The Enugu State House of Assembly on Thursday approved two commissioner nominees sent to the House by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
The two commissioners-designate, Dr. Peter Okonkwo, and Dr. Jeremiah Ebe, were screened and approved during the plenary session on the 18th of August.
Okonkwo had been the Commissioner for Housing and the overseeing Commissioner for Local Government Matters in the Ugwuanyi administration before he resigned to contest the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party for the House of Representatives seat to represent Nsukka and Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency.
He, however, lost to Chief Vita Abbah, former PDP chairman in the state.
On his part, Ebe, before his nomination, was a Senior Special Adviser to Governor Ugwuanyi and, at the same time, a lecturer at the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu.
Both are seen as opinion moulders and popular stakeholders who can influence voting in their areas.
Speaking before the duo were cleared, the Speaker, Edward Ubosi, said because Okonkwo had been a commissioner, he would have asked him to take a bow but allowed his colleagues to grill him for the third time.
The member representing Nkanu East Constituency, Paul Nnajiofor, wanted to know how Okonkwo lost both his First School Leaving Certificate as well as his WASSCE certificates but did not lose the other certificates, which he explained that he “lost them in transit by going from one higher institution of learning to the other.”
Okonkwo, in reply to another question posed by Ibenaku Onoh, to name two of the most important achievements he made as a former Commissioner for Housing as well as Local Government Matters, said that under his watch, “housing was made easier while he made sure that the council chairmen provided the dividends of democracy to their council areas.” He said he did this by making sure he held periodic meetings with the local government mayors.
On his own part, Ebe said, “I remained as a lecturer as well as doubled as an SPA to Gov. Ugwuanyi because he was not given a particular office that should warrant his resigning his appointment with the College of Education, Eha-Amufu.
“I am a mobiliser who would mobilise the youths of his community, Eha-Amufu, and the entire Isi-Uzo local government area to ensure that PDP candidates for the 2023 general elections win their opponents from the other political parties by a landslide.”
In the same vein, the House approved the transmission bill of the 5th alteration of the 1999 Constitution in line with Section 9 subsection 2 of the amended constitution.
