The commissioner described Bianca as the symbol of the Igbo race by her status as the widow of the symbolic figure of Igbo survival, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
The Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, said President Bola Tinubu appointed Bianca Ojukwu into his ministerial cabinet to bring the southeast region on board.
He made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday.
“President Tinubu is trying to make an inroad into the southeast and he sees Bianca as one who could help him,” he said.
The commissioner described Bianca as the symbol of the Igbo race by her status as the widow of the symbolic figure of Igbo survival, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He thus asked who else the president could have appointed to “convey the message that the president wants the southeast onboard, if not Bianca Ojukwu.”
President Tinubu recently undertook a cabinet reshuffle in which some ministers were sacked and others, including the wife of the late Biafra leader, were appointed.
Mefor commended the president for choosing Bianca Ojukwu, describing it as “one appointment that the Tinubu administration has gotten right.”
Dispelling the concern from some quarters that the appointment of Bianca Ojukwu, who is regarded as the mother of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), might subsume the party under the ruling APC, the former media consultant said Anambra State voters are sophisticated enough to distinguish between the parties.
“Election is local, and Anambra State electorates are very sophisticated,” he posted.
“The average Anambra State voter can handle ballot papers for Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly, governor, and president in the same election and distinguish between all of them. So when the time comes, there will be no problem.”
Mr. Mefor also spoke on the controversy about the newly enacted Anambra State Local Government Administration Law, which many have criticized as an attempt by the Prof. Charles Soludo government to undermine the Supreme Court ruling that Local Government allocations should be paid directly into the Local Government accounts.
The Commissioner of Information explained that the law does not contradict the Supreme Court ruling but rather seeks to operationalize it in the state.
He said there is nowhere in the law where local governments are required to operate accounts with the state government.
“The Anambra State Local Government Administration Law was made to operationalize the Supreme Court judgment,” Dr. Law Mefor stated.
“The lead judgment delivered by Justice Agim (JSC) was very clear; it says all monies meant for the Local Government must be paid directly to them and not into any joint accounts.
“And the Anambra State Local Government Administration Law never prescribed that the money from FAAC meant for the Local Government will be paid into any account in the state. There is no such clause.”
He explained that the law stipulated a mechanism for transparent and accountable application of local government funds by local governments themselves, which was in line with the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
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