The Enugu West Peoples Forum, on Wednesday, took a swipe on the Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, over what it described as false claims against the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, saying the lawmaker had performed.
It also blasted the authors of the said statement for accusing the Senator of sponsoring a motion seeking the legalisation of abortion.
In a statement signed by its President-General and former Member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Paul Aniekwe, the Enugu group said: “The attention of the Enugu West Peoples Forum has been drawn to a statement credited to the Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Kate Ofor, and circulated by Mr. Osita Okechukwu accusing the Deputy President of the Senate and Senator Representing Enugu West Senatorial District of under-representation as well as sponsoring a motion to legalise abortion.
“While we uphold the right of citizens and institutions to hold their leaders accountable or constructively criticise them, we frown at barefaced lies aimed at maligning persons or institutions they represent.
“To put the record straight, as at the time of issuing this statement, our findings show that no motion or bill has ever been sponsored in the Senate seeking to legalise abortion or related matter, let alone one by Senator Ekweremadu.
“Again for authors of the diatribe to claim that such inexistent motion was the only motion they ‘could remember Ekweremadu raised’ is a clear case of disfunctional memory and flagrant advertisement of their ignorance of events at the National Assembly. We challenge them to name the Motion reference or the date and Votes and Proceedings it appeared in the business of the Senate.”
On Senator Ekweremadu’s promise to seek federal government’s intervention to end usual gridlock at the Ninth Mile Corner during festive seasons, the group said Senator deserved commendation because he had always delivered on promises.
The Forum added: “With over 12 Bills and 10 Motions to his name or sponsored, piloting of the first successful amendment of the 1999 Constitution, overseeing the far-reaching electoral reforms of 2010/2011 and Speakership of ECOWAS Parliament, Ekweremadu stands out as a briliant lawmaker with whom we are well pleased.
“With over 163 completed/ongoing projects within Enugu West alone and another 31 spread over other Enugu senatorial districts and South East attracted by him; with the actualisation of the Enugu International Airport, the Onitsha Seaport, and ongoing construction of the Second Niger Bridge, etc where he played lead roles after many years of disappointment; with his giant strides in human developmet through scholarships, bursaries, adult literacy programmes, health projects, women and youth empowerment programmes, etc, on the platform of the Ikeoha Foundation, we are convinced that Ikeoha has carved a niche for himself in quality representation and that whosoever used the word ‘under-representation’ on the Distinguished Senator deserves to go back to school”.
Ekweremadu’s unrivaled quality representation, Hon. Anekwe further asserted, had earned him the endorsement of all key political actors and the masses of the senatorial zone, Enugu State and the South East, most recent of which was his endorsement on 2nd January 2015 by the Presidents-General of Town Unions of Enugu West Senatorial District as the sole senatorial candidate of their communities.
“Therefore, if the brains behind the inglorious statement were truly convinced that the performing Senator has under-represented our district and geopolical zone, why did they not pick their party’s nomination form to test their popularity against his? And having failed to do so, should they not feel indicted for their cowardice and stop misleading unsuspecting members of the public?”, the Forum queried.
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