PRESS RELEASE!

THE PARLIAMENTARY VANGUARD (TPV)

...a parliamentary performance watchdog

BEING TEXT OF A PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE TPV IN RESPONSE TO SOME TISSUES OF LIES ISSUED BY ONE NSUKKA DISTINGUISHED ELITES FORUM AGAINST THE PERSON OF SENATOR OKEY EZEA.

The attention of The Parliamentary Vanguard (TPV), a foremost parliamentary performance watchdog in the country, has been drawn to an insensible statement issued by one attention-seeking faceless group that goes by the name Nsukka Distinguished Elites Forum wherein some uncomplimentary remarks were made against the person of the Distinguished Senator Okey Ezea.

In our traditional non-partisan style, we would have elected to ignore this group of crumb pickers, especially given the reality of the fact that campaigns are over and elections have been won and lost. However, in view of some false claims and imputations made in the said statement, there is a bounden duty on us as a watchdog on parliamentary issues to put the records straight in order that the unsuspecting good people of the Enugu North Senatorial District are not hoodwinked by the antics of these blackmailers.

For the records, the result of our recent survey and assessment of the performances, so far, of the parliamentarians from the Zone has shown that in just four (4) months at the Senate, Distinguished Senator Okey Ezea, in union with other parliamentarians from the Zone, has ensured that the decrepit situation of Otukpo-Obollo-Afor-9th Mile Road is brought to the attention of President Bola Tinubu who has just recently awarded the rehabilitation of the road.

Having closely followed Senator Ezea's politics since his inauguration on 13th June, 2023, we understand that the Distinguished Senator believes, and rightly so, that the demonstrable way to respond to the needs of Nsukka people - and not "vanish from their presence after assuming office" as the Forum's statement tended to suggest - is to identify the challenges confronting the people of the Zone and finding immediate solutions to them. It was in fulfilment of this conviction that the Distinguished Senator Ezea devoted efforts in pressuring the federal authorities, especially the Honourable Minister for Works, HE Engr. David Nweze Umahi, for the rehabilitation of Otukpo-Obollo-Afor-9th Mile Road.

Also, in just four (4) months at the Red Chambers, Senator Okey Ezea has sponsored two critical motions at the floor of the Senate that centre on nagging issues confronting the people of Enugu North Senatorial District who sent him to the Senate. We are also in the know that the Senator is also currently concerting efforts with other stakeholders at the national level to secure employment opportunities for the people of the Zone, including securing employment opportunities for the characters operating under the banner of Nsukka Distinguished Elites Forum.

Distinguished Senator Okey Ezea understands that it is the idleness and lack of gainful employment inflicted on these characters by their pay master who unfortunately wasted eight ( irrecoverable years opportunity of productively engaging them that pushed the members of this ignoble group into the shameless business of serving as hirelings to discredited politicians. To this end, the Distinguished Senator has made it a point of duty to ensure that they are productively engaged going forward, by assiduously working round the clock to ensure that a more sustainable means of livelihood is extended to them.

The characters who, in the statement, reeled out what in their jaundiced view was the résumé or performance scorecard of their pay master must have inexorably labeled the whole of Nsukka people as ungrateful people for stopping their idol from transiting to the Senate despite his performances as a governor. The group literally called the overwhelming majority of Nsukka people who congregated to stop his senatorial ambition fools for not seeing the achievements of their pay master that only them could see. We at the TPV cringe at the audacity of these chaps! We wait to see how they hope to clean up the image of the man that enlisted their services.

Finally, and very importantly, having interviewed Senator Okey Ezea on a range of issues, it is pertinent to underscore the fact that his nature of politics is not one anchored on sharing money to blackmailers like the one above. Activities such as the one by the above nebulous group is a hangover from the PDP's long years in the saddle which the good people of Nsukka unanimously rejected in February this year.

It, therefore, goes without saying that The Parliamentary Vanguard is satisfied with the performances of Distinguished Senator Okey Ezea at the Senate. The Senator, on assumption of office, has designed a poverty alleviation model for the people of the Zone which he is following to the letter and we at the TPV have been closely watching and monitoring his performances in that regard and are impressed with the results so far.

Signed:

Sylvester Okwete, PhD.
National Convener, The Parliamentary Vanguard.
October 25, 2023.