By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – It was gathered by 365Daily that following the recent shocking defection of the Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Nkem Okeke, from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the All Progressives Congress (APC),
senior aides working with him have been compelled to publicly denounce him in order to guarantee their jobs.
The Deputy Governor had on October 13, 2021, decamped to APC but yet to issue any official statement on his reasons for dumping his former party.
Findings by the 365Daily indicate that 24 hours after the deputy governor’s defection, his aides were summoned to the office of the Chief of Staff to Governor Willie Obiano, Chief Primus Odili, to denounce the action of their principal, Okeke.
365Daily was told that all of them chose self preservation above loyalty to the principal they have worked with in the past seven years by doing the biddings of Mr. Odili.
Cameramen and Government House Correspondent of the state-owned Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), were on hand to record the apparently choreographed session where one after the other, they pledged loyalty to the governor, while castigating their principal for being ‘selfish’ by dumping APGA.
The affected senior aides include, the Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor on General Duties, Dr. Charles Nwufo, who was invited from the United Kingdom by his principal to work with him since their first tenure; Mrs Stella Igboka, Special Assistant on Media, who was previously with the ABS; and Special Assistants on Legal and Political Matters respectively in the Deputy Governor’s office, Barrister Bath Okafor and Captain Chizor Obierika.
All of them, 365daily learnt, claimed not to be in the know of their principal’s plans before his defection was made official by his reception in the presidential villa by the president.
According to Dr Nwufo, as recorded by the ABS, “the Deputy Governor, Dr. Okeke never discussed or mentioned the move to his aides wondering why someone who has benefited so much from Governor Obiano will defect to a political party that is struggling to have a ground in the state”. He went further to pledge his continuous support to the APGA leadership.
The media aide Igboka was quoted to have said that the “successes and achievements recorded by Governor Willie Obiano is immeasurable” as she vowed to finish “with APGA which shared the vision and hope of Ndị Igbo”.
According to the account of the state-owned ABS, “The Special Assistants to Anambra State Governor on Legal and Political Matters respectively in the Deputy Governor’s office, Barrister Bath Okafor and Captain Chizor Obierika summarized the move as selfish and a spite to them as it clearly shows that they were never valued and carried along, which they would have strongly disapproved and assured that they will continue to propagate the ideals and mission of the accomplished administration of Governor Willie Obiano in making sure that the governor is succeeded by a responsive and visionary leader like Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.”