 |
| * Ikpeazu * Ogah |
by Tony Icheku
The centre has certainly fallen apart in Abia State since the Federal High Court judgement which removed Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu from office and awarded the seat to Dr. Uche Ogah on June 27, 2016.
The sacked governor who is still clinging onto his seat as he awaits the outcome of his appeal in the higher courts is certainly panicking, and getting progressively jittery.
Perhaps it would not be a bad case if his fright was a closely guided case known only to his aides and kitchen cabinet. But it is public knowledge: A development that has left him open to the devices of all kinds of magicians, marabouts and miracle merchants.
A very good example of a mind panicking like a trapped rat is Ikpeazu's decision to send a contingent of his aides, led by his Chief Press Secretary, Appolos Enyinnaya, leading a contingent of over 30 journalists to cover a magistrate court proceedings involving Dr Uche Ogah in Lagos State. Of what interest is the outcome of the case to the well-being of Abians? How much did this obnoxious trip cost taxpayers? How would it help Ikpeazu's case which is at the Court of Appeal. Straight away, one can see that this white elephant project was conceived and executed with the objective of earning pecuniary benefit for the consultant, while the man for whom it was supposed to benefit approved it out of panic. The Ogah case, a business transaction gone awry has been in the courts since 2011, and has absolutely no bearing on the political situation in Abia.
Just before the Court case, one year of Ikpeazu has seen the Abia earn about N58,145,094,691.02 being total of monthly allocations from the Federation Account. The State also generated N13,349444,263 as Internally Generated Revenue. It was also one of the States that benefited from the bail out fund given to States by the Federal Government.
But a holistic appraisal shows there was no tangible evidence that Gov. Ikpeazu was making any dramatic impact on the lives of Abians, but there was stability and uneasy calm. At least there was a semblance that the Ikpeazu administration was settling down to business after the turbulent election that brought him in and the protracted court cases that followed.
However the June 27 court judgement has changed all that. All may appear calm, but beneath there is tension in Government House, Umuahia. Gov, Ikpeazu is an unhappy man and rarely enjoys a good night's rest. He is literally like a marionette with the strings pulled by all kinds of fancy talkers, marabouts, legal experts and rent-a-crowd contractors. Literally anybody who boasts he/she can save the governor from being ejected from office has free access to him, and opportunity to be paid a hefty consulting fee.
 |
| * Iwuanyanwu and Ikpeazu |
Gov. Ikpeazu has become the latest Father Christmas in town, freely dipping his hands into Abia State Treasury to dole out funds to legal experts, media consultants and marabouts who want their counsels publicised widely on the electronic media and published as adverts in national newspapers.
From the records, in the last 14 days, more or less the following persons or groups had been hosted by Ikpeazu in Government House, Umuahia:
From Imo State, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu came calling; The Abia State Amalgamated Tricycle Operators were also hosted at a massive rally in Umuahia; Also hosted include Dr Anagha Ezikpe and his group; And the wife of former premier of Eastern Region, Chief (Mrs) Adanma Okpara.
The Ohanaeze elders led by Chief Gary Nnachi Enwo-Gariwey and his exco members were also hosted as were South-East Council of Traditional Rulers. Several chapters and blocs of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP had been hosted plus UNICAL alumni association.
One could say the governor is taking governance closer to the people, but lest we forget, the politician recently returned from a carnival like Town Hall meeting through the three senatorial districts of the State.
The sole objective of these solidarity visits almost on a daily basis is to reassure ikpeazu of the support of every section of the State. But it is left to the imagination how they would help the legal battle ahead.
However, a sad dimension to the whole process is hate statements being issued by some elements from Abia South Senatorial district against their Abia North brothers, threatening to make the state ungovernable if Ikpeazu is removed.
However a political stalwart from Abia South, Dr. Max Nduaguibe argues that Ikpeazu is buffetted by political turbulence because the power shift to Abia South was counterfeit, a Greek gift.
He asserted that the current travails of Ikpeazu stems from the fact that he (Ikpeazu) was neither a consensus candidate of either the Bende axis nor of the Ukwa-Ngwa axis, but a creation of former governor, Chief T. A. Orji and his son who did not obtain the agreement or consensus of the two political divides in the State.
"Was the transfer of Power to Ukwa Ngwa as a result of consensus building between Bende And Ukwa Ngwa, the two clans in Abia? No! all the eight LGAs in Bende rejected the so-called Ukwa Ngwa candidate ( Okezie Ikpeazu), including one or two LGAs in Ukwa Ngwa land." Nduaguibe asserted. He regretted that the Abia is more divided and atomistic today, but emphasised that there is no war between the Bende axis and the Ukwa Ngwa axis, only a political manipulation.
He further insisted that the current travails of the governor were in-built 'banana peels' to make sure he remained subservient and an obedient houseboy to the godfathers who created him.
Perhaps it is in the bid to save Abia from bankruptcy that an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Darlington Ozurumba recently went to the Federal High Court in Abuja praying the Court to stop the release of the monthly federal revenue allocation to Abia State pending the resolution of the governorship crisis in the state.
Ozurumba raised four questions for the determination by the court including: “Whether by the combined provisions of section 176 and 162 (3 and 4) of the 1999 constitution as amended or any other enabling statute, the defendants can validly release the monthly revenue allocations accruing to Abia State or any other state from the federation accounts where there is no lawful or recognized governor in law as Chief Executive of the state;
“Whether in the absence of a valid or legally recognized governor in Abia State, monthly revenue allocation accruing to Abia State from the federation accounts can be taken, received or released to Abia State government.
“Whether that by the community reading of section 176 and 162 (6) of the 1999 constitution as amended or any other enabling statute, the state joint local government account into which all allocations to local government councils in Abia State from the federation accounts can be validly operated in the absence of a constitutionally recognized governor or chief executive in Abia State.
“Whether by the judgment of the Federal High Court in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/71/2016 delivered on the 27th day of June 2016 and the subsequent issuance of certificate of return to Dr. Uchecukwu Samson Ogah by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), further allocations to Abia State from the federation accounts ought not to be stayed pending the determination of who is a recognized and lawful governor of Abia Sate.”
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/483/2016, listed the Minister of Finance, Accountant –General of the Federation, Revenue Mobilization Alloation and Fiscal Commission and the Attorney-General of the Federation as the defendants. But it is yet to be heard.
The truth of the matter is that Abia is hemorrhaging, and very fast too, and all for the sake of one man. But who would tell Ikpeazu that allowing magicians, marabouts and miracle merchants to hold him hostage would not save him???
0 Comments