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IGBO-EZUO Youths Renaissance Initiative condemns underrepresentation of South East zone in the National Assembly Services Commission(NASC)

Published

3 months ago

July 15, 2025

A South East zone-based socio-cultural Youths group,IGBO-EZUO Youths Renaissance Initiative has vehemently expressed their discomfiture over the underrepresentation of the South East geopolitical zone on the Board of National Assembly Services Commission(NASC).

At a Press conference jointly addressed by Comrades Chikezie Madu and Geoffrey Anozie(President- General and Secretary-General respectively),at Leisureville Event Center,Garki-2, Abuja on Friday 11th July 2025, both officials on behalf of the group condemned the fact, inter alia, “for several months now since the five-year tenure of the previous board expired,only one member out of the statutorily recognized two members per zone,is representing the South East zone as NASC commissioner.

Referencing some documents made available to the group, indicating the fact that there is a South East member of the Commission(Rt. Hon. Amaechi Nwoha) whose sole tenure is supposed to terminate by October 2026(as explicitly stated in his letter of appointment), but he is been prevented from functioning.

The immediate past Commission, which elapsed on February 2025, informed the National Assembly that the tenure of one South East commissioner will be expiring later by 14th October 2026, following the fact that he was appointed slightly more than one year after from the time his colleagues who have already served out their full five-year tenure recently, were appointed,as theirs was not running parallel with his.

Moreso,the group on investigation further found out that on the Inauguration of the new board by 6th of May 2025, only one Commissioner from the South East zone was sworn in.
The clear implication of this is the legal recognition by the President,His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the tenure of one of the Commissioner,Hon Amaechi Nwoha, is still subsisting and running till 2026,as it will be aberrant and contradictory to the Pubic Service Guidelines relating to appointments, bringing in a replacement.

The President- General of the Socio -Cultural group Comrade Chikezie Madu, seriously frowned at the fact that despite the glaring truth on this issue, the National Assembly Services Commission still insists that only one commissioner will be representing the southeast zone.

This unfortunate but impetuous act, has left the South East shortchanged in the activities and affairs of the Commission while the other five zones have the full compliments of their two members per zone on the Commission.

Comrade Chikezie stated that “further investigation has revealed the fact that the entire mix-up and confusion may have been created by some entrenched interests within the National Assembly establishment whom originally may have misguided and ill-advised the government towards total reconstitution of the Commission membership without taking into cognizance the tenure of one member(Mr Nwoha)was still running till October 2026”

He further averred that…”Curiously, despite the fact that the management of NASC has earlier drawn the attention of this anomaly (perpetrated advertently or inadvertently)to the leadership of National Assembly vide their memo to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, even before the exit of the last Commission, this issue has not been appropriately and adequately addressed and corrected.
This is regardless of the fact that till date no counter memo or disagreement have been made available to justify this continued unfairness to the south east.

“From the foregoing,it is clearly evident that some subterranean interests working underground within the National Assembly establishment are obdurately bent in subverting the Public Service statutory procedures and provisions in handling this issue.

This is probably being hatched towards trying to”smuggle in” another appointee for South East zone into the Commission, which definitely will ridicule and embarrass the Federal government in the eye of the public”.

“Sequel to the above we are calling on the presidency, the National Assembly leadership and all the authorities concerned to urgently take another look at this needlessly lingering imbroglio and do the needful by allowing the existing commissioner to serve out his tenure in compliance with the rule of law and, in the interest and full representation of our zone,like the other zones”,he reiterated.

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Tin City Warms Up for President Tinubu as North Central Embraces Renewed Hope

Published

1 day ago

October 4, 2025

The Gleamer

By Sunday Dare

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu berths on the plains and rolling hills that dominate the Jos landscape tomorrow, he will meet a people resourceful, friendly and resilient but weighed down by conflict, yet unbowed by adversity.

So, tommorrow, national attention turns to the Plateau- a locale laden with history and rich with potential. From the tin mines that gave the city of Jos its name, to the Irish potato, strawberry farms and beetroot plantations that dot its landscape, Jos remains a land of promise—truly the Home of Peace and Tourism.

Jos is also deeply woven into Nigeria’s political history. Plateau is home to towering figures such as Generals JD Gomwalk, Yakubu Gowon, John Shagaya, Joshua Dogoyaro, and Jerry Useni. Solomon Lar, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and numerous others also stand tall in the annals Plateau political history.

Jos was also the rallying ground of the famed Langtang Mafia—a group of influential military officers from Langtang in Plateau State who, at the height of their power, played a significant role in Nigeria’s political and military affairs.

The story of Jos is both exciting and excruciating. The city lost its innocence some two and a half decades ago, when the popular Terminus Market was reduced to rubble through acts of arson and looting.

Thus at the turn of the millennium by 2001, Jos—and by extension, Plateau—was thrown into a cycle of unending conflict. Ethnic tensions, clothed in religious garb, tore through the city and spread across the state, dragging Jos into an abyss of violence, almost of Kigali proportions. Peace gave way to war, and tourism jaunts became undertakings to the undertaker.

Yet Jos has never surrendered. Every time it is written off, it rises again—scarred, but resilient. With its multi-ethnic, multi-religious fabric, the Plateau continues to trudge on in pursuit of peace, development, and egalitarian ideals.

It was here, in Jos, that Nigeria’s democratic resurgence was birthed. The historic SDP convention, where late General Shehu Yar’Adua and Chief Moshood Abiola held sway, took place in this city. Jos gave political life to Abiola, our hero of democracy in 1992

Now, thirty three years later, another hero of democracy and of the June 12 struggle returns to the Plateau. President Tinubu’s return and visit to Plateau State is not just to honor the transition to glory of Nana Lydia Yilwatda, the mother of the APC National Chairman.

It is a visit that carries deeper meaning—one of empathy, solidarity, and renewed hope for a people who have endured decades of turmoil. It is a mission to preach peace, console the bereaved, bind wounds, and assure Plateau of its central place in the Nigerian project.

Mr President comes not just to mourn, but to reconnect. He comes to parley with the North Central, to commiserate with a people who have suffered, and to extend the hand of renewed hope. That Renewed Hope is laying a solid foundation as evidenced by Naira at N1,455 per dollar, rising Foreign Reserves at $43bn, Trade surplus heading for N25tr. Revenues up 411% and Inflation down to about 20 per cent. Over 600,000 students benefiting from NELFUND.

This visit is more than ceremonial. It is a journey into the very soul of a people who have known pain, yet remain resilient; a land scarred by conflict, yet still brimming with hope and promise. As the Tin City opens its arms, Jos will not just receive the President—it will receive a message of solidarity, healing, and renewal.

Tomorrow is about remembering the glorious past, confronting the present, and charting a path to a peaceful and prosperous Plateau within a united Nigeria. With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Jos once again stands at the intersection of history and destiny.

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