Orji urges Abia lawmakers to legalise equity charter

Abia State lawmakers have been urged to legalise the charter of equity, which seeks to rotate the governorship position among the component groups.

The former governor of the state, Theodore Orji, made the call in Umuahia, the state capital, at the 2016 Media Week of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Orji, who is the senator representing Abia South, debunked the allegation that he merely supported power rotation in 2015 to win votes into the Senate.

The former governor, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Mr. Don Norman Obinna, said giving legal backing to the charter was needed for an orderly transition, where equity and justice would reign.

He explained that he was in firm support of power rotation while he was the governor, despite the opposition by some people. He added that the charter was necessary to give a sense of belonging to all the tribes that make up the state.

According to him, it was propounded by the state’s founding fathers during the agitatation for its creation. Unfortunately, it has not been given any legal backing many years after.

The correspondents’ chapel gave Orji the award of the ‘Hero of Equity’ at the event.

Also at the weekend, the Students Union Government (SUV) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, honoured the Chairman, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) in zone 9, Dr. Ugochukwu Collins Obi.