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NASS REPUBLIC: Surviving the Obi hurricane. One other story, and a quote to remember

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The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, last week, expressed delight at being re-elected to represent Bende Federal Constituency in Abia State, under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), amid the sweeping wave of the Peter Obi movement, and the Labour Party (LP), at the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

One other story, with import for the National Assembly, was reviewed within the week under review.

1. Surviving the Obi hurricane

On March 8, Hon. Kalu was joyous for being re-elected despite the Obi’s hurricane, and the LP which saw many National Assembly members voted out in the past election.
“It means a lot to me that in the whole state, I was able to survive the waves of the Labour Party and the Obi movement.

It means that my people have a clear mind in knowing what they want – that beyond political colours they were in search of a man who has performed what he presented in his manifesto,” he said while speaking with Journalists after he received his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.

Kalu’s mood acknowledges, without doubt, that the Obi movement has fundamentally changed the face of political contestations in Nigeria.

It shows how Nigeria’s democracy has deepened with the emergence of a third force, and widened competitiveness beyond the walls of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the APC.

Indeed, it has proven to Nigerians that power belongs to them, and that elected public officers only survive at the behest of their own performance, and a fair assessment of that by the voting public.

NASS MEMORY LANE

Who said;

“We have over 200 million people in Nigeria, out of this figure, if we can have one million Nigerians who can actually teach and sponsor children, then we will not be having the problem of out-of-school children.”
Answer: See end of post
One other story

READ ALSO:NASS REPUBLIC: As Abaribe scores INEC zero. Two other stories, and a quote to remember

2. Ekweremadu’s ordeal continues
‘Charges that destroy our democracy’, Ekweremadu reacts to FG’s suit against him

The embattled former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on March 9, continued his trial at a London Magistrate Court for allegedly conspiring with others to exploit a Nigerian youth taken to London as a kidney donor to his daughter, Sonia.

Ekweremadu told the Old Bailey Court that his failure to seek a family member who will donate the kidney to his daughter was not a deliberate act.

He made the clarification while responding to the prosecution’s accusation that he failed to ask any family member to “step up” and help.

When he was cross examined, the Senator was asked why he had not tried to find a suitable match among his family members. He answered that he believed it was not an option after being relayed a conversation between his medic brother, Diwe and one Dr. Obeta in September 2021.

Ekweremadu’s ongoing trial is a reminder that the law is a leveler, and no respecter of persons. More importantly, it challenges the Nigerian judiciary to rise above its present reputation in which justice appears to be for the highest bidder.

While the Senator remains innocent until proven guilty, his ordeal, therefore, serves to warn other public officials of the possible humiliation that may befall them if they choose the ignoble path of abusing the law.

Answer: Senator Rochas

Okorocha made the statement on January 25, 2023, while speaking during the launch of a Teach a Child/Sponsor a Child Project in Abuja.

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