The lawmaker representing Ikwuano North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon. Sam Ifeanyi Onuigbo, has cleared any doubts about his political future, amid rumour of being schemed out of the process leading to the 2023 general elections.
There have been reports, accompanied by a list, suggesting that Onuigbo’s name had been substituted with one Emeka Atuma as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Abia Central Senatorial District.
But Onuigbo, who was recently a guest of the Abia Media Forum zoom interactive session, dismissed the suggestion, saying: “The list you are referring to is not recognized by INEC. If you go to INEC, you’ll see the authentic list, which has my name as the candidate for Abia Central Senatorial District.”
Indeed Onuigbo’s explanation laid to rest speculations that he might have lost out in the power play leading up to the 2023 general elections.
But he insisted: “The list you’re seeing is not from INEC, it’s from the party (APC). I participated in the APC primary election for Abia Central Senatorial District, and by His grace I won the election. I do know, however, that there were a lot of evil machinations to make sure I wasn’t declared winner of that election. Notwithstanding all that, INEC confirmed that I won the election. Ditto the security personnel that witnessed the counting of the votes. In fact, if you go to INEC office you’ll see my name. Whoever that is parading himself as the winner of that election is nothing but an impostor,” Onuigbo declared.
Also during the session, the lawmaker spoke extensively about Climate Change, a phenomenon he is proficient in, having sponsored a landmark legislation that culminated in the passing of the Climate Change Bill, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law in November last year.
His discourse of the subject matter clearly puts on all citizens the responsibility to act right, in order to avert that cataclysm associated with the human-induced distortions in global climatic conditions.
Part of the visible distortions, according to him, is the shrinking of the Lake Chad, from 25, 000 square miles to a paltry 2,500 square miles.
The danger, as he further pointed out – which is what is being witnessed at the moment – is that inhabitants of those areas, who had hitherto engaged in fishing, farming and animal husbandry, have been forced to migrate down South, sometimes resulting in clashes between the locals and the migrant population, in the struggle for scarce natural resources.
As a way forward, Onuigbo, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change, said his organization – GLOBE Nigeria – is doing much of advocacy, and awareness creation among the young people.
“Currently, there is some level of awareness going on. For instance, we have Students Members of Climate Parliament Surgery, which is designed to create awareness in schools. That project is currently going on in Abia, Osun, Rivers and Abuja. It’s for young people to know and understand what we are suffering as a result of climate change. We’ve been doing much under GLOBE to create the necessary awareness, such as to explain the Climate Change Act, which I sponsored.
“Truth is, the impact of climate change is already being felt in the North, which is why a lot of people from that region are heading down South, because ‘man must survive’,” he said.
The lawmaker also spoke about COVID-19 pandemic, and how Abia State and indeed Nigeria fared. For him, God was on the side of Nigeria and its citizens, whether or not the funds made available to contain the pandemic were judiciously applied by the custodians.