Senate Presidency: Ekwunife flays LP Senators-elect

Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District Uche Ekwunife has  said the Labour  Party National Assembly members-elect should concede their election victories to join the party’s presidential candidate for the February 25 elections, Mr Peter in a fight for his mandate.

The Senator made the submission while speaking with the press during the 2023 Annual State Conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Anambra State Branch, at Hilton Hotels and Leisures, Awka, on Thursday.

Senator Ekwunife urged that the “Labour Party Senators and House of Rep members-elect shouldn’t be part of agitation for South East to produce next Senate President”.

She emphasised:  “they should go and show solidarity with their presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and reject their position as they are saying the election, which they are product of was rigged’.

She felicitated with the ACPN, Anambra State Branch, on their 2023 annual conference and wished them success in their effort to proffer solutions to pharmaceutical problems in the state.

Also speaking with the press, a former Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joe Odumodu, lamented high increase in the number of patent medicine dealers, and charged pharmacists to rise up and take ownership of their position in Nigeria’s society to save people’s lives.

The ex-SON boss said, “before, the law allowed patent medicine dealers because we didn’t have enough pharmacists. They were made to help but now they are taking over the job of pharmacists, who studied how to handle medicines.”

In his address of welcome, the state chairman of the association, Pharm Henry Iloh, explained, the conference was to prepare the pharmacists in the state for the challenges ahead and get them abreast of their new roles in community setting.

He expressed hope that the conference theme:  “From Crisis to Preparedness: Future of Community Pharmacy Practice in Anambra State”, would unite the pharmacists to collectively deal with the challenges facing the profession.

In an interview with newsmen, Pharm Iloh appealed to Anambra State Ministry of Health, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control(NAFDAC), and other drugs regulatory bodies in Nigeria, to double effort towards cleaning up quackery in pharmaceutical space in the county.