Enugu IPAC Disowns Award Given To Agwu Council Boss; Says ‘We Don’t Give Awards’

Posted by Ignatius Okpara African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Wednesday, January 27th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Enugu state chapter of Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, has disowned a recent award of excellence bestowed on the Awgu Council Area Chairman of the state, Chief Pedro Nwankwo, with the name of the organization, describing it as fake and fraudulent.

It made it clear that those behind the said controversial award are not members of IPAC as presently constituted, but friends and kinsmen of the Council boss.

The said award to Nwankwo as the best local government chairman in Enugu State, has been generating serious heat among members of IPAC, in the State who are insisting that those behind the act used the name of the association to gain credibility even when they are not members.

Speaking with newsmen after its emergency meeting to clarify certain issues surrounding the controversial award, state Chairman of IPAC, Barrister Ken Ikeh, who was said to be present during the award presentation ceremony held at the Council Chairman’s office last December, disowned it, saying he only went there as a friend to the organizers of the event and not as IPAC representative as reported in some segments of the social media.

African Examiner reports that both the IPAC chairman and the Secretary, Dr. Ben Nwoye, of the All Progressive Congress APC, had respectively, disowned the award.

They made it clear that the organization was not into presentation of awards, but ensuring good governance, as such could not have presented such an award to the Awgu Council Chairman.

Ikeh, however, explained how he was involved in the award saga, saying that he had accompanied some of his friends who hails from the locality and were former members of IPAC to Awgu where they went to visit the Council Chief, but was surprised to later read in the media that the visit had to do with an award by the umbrella body of registered political parties in the state..

He said those on the entourage included only indigenes of Awgu, who were once chairmen of political parties prior to the deregistration of their political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

According to him, “Apart from myself, every other person that was part of that visit is from Awgu Local Government Area.

“They told me that they were visiting the chairman to thank him for the good relationship they have with him; they were all indigenes of Awgu.

Ikeh added “They spoke to me and asked that I accompany them. I went to Awgu as a friend to them and not as IPAC chairman.

“So, the essence of the emergency meeting we just had is for me to clarify issues. At no time did the IPAC give anyone an award in Enugu State, it was purely a personal visit.

In his comment on the issue, the state IPAC secretary and chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, described the said award as fraudulent and fake, saying “We don’t give awards, IPAC only promotes good governance in the country.

The state IPAC scribe added that “the visit was fraudulent; the plague I saw had the insignia of IPAC; whoever produced it is fake.

“We have never assessed the performance of that local government or any other politician in Enugu State.

“The role of IPAC is not to go around giving awards. IPAC at the national level has never given an award to President Buhari or any other governors; we all belong to different political parties” Nwoye stated.

“The individuals that paraded themselves are not chairmen of any existing political parties, they used to be, but their parties were deregistered..

Nwoye said that the Enugu state chapter of IPAC will continue to do everything within its jurisdiction to promote good governance and Democratic tenets in the state.