The member representing Ezza North/Ishielu federal constituency at the National Assembly, Rt. Hon. Joseph Nwobasi, has urged Nigerians to be patient with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The lawmaker, who is a member of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), made the appeal over the weekend, emphasising that the President is focused on building a better Nigeria. He encouraged all citizens to join the fight against corruption, assuring them that the current challenges will soon ease.
Nwobasi also expressed his commitment to attracting social amenities to his constituency and ensuring the enactment of laws that will improve the lives of Nigerian citizens.
“I believe there will be a change. I want to ask Nigerians to be patient with him. He came in to build Nigeria, which we know he will do. With the help of the people around him, the ministers, the National Assembly members, and the governors, we will get there. We will get there, but it is not a day’s job,” Nwobasi stated.
He further explained the reasons behind his continuous efforts to empower his constituents, attributing it to the support he received during the election. He noted that he has the highest number of appointed aides among federal lawmakers from Ebonyi State, driven by his motivation to give back to the people who voted for him.
“My constituents were there for me during the election and came out en masse to vote for me to represent them in the National Assembly,” Nwobasi added.
He said, “My stay in the national assembly for over one year now, we are new here, we are first timers, I have been able to move two motions and sponsor one bill for now. Coming to social amenities, I have attracted solar streetlights.
” If you go to Oshiegbe at the market square, Amuzu village, Ezeukwu village, Azuinyaba village, and Isiphomini village have been all electrified through solar street lights. In Ezzagu, three villages have also been covered with solar street lights.
“I have been able also to attract hospital equipment for Oshiegbe Health Centre, which I plan to brief my constituents about between now and December; that event will come up, and I will use that opportunity to commission the hospital equipment. I have also attracted the building of six classrooms. The building of the classrooms is ongoing; it is at the roofing level.
“In terms of scholarship, I have also given two persons scholarships into tertiary institutions. I think among all of us at the national assembly, I have the largest number of appointees. For instance, I have about forty special assistants who I pay every month. I did this to help those who were there for me during the campaigns and elections. So that as I am enjoying, let them also enjoy with me. I can provide you with their names and portfolios.
“Their payment is graded from $150,000, $100,000, $50,000, $40,000, to $30,000,000. This is done every month, and we have a lot. These are the ones I have been able to do. Then, last Christmas, I procured and distributed three trailers of rice as palliatives to my constituents. Then, in terms of fertilisers, three months ago, I also distributed 1,500 bags of fertilisers.
“I have in mind if I can also roll out empowerment programs, which will come together with the brief I will hold with my constituents. We still have other programs that will unfold as time goes on.
“I am motivated to do all these things because we are in a democracy. And democracy, they say, is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. For me, who am I? But my people during the election were there for me.
They came out in their mass to vote for me, and today I am in the national assembly to represent them. So, I have been motivated to ensure that I attract social amenities and also to make good policies that will better their lives as citizens of this country. These are the factors that motivated me to do all these things, and much is still coming,” Nwobasi assured.
“The state of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which is the political party platform on which I was elected as a national assembly member, is no more story. There is a little fracas in the party at the national, and you know that once the national is in disarray, the state will be affected. The leadership tussle between Edozie Njoku and Eze Okenwa is the issue. There have been in court over one matter or the other.
“Today, you will hear this one, and tomorrow you will hear another thing. The same thing that is affecting the nation is also playing out in the state. In the state, there are two parallel chairmen. One is loyal to Njoku and the other one to Okenwa. For me, I will take the party because they gave me tickets. I think the party executive should know how to handle it. I am not part of their issue. If there is any way I could offer advice, I will do that. I have no hands with the struggling or issues they are having,” he said.
This is a country and a very large one. The economic condition of this country is not something that started today. It is something that started many years ago. It gradually accumulated to the stage we are now. Then, Tinubu, who came in just barely a year and six months ago, came in as president bearing in mind that he wants to revamp the economy of this country, which I know and believe that his programmes and policies will soon start paying off.
