review the said nomination of Iheanacho in the interest of peace, equity and fair play.

As a social – political and cultural advocacy group, we cannot seat back and watch while political injustice capable of pitching our people against one another plays out.

Beside the constitutional demand of the federal character formular, Imo has been operating on a zoning formula that reflects and protects the interest of all the three geopolitical zones of the State so as to ensure peaceful coexistence.  

Iheanacho’s nomination will alter this equitable zoning formula for political appointments and run foul of the principles of the Federal Character formulae .

This is because he hails from Owerri zone, the same zone which has a minister of state, an Ambassador, the Chief whip of the House of Representative, the Attorney General, the state Deputy Governor and other major political appointments.       

Below is a graphical illustration of the distribution of political offices among the three geopolitical zones of the state:-

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OKIGWE                                 OWERRI                       ORLU       

1. Governor of Imo State     1.         Deputy Governor     1.         Speaker of the House of Assembly

2. Secretary of the State     2..         Ambassador           2.        Government                                                                            

3.. Chief of Staff           3.      Chief Whip                   3.      ?     ?  ?

4. INEC Chairman       4.      Minister of State          

5. Deputy Speaker      5.      Attorney General

6. Federal Commissioner at the Federal Character Commission

The above table reflects the fact that the State’s zoning formular was not taken into consideration before Iheanacho was nominated.

Beside the fact that Iheanacho is a suspected appendage of the Udenwa aspiration, Imo people are worried over the bleak possibilities of having a minister who is more like a visitor to Imo State; who has “remained at sea” for the greater part of his life.

In essence, it is a general notion that Iheanacho knows next to nothing about the plight of Imo people and as such cannot fully make effective representations for the state.

It is our view that a nominee from Orlu Zone of the state, from any field of endeavor (A nominee that is not tainted in any way, experienced, young/vibrant and enjoys the support of the government and have track record of his commitment to the party and Mr. President etc) would to a large extent ameliorate the present imbalance and forestall the possibilities of the collapse of our equitable and fair zoning system.

Thanks for your usual cooperation.

Yours Sincerely,

Chukwuemeka Odunze

State Chairman

CC

v The Vice President

v Senate President (109 Senators)

v National Security Adviser

v The Imo State Governor

v Director, State Security Service

v Inspector General of Police.

v Principal Private Secretary To Mr. President.

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