[size=15pt]Yar’Adua’s govt lacks direction — Ohanaeze [/size]
Written by Tony Edike
Friday, 08 August 2008
ENUGU — THE pan-Igbo socio-cultural organiza- zation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, declared yesterday that Nigeria has not witnessed a clear sense of direction since the beginning of the Yar’Adua administration, saying a certain feeling of drift is beginning to take hold of a nation that was very optimistic on May 29, 2007 .” The umbrella organization for Ndigbo also said that the south east zone is still yet to receive its fair share of federal attention, resources and appointments, insisting that there was urgent need for these matters to be redressed to create a balance in the federal system.

In a communiqué read at the end of the Ime Obi meeting of the body by the Chairman of the Strategy Committee, Professor Ben Obumselu, Ohanaeze said it was totally in agreement with governors of the South East States who visited President Yar’Adua a few days ago to draw the attention of the federal government to the numerous problems confronting the people of the zone.

“The Ohanaeze rose from its Ime Obi meeting today where it deliberated the affairs of the nation and having done so it noted that there has been no very clear sense of direction since the beginning of the new administration in Nigeria,” Obumselu said stressing that the administration has not given Ndigbo their rightful position in the country.

Drawing attention to the decision made in 2005 by the Political Conference called by former President Olusegun Obasanjo regarding the need to create additional state in the South East (the sixth state for the zone) in order to create a balance in the federation, Ohanaeze stressed the need for the federal government to expedite action on the matter to ensure that the state was created without further delay.

The communiqué further reads: “Ohanaeze also calls attention to the need for revising the electoral law so that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is the regulatory institution becomes truly independent not just in name but in fact, and that is what will enable the electoral commission sanitize the electoral system and make decisions taken during elections to reflect truly the wishes of the electorate.

source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13896&Itemid=45