The State
Working Committee (SWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu
State chapter, has passed a vote of confidence in Foreign Affairs
Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama...
This followed a call by factional
chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, that President Muhammadu Buhari should sack
Onyeama, who he claimed has performed abysmally in office.
But, the party’s SWC, at a press conference, yesterday, addressed
by the state factional chairman, Mr. Adolphus C. Ude, distanced members
from Nwoye’s call and said “those calling for the sack of the oreign
affairs minister are political fugitives with deformed minds.”
The SWC said Nwoye and some stalwarts of the party who took the illegal decision were on their own.
“We wish to state that the APC in
Enugustate neither took such decision nor asked Nwoye, who is no longer
in office, to address a press conference on its behalf, after his
suspension for diversion of party funds and anti-party activities.
“The party celebrates president Buhari
and his entire cabinet, for the numerous achievements this government
has made.
“For the records, in 2015, the image of
Nigeria, internationally, was in a deplorable state with high records of
institutionalised corruption and impunity.
“The foreign affairs minister took
conscious steps to change that perception and, within a short period, he
restored the country to its pride of place, among the comity of
nations.” The party organ noted that “today, the foreign affairs
ministry, headed by Onyeama, has removed the country from the previous
shocking levels of impunity, arrogance of power and corruption that have
dented Nigeria’s image before the coming of the APC administration.
“In 2015, foreign investors were fleeing
the country because the economy, which, after rebasing, was rated the
largest in Africa, had suffered serious damage and was almost prostrate.
However, through strategic efforts and alliances forged for Nigeria by
the foreign affairs minister, Foreign Direct Investors are beginning to
return to the country with renewed faith in the Economic Recovery and
Growth Plan (ERGP).
which is a three-year plan designed to
reflate and redirect the economy on the path of growth. This has
resulted in massive foreign capital investment in the country.
“The economy has started responding to
the initiatives to re-attract foreign investors into the country
inspired by the minister as evidenced in the recent announcement by the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the country has officially come
out of recession,” SWC pointed out.
They reminded those calling for the
minister’s sack that he had, under the instruction of President Buhari
mobilised other African leaders to force erstwhile President Yahya
Jammeh of Gambia to relinquish power in Gambia.
They also argued that under Onyeama, the
country and President Buhari have enjoyed massive international goodwill
and support as could be seen in the volume of high-tech defence
equipment the United States of America (USA) and other super powers have
agreed to make available to the country at little or no cost.
“As we speak, the foreign affairs
minister is busy with ensuring that Nigeria appends its national
signature to the anti-nuclear weapon treaty.
“Hence, we make bold to say that Enugu
APC is proud of the foreign affairs minister and his legacies which we
hope will be immortalised in the anal of Nigerian history,” they said.
They said the call by the factional
chairman of the party for “the sack of the minister on the basis that he
under performed at the recently concluded UNGA is laughable, as
Nigerians and even the opposition party applauded him and the president
for making the country proud. Such sack call can only come from an agent
of destabilisation.”
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