By Douglas Blessing, Port Harcourt
The Minister of State for Labour, and former representative of Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Nkiruka Onyeojacha has been accused of alleged involvement in anti-party activities.
A group, Niger Delta Rights Advocate (NDRA) in a statement signed by it’s national women leader, Clara Nkwocha alleged that the Minister is sponsoring a court case in her favour to return back to the national assembly, insisting that the move was not in favour of the party at the House of reps.
According to the group, the eventual exit of Onyeojacha as a minister will affect the visible position of women in the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Nkwocha said: “Recall that our organisation had issued a communique on August 26, 2023 on a potpourri of issues which included the vexed issue of appointing and recycling persons very well known in the nine states that make up the Niger Delta region, as poli-preneurs into Cabinet as Ministers.
“As if we knew that today would come, some of such individual who has not settled down to design a roadmap to end the incessant trade disputes witnessed in the country which her Ministry should be tackling, is Nkiruka Onyeojacha (Minister of State, Labour).
NDRA Women Wing is alarmed at the haste with which Minister Onyeojacha is running around the Courts to ensure she finds her way back to the House of Representatives for a futitious journey to represent her selfish interest and not that of her constituents by ensuring the destabilization of the House Leadership and by extension becoming a cog in the wheel of progress of the Tinubu administration.
“One of the reasons for the agitations by civil society organisations in this country for the implementation of the 35% Affirmative Action for Women, is simply to ensure greater visibility for the women folk and not to diminish it.
Now, our calculation is that a paltry 19.5% of Mr President’s cabinet Ministers are women, what then is the logic behind one of the women sponsoring court cases from behind inorder to destabilize her own party the APC and lose that Ministerial slot with the dream of returning to the House of Representatives to become Speaker of Parliament?
The Women Wing of the NDRA are disappointed in this self-serving agenda aimed only at destabilizing the House leadership and throwing a spanner to the works given the comradarie, partnership and mutual respect existing between the Speaker Tajudeen Abbas led House of Representatives and the Executive arm of government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.
The group continued “Our call is on the National leadership of the APC to call the Minister of State for Labour to order to cease from sponsoring court cases that are injurious to the party and capable of dragging the name of Mr President through the mud.
“Hon Onyejeocha’s actions by our calculations is aimed at creating unnecessary tension between the people of the South-East and the Northwest who were rightfully, thus, dreaming to alter the existing political algorithm between the North and South based on the fact that the South already has the Presidency and the Senate Presidency.
“Furthermore, we view the desperation of Hon Onyejeocha to return to the House of Representatives as gamble taken too far since we all believe that she should have been contented with a Ministerial position magnanimously given to her by Mr President”.
They advised that President Tinubu should look into allowing space for more women to contribute to national development, adding that it will help cut down the cost of governance and offer greater accountability in public service.