Opposition parties and other
stakeholders in Imo State have raised the alarm following plans by the state
government to conduct fresh council polls in all the 27 local councils, next
year. They described it as a ploy to install its political surrogates ahead of
the gubernatorial election in 2015.
This is even as the state government
is still locked in a legal battle with the disengaged council chairmen over the
issue of tenure. The Chairman of Imo State Independent Electoral
Commission (ISIEC), Mr. Terry Akwara disclosed that the Commission has already
commenced ward delineation and verification to ensure that elections were held
in all the wards across the state.
The ISIEC boss who denied being a
member of the ruling party, said that his duty was to conduct credible council
polls next year. “I am going to organize a free and fair council elections and
I have advised the parties to go and prepare and to do their homework well. I
was a victim in 2010, I know what it is like and so I have resolved to create a
level-playing field for everybody”. He added that, “We are an unbiased umpire;
we are not going to interfere with the issues in Court.
We have started preparations for the
council elections and have commenced with ward delineation and verification to
ensure that those wards where elections were not held in the last election will
be corrected and also to create new wards. We have also applied for the voters
register from the INEC, and when we are through with all that we will then
release a date for the polls”.
The ISIEC Chairman further hinted
that the Commission has concluded plans with the Imo State College of Advanced
Professional Studies to organize an eight-week workshop on administration and
legislation for all aspirants in the coming election to ensure that those who
emerge as Chairmen and Councilors after the election were well equipped for the
task ahead.
However, the Secretary of the Imo
State Chapter of All Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon Enyinna Onuegbu,
said that any plan by the state government to hold council elections now would
not only be fraudulent but amounts to contempt of Court. The ALGON scribe
pointed out that the tenure of the chairmen would constitutionally end in 2013,
adding,
“We were elected for a
three-year-tenure that will end in August 2013 before we were illegally
dissolved by the state government and we are in court to seek redress and until
all the matters are resolved, there cannot be council elections in Imo State.” He
further stated: “We are aware that the ISIEC is fraudulently collecting as much
as N250, 000.00 from each community to create new wards which is simply to
hoodwink unsuspecting autonomous communities, as the commission does not have
the powers to do so.”
Similarly, the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP), in a state wide broadcast, yesterday described the purported
ongoing ward delineation and verification as fraudulent and an
exercise in futility with the intension to extort money from unsuspecting Imo
citizens.
The statement which was signed by
the Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Blyden Amajirionwu, noted that the
purported creation of new electoral wards by ISIEC was a ploy to defraud
communities in the state. “We advise all autonomous communities to disregard
the ongoing exercise by ISIEC.”
The Sun
Man develops kidney problem six months after wedding“If God gives me a
second chance to live after this kidney transplant, I want to become a pastor.
I will pray to God to give me the power to heal the sick, especially people
with kidney problems. I want to become a pastor because I want spiritual
healing for people that have renal failure.”These were the words of a 41-year-old man, Tokunbo Ogunlusi, who needs the princely sum of N7 million for a kidney transplant. Ogunlusi’s renal failure started six months after his wedding in 2008, affecting one of his kidneys. Though the marriage has not been blessed with any child, his faithful wife has resolved that what God has joined together, no renal failure could put asunder. She has refused to leave her husband, a native of Aramoko-Ekiti in Ekiti State, to carry his cross alone.
She has remained a faithful partner and has been helping her husband to live through the end state renal disease and hypertension. But Ogunlusi is not only lucky to have a good wife, his mother has also volunteered to donate one of her kidneys to him. They have been doing some tests to determine the compatibility of their kidneys. Ogunlusi, a distributor of home videos in Ogba, Lagos, told Daily Sun how the problem started. He said: “It started with malaria, which I treated severally but it refused to go.
This made me to seek medical attention at a private hospital. But the hospital referred me to the Gbagada General Hospital.” “Some tests were conducted after which I was diagnosed with kidney problem. I was placed on dialysis. At the initial stage, it was once in a week. Now, the dialysis is twice a week because my condition is deteriorating. I pay N20, 000 for each dialysis.
“Since then, I have tried to raise funds for the kidney transplant but it has not yielded positive result. The hospital even sent a medical report of my kidney disease to the Commissioner for Health, Lagos, in April 2009, but nothing has come out of it.” A medical report by Dr. B.O. Ojuroye of the Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos State and dated November 24, 2008, disclosed that Ogunlusi came to the hospital on September 3, 2008 with a year’s history of hypertension, a week history of facial and abdominal swelling, oliguria and fever.
“Following a thorough assessment, he was diagnosed with end state renal disease and he is presently on maintenance haemodialysis. However, the patient would eventually need a renal transplant which offers a better hope for survival,” Ojuroye said. By 2009, Ogunlusi has been placed on a maintenance haemodialysis two times every week. He said his kidney picked up in 2010 and was stable for about one year, but lamented that the problem has come back.
The turn of events, he said, made him proceed to the St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, for some tests with his mother, who has agreed to donate one of her kidneys to him. “My mother has said she gave birth to me and she wants me to give birth to my own children too. She told me she succeeded her parents and she wants me to succeed her too. This is why she volunteered to donate one of her kidneys for me to live. “The transplant and drugs for a year will cost about N7million. I need the help of Nigerians and corporate organisations.
My friends and family members have been financing my dialysis. I am begging all Nigerians and our government to please help me. The transplant can be done at the St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos,”
Ogunlusi said. For those who might want to help, Ogunlusi can be reached on 08023344386 and 07084203381. A GTBank account no 0010016038 has also been opened for him at Ogba Branch in the name of Ogunlusi Tokunbo Isaac.
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