By Ife Osemedua
The recent ugly spat in Imo State between Governor Hope Uzodinma and his predecessor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, over the sealing of properties belonging to the former governor, has curiously elicited political brickbats in neighbouring Anambra State, between the camps of the state governor, Willie Obiano and that of his predecessor, Peter Obi.
The development may not be unconnected with the upcoming governorship election in the state, where though both men won’t be standing for election, as they have completed their constitutionally allowed two terms as governors, they still have interest in who takes over the reins of the state.
Valentine Obienyem, Media aide to the former governor, has alleged that his principal ‘suffered psychological torture’ in the hands of his successor, Governor Obiano, over the past seven years that he handed over to him.
He made this allegation in an article captioned, “Odogwu Awka Has Done Worse In Anambra Than Hope In Imo”, wherein he claimed that Governor Obiano sponsored more than 25 petitions against Obi at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to Obienyem in the said article, “Odogwu Awka( Gov. Obiano) commenced governance by contracting the removal of posters and billboards of Obi from Anambra State. He would come to the Exco meeting and tell them that he smelt misappropriation of funds and charged members to look for anything possible that would indict Obi. To that end, he sponsored over 25 petitions against Peter Obi to the EFCC, but each of them lacked merit, and wound up ignobly.”
Obienyem’s article and allegations appear to be a direct response to an earlier article, written by James Eze, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Obiano.
Eze, referencing the feud between Governor Uzodinma and Okorocha in an article titled, “The Imo Debacle and Obiano’s Power of Turning the other Cheek”, had posited that Governor Obiano has always been very lenient in dealing with several provocations against him since he assumed office as governor in Anambra State.
Making an apparent allusion to the relationship between his boss and the former governor, Obi, Eze said, “Obiano is a master in turning the other cheek!”
While buttressing his assertion, the CPS argued further, “Of course, it is not an overkill to say that no governor since the creation of Anambra State has absorbed unearned insults and ridicule with as much dignity as Willie nwa Obiano. The very man to whom he had publicly apologised has retained a pack of hack writers who draw monthly allowances to run Obiano down on social media, deride his achievements, undermine his public image and cause him grave psychological discomfort.
“Meanwhile, across the Amansea River is the neighbouring Enugu where former Governor Sullivan Chime had run the man who handed power over to him out of town. Further subterranean moves had crippled all his businesses and left the once bubbly Ebeano Estate a ghost town. And the sky did not fall. It wasn’t until Governor Ugwuanyi came to power that Nnamani was allowed to breathe again. Governors have enormous powers. Every governor chooses how to use his. Sullivan Chime and Hope Uzodinma have shown how to use theirs. They did not turn the other cheek!”
But Obienyem was quick to respond that psychological torture being endured by Obi was worse that any physical inhibition as suggested by Obiano’s aide.
According to him, “Psychological torture is worse than physical torture. Tortures are also measured from the circle it is coming from. Imagine an Okorocha that did not have a hand in Hope’s emergence and an Odogwu Awka that did not contribute anything, not even words, towards his election; an Okorocha alleged to have enriched himself and his cronies from the coffers of the State and an Obi whose prudence enabled him to save billions of Naira that have since been stolen and squandered.
“What Peter Obi has borne from the venomous attacks by Odogwu Awka are incomparable in Nigerian politics. We thank God for making Obi strong. I know a lot of insiders that broke down while feeling for Obi, such that Obi was even the one consoling them. He often tells such people that God allows everything to happen for a purpose.
“During his first Executive Council (ExCo) Meeting, Odogwu Awka told those present that he did not want anybody to mention Peter Obi’s name for any reason; that by his second year in office, Obi would become a past tense. He often threatened to sack his Commissioners if they ever referred to Obi in whatever they said or did. In fact, Chief Joe-martins Uzodike was sacked because of that. He is alive and can confirm that.
“This is coming from a man who was elected 100% on the strength of Obi’s performance and campaign for him. Even today, when the likes of Arc. Callistus Ilozumba, Chief. Barr. Joe-martins Uzodike, Dr. Patrick Obi and Prof. Stella Chinyere Okunna recall the gory tale, one could see goose pimples all over them.
“A few days after Odogwu Awka was sworn in, he invited some important stakeholders and asked them to tell Peter Obi not to come to Anambra State again. His exact words were: “Two kings cannot be in the same kingdom.” He had actually requested security agencies to stop Obi from entering the State, but they could not carry out an order they probably considered as ridiculous and lunatic.
“The wicked antics of Odogwu Awka are deadlier than whatever Hope has done.
“If Hope met the type of money Odogwu Awka met in the Imo treasury, he would be celebrating Okorocha. Odogwu Awka had billions, no outstanding debts in salaries, pensions and payments for contracts done!
“The first meeting Odogwu Awka had with Obi after he became Governor was at the Onitsha Lodge. Though the meeting was strictly between two of them, two days later, one group tagged “Omambala Brothers” placed an advertisement in several newspapers warning of a meeting where demands for campaign money were made and so on and so forth. Between Obi and Odogwu Awka, who could have been responsible for such a hateful and vicious imagination?”
Obienyem said that when everything thrown at Obi failed, Obiano allegedly took the fight to Obi’s home town, Agulu, by trying to discredit him.
“When it appeared that Obi was unfazed by the attacks against him, Odogwu Awka took the battle to Obi’s home town by conniving with the then Chief Judge of the State to relocate a Court meant for Agulu to another town. He also abandoned all on-going projects in Agulu; he only managed to complete the Agulu Lake Hotel, while abandoning its accompanying infrastructure. Interestingly, funds had been set aside by the Obi administration for the project’s completion.
“Odogwu Awka has been fanning the embers of disunity in Agulu by manipulating the process of electing a President-General (PG) for the town with his Caretaker contrivance. How he thinks that will affect Peter Obi also beats the imagination as he has no idea of the nature and resilience of the people. If he likes, let him even appoint caretakers in all the villages in Agulu and get them to continue shouting “we are searching for peace” in a town that has remained peaceful,” he said.
It is expected that more of these kind of exchanges would continue between the two political camps as the governorship election in the state draws near.