As REALITY ROMPS TO VICTORY.

Today, Umu Idemili recorded yet another victory as Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Federal High Court, Awka upheld the election of Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Anthony Ibezi as the member, representing Idemili North and South Federal Constituency at the Green Chambers of the 9th National Assembly.

Recall that Hon. Obinna Chidoka of PDP challenged the outcome of the elections at the tribunal conducted on 23rd February, 2019.

Chidoka had earlier approached the court, contesting the declaration of Ibezi as the winner of the rerun election which the latter also won.

However, the court dismissed the petition for lack of merit. The court in its judgement asserted that the petitioner abandoned his petition by not appearing to adopt the statement on oath. It went further to condemn the act of deceit of the petitioner by craftly designing appointment letter for people who are party people rather party agents just to deceive the court.
The judgment reads "The petitioner woefully failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt and the petition is hereby dismissed for lack of merit"-----COURT.

Hon. Ibezi while addressing his supporters maintained that it's yet another victory for Umu Idemili, stressing the need to return to work as there is a lot to be done. He also enjoined Hon. Chidoka to embrace peace as the main issue is to offer effective representation to Umu Idemili and change the face of representation in the constituency.

Congratulations to Hon. Ibezi.
Congratulations to Umu Idemili.

HOUSE OF REPS. AD HOC COMMITTEE BEGINS TOUR OF THE PORTS

By Tony Onyima

The 14-man ad hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to investigate “why Warri, PortHarcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland ports complexes are not being put to maximum use” will between September 15-25, 2019 visit the port complexes and conduct public hearings.
The first leg of the committee’s itinerary will commence on Monday, September 16, 2019 with a visit to Apapa and Tin Can Island, Lagos ports. The committee will be in Warri on Tuesday, September 17. Between September 18-19, the committee will visit PortHarcourt and Onne ports. From there they will move to Calabar on September 20. The committee will end its tour in Onitsha between September 23-24 with a visit to Inland port and conduct public hearing.

It will be recalled that following a motion sponsored by Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Ibezi on Thursday, July 18, 2019, the House of Representatives had set up the ad hoc committee with Hon. Baba Yusuf Yakub as its Chairman. Other members of the committee are Hon. Ifeanyi Ibezi, Hon. Makama Missau Ibrahim, Hon. Onuh Blessing Onyeche, Hon. Haruna Maitala, Hon. Victor Amela, Hon. Nuhu Yakubu Danja, Hon. Aliyu Ibrahim Almustapha, Hon. Alex Egbona, Hon. Akiolu Moshood Kayode, Hon. Kolade Victor Akinjo, Hon. Olayide Adewale Akinremi, Hon. Kalu Benjamin Okezie and Hon. Suny Goli Isreal.
Hon. Ibezi’s motion sought to restore the full use of Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland ports in order to decongest Apapa and Tin Can Island ports. It was seconded by Hon. Ali Adeyemi from Lagos State. Presenting his motion during the plenary session of the House, Ibezi noted that “there are six major sea ports in Nigeria namely the Lagos port complex (Apapa), Tin Can, the Calabar port, the Warri port, Port Harcourt port, Onne and the Onitsha Inland port”. He further noted that most of these ports have capacity to accommodate ocean liners but at the moment only the Lagos port complexes are operating at near full capacity for exportation and importation of goods while the other ports are almost lying fallow. He said that it is not economically and socially expedient, and even in terms of the security of the nation, to concentrate all ports activities of a nation as big and diverse as Nigeria in one geographic area, adding that the continued concentration of all ports activities at the Apapa and Tin Can complexes has resulted in congestion of the two ports such that it now takes a truck with an authority to load (ATL) between seven to nine days to go in and out of the ports with the loads; a process that used to take a maximum of three hours.

The situation, he said, is worsened by the dilapidation of the 20 Km Apapa Wharf road due to the numerous container-laden articulated vehicles that ply the road daily to evacuate containers of goods.
He is convinced that reviving the existing ports at Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Inland port will require political will and strong policy initiatives and doing this will significantly increase government revenue profile, enhance export/import businesses and reduce the undue pressure on the Apapa and Tin Can ports complexes.
The ad-hoc committee is expected to report back within six weeks with its findings for further legislative action.

Breaking!!!

HON. IBEZI SLAMS N2BN LIBEL SUIT ON OSITA CHIDOKA

Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Anthony Ibezi, member representing Idemili North and South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly has slammed a N2 billion libel suit on Chief Osita Chidoka, the former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and former Minister of Aviation.
In the suit which was filed at the Anambra State High Court, Ogidi, Hon. Ibezi stated in his statement on oath that he is suing Osita Chidoka “for the publication of the defamatory words uttered by Hon. Obinna Chidoka against me and for the defamatory statements he (Osita) also made against me; both of which statements are contained in a single video published by the defendant”.
In his statement of claim, Hon. Ibezi averred that at about 6:15 pm on March 9, 2019, the day a supplementary election was held in Obosi to determine a clear winner, the defendant in company of his brother, Hon. Obinna Chidoka and before a large crowd at the palace ground of Eze Chidubem Iweka 11, the traditional ruler of Obosi, made defamatory statements against him. In the video which Osita Chidoka published on his Facebook page, Hon. Obinna Chidoka was the first to speak to the crowd. He spoke in a combination of Igbo and English languages thus: “Ifeanyi na ndi otu ya na-ebu egbe .... even mua bu a target. Oburu na oburo onye police m, tata ha ka igba mu egbe”. The English translation is thus: “Ifeanyi and his group carry guns ..... even I was the target. If not for my police guard, today I would have been shot”. Hon. Ibezi claimed that these words by Hon. Obinna Chidoka in their ordinary and natural meaning imply that he always goes around with gun ready to kill anyone that stands on his way and that he is an uncivilized bloodthirsty brute that resorts to bloodletting to have his ways.
In the same video, Chief Osita Chidoka also spoke to the large audience in the following words: “Young people in their prime cannot be gunned down because of an election to the House of Representatives seat. Ifeanyi Ibezi is a criminal and he must be arrested and dealt with like a criminal. Ifeanyi Ibezi is a murderer and the whole world must know that he is a murderer; we will not accept this in our place... Ifeanyi Ibezi aided by APGA, came to Obosi to kill two boys in Obosi. The two boys are dead. Ifeanyi Ibezi came with thugs to Obosi and carted away materials shooting at Obosi people”.
In their ordinary and natural meaning, Hon. Ibezi claims that the words are understood to have defamatory imputations that he is “a criminal, a murderer and that he killed the two boys referred to”. Chief Osita Chidoka’s Facebook page, Hon. Ibezi said “is open to the public and enjoys high traffic” and as.at the time of publication of the offending video, Osita Chidoka had about 23,033 followers on Facebook.
On March 10, 2019, Hon. Ibezi claimed that he was “dismayed when he watched the offending video and saw that the video had been viewed for about 65,000 times by Facebook users and shared about 1,000 times”. He claimed that his anxiety increased when he “saw and read the comments that trailed the video which at that time had more than 200 comments and the comments kept tumbling in”. He said he was further shocked when he checked his phone and saw several missed calls from friends and family members who expressed shock at the accusations made by Osita Chidoka. He said he returned some of the calls and that his denials and explanations were rebuffed by some of the callers as they bluntly told him to clear himself and ended the call.
Hon. Ibezi is therefore seeking N2 billion in damages; an order mandating Osita Chidoka to render a public apology to be published in two national dailies; an order mandating the defendant to make a video showing that the defamatory statements he made on March 9, 2019 were false and such video made should within 14 days after delivery of judgment be delivered to the plaintiff. In addition to a refund of N15 million being the cost of litigation, Hon. Ibezi is also seeking an order restraining Osita Chidoka “by himself or through his agents, servants or privies from publishing or further publishing the offending speech(es), releases or videos either on Facebook or any other media whether social, print or otherwise”. No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.