NEWS UPDATE
THE Anambra State Government has suspended some of its officers for two months without pay after they recently went viral for singing a campaign song in support of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, and his running mate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The officers also face the possibility of being sacked, according to people familiar with the development and sources within their families.
The management of the Anambra State Traffic Management Agency (ATMA), under which the officers work, announced their suspension on Tuesday on behalf of the Anambra State Government.
The Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, has endorsed President Bola Tinubu for re-election in 2027 and has appeared on the podium several times already campaigning for the president.
He has also caused his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to announce its full support for Tinubu’s re-election. Tinubu is of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a development that has polarised the party.
Peter Obi is from Anambra State, and there has not been any love lost between the pair, although Obi usually addresses Soludo as “my brother” and has never been confrontational with his successor.
The announcement of the sanction followed the controversy generated by a viral video showing the officers singing an NDC campaign song associated with the political aspirations of Obi and Kwankwaso to a motorist.
The incident reportedly occurred at Nwagu Agulu Junction, where the officers were deployed for traffic control duties.
The officers had earlier been summoned to the agency’s headquarters in Awka to explain their conduct and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
They were not issued queries, according to them, and no written statements were made.
Rather, the agency slammed them with a two-month suspension without pay, which is believed to be the outcome of the disciplinary process initiated by the agency following the circulation of the video.
Although the circumstances surrounding the officers’ actions remain unclear, there had been suggestions that their singing might have been prompted by the NDC logo they reportedly sighted in the motorist’s car.
The development has reportedly thrown the affected officers into distress, with some expressing fears about their future following the disciplinary action to their families.
It was gathered that some of the affected officers had been weeping and approaching influential personalities who could intervene on their behalf and appeal to the relevant authorities for leniency.
Since they were summoned, they had not been seen at the junction carrying out their official duties until the suspension.
Meanwhile, relatives of the affected officers have appealed to public-spirited individuals to come to their aid by helping them secure alternative employment opportunities in view of their present circumstances.
The relatives reportedly fear that the suspension, particularly without pay, could worsen the economic situation of the affected officers and their families.
The affected officers have expressed confusion about what the agency based their suspension on, since it was issued without a query or written warning, with some wondering whether they had breached ATMA’s operational regulations or whether the action was connected with the incident for other reasons.
The agency was not available for comment, and the Anambra State Government has not reacted to the development, which has been trending for days.