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Archbishop Dares Okorocha: Your son-in-Law Can’t Be Imo Governor
The Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, His Grace, Anthony Obinna, on Saturday had a brush with supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State for daring to condemn the apportioning of political offices to the family members and allies of Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The Archbishop was admonishing the congregation at the St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ngwoma in Owerri North council area during the requiem mass for the mother of Mr. Alex Mbata. Obinna had, metaphorically told Chief Uche Nwosu, the Chief of Staff to Governor Okorocha, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, the Imo First Lady, and all others at the service that the state needed a seasoned administrator democratically elected and not a handpicked successor as likened to the governor’s son-in-law.
“It is like civilian dictatorship which is unacceptable. Not the governor, not his deputy, not even me can handpick and determine who governs Imo without recourse to the will and votes of Imo people,” the Archbishop said. Obinna urged the members of the congregation to endeavour to get their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and deploy them appropriately in 2019. Nwosu is married to Okorocha’s first daughter.
The Archbishop condemned the recent apportioning of positions to loyalists by Okorocha who had endorsed Nwosu as governor, announced his deputy, Prince Eze Madumere, for Senate and Commissioner for Information, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, for Senate; while Ozuruigbo Ugonna and Deacon Chike Okafor would go for House of Representatives.
But Okorocha yesterday said God has endorsed his son-in-law and that it was futile antagonizing him. Okorocha said: “This time, it is Uche Nwosu because they have seen that he is the man for 2019 with God on our side. And no amount of blackmail or tricks would change the plan of God on the young man to govern the state.
“It takes someone alive in the things of the Spirit to know that Uche Nwosu is a “child” of destiny. He has the divine mark. And anyone fighting him is fighting his God. And no one can battle with God.”
On his part, Nwosu said that power belongs to the people and only the people of Imo State can determine who governs them.
Trouble started when Obinna was lamenting the dilapidation of roads and infrastructure in the area and the increasing level of poverty and hunger in Imo State. An appointee of the governor from Oru West council area, Chief Chris Ekwueme, shouted that Governor Okorocha was working and doing his best.
Ekwueme was invited to the podium and was given the microphone. The APC stalwart stated that Okorocha was working and cannot finish all the developmental works in Imo in his tenure, noting that the concern of the Archbishop will be addressed. Another member of the congregation, who apparently was not sympathetic to APC, dashed off to the podium and requested to speak and was also given the microphone after Archbishop Obinna, who was sceptical about his intentions had quizzed him in low tones.
The man lamented that the APC government in Imo State is a tragedy which has continued to inflict pain and poverty on the people of the state.
He stressed that nothing under the Okorocha administration is working or functioning in the real sense of it as issues are driven by more of propaganda than truth. He called on the people to demand for change in government come 2019 and use their PVCs wisely. Angered by the man’s submission, APC followers started jeering and shouting in the church. Thereafter, it degenerated to raining insults on the Archbishop, forcing him to end his admonition.
The Archbishop handed over the microphone to the Monsignor as the APC supporters thronged out to the front and turned the church into a rowdy session. Priests and church workers formed a wall around the vestry with most of the young priests ready to defend themselves if the APC supporters breached the altar, but they didn’t. While the bedlam continued, the First Lady, Mrs. Okorocha, and Nwosu were still in the church and watched on.
The speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Chief Acho Ihim; the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Paschal Nnadi, and many commissioners were also in the church. An eyewitness, Rev. Fr. Chika Opara noted that it was not the first time Okorocha’s men were bringing thuggery to the church.
“This was exactly what they did in 2015 when the Catholic Church organised a debate for governorship aspirants in the state. When things were not going their way, they sent in their thugs, attacked the organisers and destroyed the podium for the debate,” the cleric said. Reacting to the incident, the Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN) condemned the harassment of the Archbishop.
“These dastardly acts have become frequent occurrences in the current administration against leading religious leaders, human rights activists and social critics. The present event goes further to underscore that in Imo State under the current administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, there is suspension of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion as enshrined in Sections 38 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria,” ACMPN said in a statement by its chairman, Dr. Philip Njemanze.
A former House of Representatives’ member and onetime aide to Okorocha, Hon. Uche Onyeagucha, condemned the attack on the church. He said: “It is high time Okorocha called himself and his supporters to order. I understand Okorocha’s desperation to run for a third term, riding on the back of his son in-law, but there must be a limit to this madness. Priests are entitled to their sermons from the altar to the church. Imo State has not and cannot be allowed to degenerate to government dictating sermons for men of God.”
In his statement, the governor’s spokesman, Sam Onwuemeodo, said Nwosu is being blackmailed. “We say this for posterity sake. Imo people, including youths, students, men and women have thrown their unalloyed support behind the youthful Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the 2019 governorship in the state. He has become the subject matter as long as that issue is concerned, with APC officials and leaders from 24 out of the 27 local governments in the state having already endorsed him for the 2019 Imo guber poll.
“Now seeing Uche Nwosu as the guy to beat in the 2019 election, they now think that there is no other way to stop him than through unwarranted blackmail. That is the reason, such a quintessential gentleman and an embodiment of decency should be associated with whatever that transpired at the event in question,” Okorocha’s spokesman said.
The media aide to the Chief of Staff, Mr. Chikezie Nwadike, told our correspondent that APC members were not to be blamed for the disruption of the church service. Nwadike said: “It was the PDP member who started campaigning in the church that caused the uproar. He was insensitive to the point that he was asking people to vote against the state government in a church service where people were mourning their late mother.”
The Owerri Archdiocesan Director of Media and Communication, Fr. George Nwachukwu, however, said that the church has left the assault on the Archbishop and the church in the hands of God.
He said: “The Archbishop and the archdiocese have decided to take no action against the APC members who assaulted the church. “We have taken the assault on the archbishop the same way Jesus was insulted, assaulted and humiliated on the cross of Calvary. “The assault on the church and the archbishop was very painful, provoking and highly unwarranted, but we have resolved to leave it in the hands of God.”
Source: from New Telegraph.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has encouraged media practitioners to introduce probing of manifestoes of aspiring political office holders as part of their responsibilities to reshape the country from frivolous and unkept promises.
Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director general of the agency, gave the task while speaking a a panelist at the 9th annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), with the theme,’ Reconciling Campaign Promises with Governance Realities: Challenges and Prospect’, held in Lagos
He pointed out that some of the so-called manifestos are not originally from those who presented but the party they belong to, and they end up subscribing to such manifestos, stressing that as media practitioners this should be probed.
‘Some people proposed manifestos which are not theirs, but party manifestos. They end up subscribing to their party manifestos. As journalists, we do not question manifestos, but populated airtime for other things’
He equally pointed out that the manifesto of the federal government is the manifesto that governed Lagos state, explaining that the National Orientation Agency(NOA) is to communicate government projects.
The Director General added that government require value documentation, recalling that before he joined the agency, he was among those who said it should be scrapped, but when he got there, he discovered that the staff there are committed
‘Before I went to NOA. I was among those who said it should be scrapped. It is not the Agency’s problem but a Nigerian problem. When I got there, I discovered that the staff there are committed
‘I am an agency under a Ministry. There is the problem of the need to have them buy into what I want to do. I am lucky to get the support of the president who is interested in the unity of the country’, he stated.
News
Enugu State Govt Condemns Murder of Catholic Priest, Places ₦10 Million Bounty on Killers
…Commiserates with family, Catholic Church
The Enugu State Government has strongly condemned the gruesome murder of Rev. Fr. Mathew Eya of Nsukka Catholic Diocese by unknown assailants.
The government also commiserated with the late priest’s immediate family, the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka, and indeed the Catholic faithful in general over the tragic incident, which occurred on Friday, September 19, 2025.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, the government described the action as cowardly and cold-blooded.
Father Eya was said to have been shot dead by a group of assailants, who attacked and killed him along Alumona- Eha Ndiagu road in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu.
The government has, therefore, reiterated that security of lives and property remains its priority and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
It added that it would not spare any resources within its reach, including technology and credible intelligence to track down the criminals and defeat the remnant agents of evil in the state.
Consequently, the Enugu State Government has placed a ₦10 million reward for anyone with credible information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Anybody with credible information about the perpetrators should quickly contact 07077451426.
The International Press Institute (IPI), a global body committed to protecting press freedom and the free flow of information, has raised concern over the recent cases of media repression in the country.
Mr Musikilu Mojeed, president, IPI Nigeria, raised the alarm at a dinner organised by the institute, to honour one of its members and a retired Director, Digital Media, Voice of Nigeria (VON) Hajia Hadiza Hussaina Sani in Abuja on Saturday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the dinner was organised to honour the media icon for her dedication and service, after clocking mandatory retirement age of 60 years.
NAN also reports that the identical twin sister of the celebrator, Hajia Ameena Hassana Sani, equally retired meritoriously from the service of the agency (NAN) as a Director.
Speaking at the event, Mojeed, Editor-in-Chief, Premium Times, cited the recent “disturbing” instances of banning of live political programme in Kano State and the arrest of a journalist in Ekiti State.
“Akwa Ibom State Government recently evicted Channels TV crew, a journalist and a cameraman, from the press centre inside Government House, Uyo.
“The repressive action was taken, over the publication of a video clip, where the governor, eventually confirmed he is defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“A journalist with FIJ, Sodiq Atanda was recently arrested by the police in Ekiti State.
“A former “ThisDay” employee, Azuka Ogujiuba, was reportedly arrested and harassed by the Police for doing her job.
“Every single day you wake up, it is one form of harassment or the other against the media,” he said.
Mojeed, called for continued advocacy to protect press freedom and promote independent journalism.
He stressed that, efforts to protect journalists’ rights and promote independent journalism are crucial in Nigeria’s media landscape.
Mojeed said Sani’s retirement came at a critical time when the media sector in Nigeria is facing numerous challenges, including harassment, arrests, and censorship.
He noted Sani’s significant contributions to IPI Nigeria, including her role in organising its World Congress in Nigeria in 2018, as well as her subsequent active participation in various committees.
Mojeed appealed to the celebrator to continue advocating for press freedom and supporting the work of IPI Nigeria, emphasising that her expertise and experience are invaluable to the organisation.
The Director-General, VON, Mallam Jibrin Ndace, expressed gratitude to IPI Nigeria for recognising Sani’s contributions, stating that the gesture also reflected positively on the entire VON team.
He described Sani as a professional journalist who seamlessly transitioned from traditional journalism to modern digital practices, leading the digital department with innovation.
According to the DG, Sani’s leadership in the digital space, kept VON at the forefront of public media institutions and global competitiveness.
He commended her experience, passion, and love for journalism, which he said, enabled her to excel in her role and serve as a role model for younger journalists.
The VON DG emphasised that, “journalism is a marathon, not a sprint”, and Sani’s long-standing career is a testament to her dedication and commitment to the profession.
Mr Garba Shehu, s spokesman to late President Muhammadu Buhari, described the retirement of Sani as a significant loss for the organisation but a potential gain for other sectors of the journalism profession.
Shehu praised her, as “a strong and young professional with much to contribute to journalism”.
He highlighted her unique qualities, particularly her social responsibility, selflessness, and commitment to helping others to succeed.
According to him, Sani embodies the principles of servant leadership, a concept often touted by politicians but rarely exemplified.
“Her legacy as a role model for young journalists and a champion of socially responsible journalism will continue to inspire others in the field,” he said.
Abdulwaheed Odusile, former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), commended Sani’s dedication and expertise, which he said, have earned her recognition and respect in the industry..
On her part, Sani expressed gratitude to God and her family for their support throughout her 34 years career in public service.
While reflecting on the challenges and rewards of her time in service, she highlighted the importance of dedication, clear vision, and family support.
Sani emphasised the need for media professionals to adapt to new technologies and appreciate their impact on the industry and the society
She stressed that, telling a good story starts with understanding oneself and one’s audience.
Despite retiring from active public service, she assured to remain active in the media space, pursuing research, teaching, writing, and lecturing.
“It has been a very difficult, challenging, interesting and rewarding 34 years in service.
“It’s not easy. You have new and great ideas, but some people don’t understand, so they find it a bit difficult to agree with you.
“But if you are consistent, if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, and you are dedicated and resolute, the sky is not the limit.
“I have pulled out from active public service, but have not retired. My brain is still exceptionally active, and I plan to utilise it.
“I’ll be doing a lot of research work and writing, and I won’t get tired of seeing myself in the media space,” she said.
NAN reports that Sani’s dedication to her work and her commitment to excellence have been hallmarks of her career, which started with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) before joining VON.
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