“The basic training of public officers often mostly emphasizes monetary approvals and expenditure processes” —Ebuka Onyekwelu On January 8th, Dr. Betta Edu, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs was asked by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to step aside, following allegations of impropriety with the disbursement of public money. By that, Nigerians saw a scarce decision by the country’s president, to the effect that it would be the first time a serving minister in Nigeria is being...

“A major aspect of the budget performance is the availability of funds” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Three weeks after Governor Chukwuma Soludo presented a budget size of N410 billion Naira to Anambra State House of Assembly for consideration, the House is now drawing the curtains on budget defense, which is an integral aspect of the budgeting process. The budget currently at committee stage, has all government Ministries Departments and Agencies – MDAs, coming to explain why their...

“Last weekend, many gathered in Uli, a community in Ihiala LGA where Dr. Mbadinuju came from, to pay him the last respect” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The Late Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, was governor of Anambra State between 1999 and 2003. In 2003, he did everything within his power to return for a second term but could not secure the ticket of his former party, the PDP. He then ended up running on the platform of the AD...

“Without sufficient funding, the 2024 budget estimates, just like those of the previous years, will perform below average.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has presented the 2024 budget to Anambra State House of Assembly. The Budget which was presented on Tuesday during plenary is the biggest budget by size, to ever be presented to Anambra State House of Assembly by any governor of the state. With a budget size of...

“Information Commissioner has also not facilitated any interface between the government and the media community.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Recent developments, particularly political exchanges in Anambra State, have ignited concerns about how duly committed the government of Anambra State led by Prof. Soludo is on governance protocol or perhaps, if the government is merely using governance instruments as political tools. What is clear is that there is a mismatch of responses from the government, which raises the...

“Soludo’s letter, though realistic, was also an assault on the dominant feeling of the majority of Southeasterners at the time.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu By this time a year ago, there were ragging fireworks all over the media, ignited by an open letter written by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State Governor. The letter entitled “history beckons, and I will not be silent (part 1)” signified Soludo’s deliberate entry into the political ring of the 2023 Presidential Election....

“Right now, APGA, our party, has only one advantage left, and that is the advantage of ethnic privilege.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu For nearly one month since Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah joined APC, I am often amazed at how some members of our party, APGA, have continued to insist that Anambra cannot vote APC. This is, at best, laughable. Only as recent as in 2017, Sen. Tony Nwoye, then of APC, garnered over 90 thousand votes in the...

“In 2021, Governor Obiano signed the Judiciary financial autonomy bill into law, yet the House cannot recruit its own staff” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The Anambra State House of Assembly Complex has remained closed, following strike action by parliamentary staff, under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria – PASAN, over the non-implementation of the Assembly autonomy, by the state government. It is worthy of note that section 121 of the 1999 constitution of the...

“On the merit of Senator Ubah’s defection to APC, purely on the strength of prevailing reality in Nigeria’s politics today” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The move by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah representing Anambra South senatorial zone, from Young Progressive Party- YPP, to the All Progressives Congress – APC, is a development that is of particular interest to many people, especially power brokers in Anambra State. At least in the last week, I have been confronted by no fewer...

“In 2007, former president Obasanjo vowed that Atiku could not contest the election. Then, Atiku teamed up with Tinubu and was given the Action Congress – AC presidential ticket.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu For days, debates about President Bola Tinubu’s certificate from Chicago State University-CSU have dominated private and public conversations across Nigeria and beyond. But this is only happening because many people are not asking the right questions. First of all, the allegations erupted from social...