Soludo Not Indebted To Former Political Appointees — APGA 

By Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Following agitations and threats by former political appointees who served under ex-Governor Willie Obiano to work against Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s re-election in 2025 if their demands for payment of severance allowance are not met, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Barr. Ifeatu Obiokoye has said that Governor Soludo is not indebted to the agitators.

Speaking with our correspondent exclusively on Wednesday, Obiokoye wondered who the former political appointees were because he could recall that former political appointees who served in the Willie Obiano regime were still serving in the highest Executive Council level of the present administration.

Obiokoye, who was a former political appointee and served under ex-Governor Willie Obiano as the Special Adviser on Political Matters, told our correspondent that he has a long list of former appointees who served in the previous administration and still serving under Soludo’s government.

He mentioned the current Deputy Governor Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, saying that he was a Special Adviser during former Governor Willie Obiano’s administration.

Others he mentioned were the current Secretary to the State Government Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, who was also the SSG during Obiano’s administration. He said the current Commissioner for Information Sir Paul Nwosu was an appointee in the last regime.

According to him, the current Commissioners for Transport, Power and Public Utilities, Homeland Security, Women Affairs and Social Welfare and many others were political appointees in the last regime.

On issues of severance allowance, Obiokoye maintained that not every category of political appointee was entitled to severance package. He said those who were by law entitled to severance allowance included Commissioners, Special Advisers and Special Assistants of certain categories.

According to him, EAs and SAs who constitute the bulk of the number are by law and also by their letters of appointment not entitled to severance allowance.

He therefore emphasized that for those who might claim to be entitled to severance allowance, the question remained that who was supposed to pay the money? According to Obiokoye, if the answer is that the last regime was supposed to pay her appointees severance package, then another pertinent question is why did the Obiano administration not pay her appointees severance allowance?

Another salient point Barr. Ifeatu Obiokoye raised was that why was the Chief Executive paid and his appointees were not paid? He said that the bunch of the agitators who had aggregated themselves as Aggrieved Political Appointees were clearly people who had taken a ride with other political parties long before now.

He said quite a number of them had been working for other political parties and they were not members of APGA at least in the last one year.

Obiokoye however declared that no responsible government would want to deal with such people, when it was clear that their agitation was sponsored purely for political purpose.