NASS Leadership: Enugu LP National Assembly Members-Elect Endorse Tinubu’s Preferred Candidates As Edeoga, Nwodo Swim In Millions

By Cletus Onojah

As the struggle for the leadership of the 10th Assembly begins, the Enugu Labour Party National Assembly members-elect have taken their position to endorse Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s choice of candidates in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

It should be recalled that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, after its National Working Committee meeting on Monday, nominated Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, as president of the Senate, while a ranking member of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, was nominated for speaker of the Green Chamber as preferred by the presidential elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

From the report made available to us through a source from the national headquarters of the All Progressive Congress, APC, he told us that after its National Working Committee meeting on Monday, the party had sent out delegates to Enugu, Abia, and Anambra to woo the Labour Party guber candidates and other top officials in the above-mentioned states to garner the support of the elected national assembly members of their party to endorse Tinubu’s preferred candidates; Godswill Akpabio for Senate President and Abbas Tajudeen for Speaker of the Green Chamber.

Information at our disposal in Enugu had it that the APC delegates in the company of Ugochukwu Agbalah, the APC Chairman in Enugu state had a meeting with the Enugu guber candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, former Ohanaeze President General and now Labour Party chieftain, Nnia Nwodo and the former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji at Nwodo’s residence in Enugu.

We gathered from an insider in Edeoga’s camp that other participants in the meeting are; Enugu North Senator-elect, Okey Ezea, Enugu East Senator-elect, Kelvin Chukwu. Others are; Aninri/Awgu/Oji River House of Representative member-elect, Chijioke Okereke, Enugu North/Enugu South House of Representative member-elect, Atu Chimaobi, Ezeagu/Udi House of Representative member-elect, Umeha Sunday, Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani House of Representative member-elect, Nwodo Chijioke, Igbo-Eze North/Udenu House of Representative member-elect, Dennis Agbo, Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South House of Representative member-elect, Obetta Mark, Enugu East/Isi-Uzo House of Representative member-elect, Nnamdi Paul and finally, Labour Party Spokesman, Ken Asogwa.

The meeting which ended with the presentation of a cheque of N520M by the APC delegates had a unanimous decision made by all the participants to work and ensure that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu’s preferred candidates emerge as Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives. It was further resolved that Stainless Chijioke Nwodo who will be representing Igboetiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency should first declare support publicly for Abbas Tajudeen as we could see in Journalist 101 and other reliable news blogs.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party Chairman in Enugu State, Casmir Agbo has expressed disappointment over the action of his party members, stating that they have deviated from the teachings of a just and moral society that Peter Obi tends to bring into the nation’s political system.

Mr. Agbo while in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said he taught the story was fake until one of the participants in the meeting whose name he wouldn’t mention but happens to be his closest confidant revealed everything that transpired and even told him that they all went home with the sum of N40M each.

He further asked why the elected people who gained the trust of the electorate should be this easy to be swayed with monetary incentives to support the leadership of people they barely know their political history, asserting that a foundation one destroys, what will a just man do?

Agbo disclosed that the leadership of the 10th national assembly should be based on experience, competence, capacity, and integrity and not based on the president-elect’s preference and choice of candidates, maintaining that supporting Tinubu’s candidate will make the national assembly pander to the interest of Mr. President and finally making it a rubber-stamp legislature.

”I couldn’t believe the information when it was revealed to me. This is not the philosophy of the Labour Party. If they can be easily given to corrupt practices like this at this period when they have not been inaugurated, what then becomes of them when they eventually find themselves in the national assembly?” Agbo queried.