OJUKWU UNIVERSITY; Obi's aid slams APC

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA — THE senior special assistant to Governor Peter Obi on Media & Publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem has decried what he called the All Progressives Congress, APC’s, penchant for opposing everything done by a non APC–led government, arguing that it is laughable that a political party should oppose the naming of a university after late Chief Chukwwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

Reacting to a statement credited to the minority leader in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Mr. Tony Muonagor in which he was quoted as opposing the renaming of Anambra State University after Ojukwu, Obienyem said there should be limits to politicking, even in election season.

He said: “A tragedy happens in Anambra State and even before credible, first hand witnesses could come up with a rep ort, one Lai Mohammed from a Lagos or Abuja base was already pontificating and laying blames on a matter he knows nothing about. That is very indecent and unhealthy.”

According to Obienyem, APC cannot reject what Anambra citizens and Nigerians have hailed as a good gesture from Governor Peter Obi and lamented that the APC was introducing a dangerous species of opposition in Nigerian politics.

He said that when a political party forms the habit of opposing every policy because it emanated from a rival party in government, that opposition is clearly out for the destabilization of the state, recalling that every action taken by the governor to immortalize the late Ojukwu has continued to receive commendation from all quarters, except the APC.

He said further: “I have followed the APC, that is, the South-West ACN bloc of the APC, and noticed the way they revere Yoruba eminent persons, dead or alive. Even recently, late Lt Col Adekunle Fajuyi was honoured. You wonder then why moves by Igbo to honour their own should be opposed and politicized.”

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Uke stampede: S’East CAN bans politicians from campaigning in churches

The South-East chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has banned politicians from carrying their campaigns to churches.

The South-East CAN Chairman, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, who placed the ban yesterday in Enugu directed all pastors and bishops in Anambra State and the entire South-East to henceforth disallow politicians from using the church as campaign arena.

The ban followed last weekend stampede at Uke Adoration praying ground in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State where no fewer than 20 worshipers lost their lives.

Chukwuma, who is also the Anglican bishop of Enugu, warned that people should come to the church to worship God and not to turn it to a campaign ground.

“No politician henceforth is allowed to carry his campaign train to the church and begin to make unnecessary promises or make donations that are frivolous to buy the conscience of the people.

“Anambra people should be ready to vote according to their conscience and shun money-bags who come to entice them with money, the mandate of the people must be respected,” he said. He also called on church members and pastors not to be partisan in whatever they do.

“We are very much concerned about what happened, we commiserate with the families of the people who lost their lives, and we feel concerned about it. We, therefore, call for a neutral investigation in Anambra, not the investigation by the state government because the state governor was allegedly involved. So, the Federal Government should set up an investigation panel to find out the remote cause of this stampede that happened immediately after the departure of the governor.

“What we are seeing today in Anambra State is a desecration of the church, people should go to the church to pray and be saved and not to go to church to die, we are very much worried over what happened. I, therefore, call on politicians to stay clear of our churches with their campaign trains; they should only go there to pray and then leave to do their campaigns outside, in town, not in the churches again. They should also allow the people to vote according to their conscience because I believe that the peoples mandate will determine who will rule the state. Politicians do not need to induce the voters with money, they should allow the will of the people to determine who will rule them,” he advised.

Chukwuma said they are praying for Anambra State for a successful election even as he urged the South-East Christians to remain prayerful so that the political programmes in Anambra would work out to the glory of God.

My Wife has Health Challenges; Chime breaks silence

FROM CHIDI NANDI and VINCENT KALU 
Enugu State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, has broken his silence over allegations in online publications and some segments of the national dailies that he had incarcerated his wife, Clara, in a room in Government House.

He vowed to protect the integrity of his wife, who he said has some health challenges.

This is coming at a time when the Enugu First Lady has denied ever sending any petition to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging unlawful detention by her husband. She also denied contacting or engaging the services of Mr. Femi Falana or any other lawyer to seek her freedom from an alleged incarceration at Government House Enugu, as the latter claimed in his letter to media houses and the Inspector-General of Police.

The governor and Mrs. Chime spoke to journalists, on Tuesday night, at the Government Lodge, Enugu in the presence of Mrs. Chime’s elder brother, Mr. Tony Igwe, the governor’s siblings, Mrs. May Oji and Dr. Jide Chime as well as Mrs. Chime’s neuro-psychiatric doctor, Dr. Aham Agumuo, among few others.

Governor Chime noted it was quite heart-aching for him to speak out publicly about his wife’s health challenges, but insisted that he would do everything, no matter the personal pains to protect her from ridicule.

“Well, my wife has some medical challenges and it would be very unkind for me to talk about her condition on the pages of newspapers,” the governor said, adding: “I’ve done everything to protect her integrity and I’m not now going to expose her to ridicule because some people want to exploit her situation to drag me into a needless war of words.

“We have been battling this (Clara’s health challenges) prior to my inauguration in 2011. It was so bad at a time that she had to be taken out of here (Governor’s Lodge) for treatment. When she stabilised, I pleaded with her doctors if she could be brought back here to be receiving her treatment at home and they graciously accepted.

“There was a time she was confined indoors and that was strictly on her doctors’ advice. She’s here and she can confirm or deny it. Also, the doctors then advised against allowing her access to telephones and laptop.”

At this point, the governor paused, heaved a deep sigh and continued his emotional narration: “I cannot say or do anything to undermine her dignity. She is, first and foremost, my wife. The big blunder I committed was allowing her access to the telephone and her laptop, against the advice of her doctor. I’m paying dearly for that today, going by what is happening now.
“Her brother is here; her doctor is here with us too. You people (journalists) can confirm anything you want from them, either here or at your convenience. Would I have been a better husband if I asked her to leave the lodge because of her medical challenge? Would it not have been more convenient for me if I allowed her to stay and be treated in the hospital?

“But like I said earlier, I wanted the best for her and that’s why I pleaded with the doctors to have her treated at home. That’s also why I allowed her access to her telephone and laptop, which unfortunately led to the stage where I’m now being falsely accused of imprisoning or detaining my own wife.”

For quite a long time, Mrs. Chime could not speak, despite persuasions from her husband and brother. At a point, her brother, Tony Igwe, took her to an adjacent room, where they spent a few minutes before returning to join others.

Igwe now assured the rest people that she was willing to talk, but it was another round of silence.
At last, the First Lady said: “You (referring to the governor) and my doctor can speak on my behalf.”

The governor politely replied: “Yes, I’m your husband and should ordinarily do so, but you know I’m the one being accused of detaining you. This way, I’ve lost that privilege to speak for you, at least on this case. The story out there also is that your doctor is probably scared of me and gives you all kinds of drugs, sometimes against your wish.”

Clara said: “My doctor and I don’t have any problem.”  On the petition to the National Human Rights Commission, Mrs. Chime corroborated an earlier text message she had sent to her husband that she had not met Falana or engaged him to seek her release from a purported unlawful custody. Rather, she admitted that she wrote a letter to her doctor, Dr. Agumuo and another doctor overseas whom she was introduced to and wondered how the letter leaked to the public

Mrs. Chime also admitted that she was once confined to a room without access to her telephone and laptop. “That was when I had a serious crisis,” she said.

She also confirmed that she had the key to her room and controlled her entry and exit, contrary to the claim in the petition that she had been locked up for asking to be allowed to leave. Her grouse was that she had not been allowed to leave the premises, though she attended mass even last Sunday.

Governor Chime chipped in: “All I want to reassure you is that she is safe here. Her confinement within the premises for now is at the instance of her doctor who is here.

“Why would I want my wife locked up? If it had been that I had issues with her, there are many ways to resolve them. But that’s not the case. She is not well and I’m willing to do anything to support and protect her.

“It was always more convenient for me to have taken the easier route, but that would have been very callous and ungodly. When I had my own health challenge, I was receiving treatment in London and thinking about her, making sure she received the right treatment.

I’m forever grateful to her doctors who have done a great job. Both families are billed to meet very soon and after that, I’ll take a decision which will be in the interest of both parties.”

On his reaction to the petition to the IGP by Falana, the governor said: “He’s my professional colleague but sometimes you leave people to their conscience. I won’t join words with him.

Has he met this client of his, as he claimed, to assess her state of mind and determine if she can give him the right brief to guide his case? Did he ask for access to her or to me and was denied? I leave it at that.

“That’s the penalty you face as a public officer. When I was receiving treatment in London, some of the newspapers reported that I had died in India.

I’ve never been to India and had never applied for an Indian visa. Today, the story is that I’ve imprisoned my own wife in my residence. I know their motives but I wish those behind such wicked tales well.”

We wish her quick recovery your excellency.

ANAMBRA in the EYEs of posterity; Who will take it all?

On Saturday, November 16, 2013, the electorate in Anambra State will go to the polls to elect a new governor to succeed Mr. Peter Obi, whose tenure will officially come to an end in March 2014. For Anambra, this election offers an opportunity to begin to correct past wrongs and impressions.

For one, that Anambra is holding its governorship election at this odd time in our national election calendar is a sad reminder of its checkered history and unsavoury experience with elections since the commencement of the present democratic dispensation.

It is a result of the many setbacks the state has suffered. At least on two occasions, the wheels of democracy had been bogged down in Anambra – once, for three years, when the mandate which the electorate had freely given to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was hijacked by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and again, for 16 days, when the national electoral commission, through an illicit gubernatorial election, foisted another PDP governor, midway into the tenure of a serving governor.

Not too long after, an ill-constituted state assembly would again throw out the state governor, and hoist up his deputy in his stead, in a rather curious impeachment. That impeachment too would later be voided by the courts.

Before all these, Anambra also made history in infamy as the first and only state where a political godfather – backed and cheered on by the police and an acquiescing central government – orchestrated the arrest, kidnap, illegal detention and purported resignation of his ‘errant’ governor-godson.

Now, with the governorship election less than two weeks away, Anambra is on the march again. Of course, in true Anambra tradition, the atmosphere is charged, with virtually every registered party fielding one candidate or the other.

Of course, everything has been thrown into the fray: issues, personalities, blackmail, intimidation, mudslinging, name-dropping, plenty of money, religion, and just about everything else, as each candidate seeks to have an edge over the others in the battle for the voter’s mind.  Thankfully, no direct incidence of violence has been recorded, but the possibilities remain very high.

Of course, the campaigns have also not lacked controversies and confusion. If it is not about a controversial zoning arrangement, then, it is about the confusion over the authentic candidate of one of the parties. It is so bad that as at last Saturday, which was exactly two weeks to the election, it was still not clear who would fly the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In all, there is every promise of a testy contest in Anambra come Saturday, November 16, 2013.

But, this election is not just about Anambra alone. It is also about Nigeria and the way forward for democracy in the country. Whatever the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) makes of the November 16 poll in Anambra will probably be a foretaste of what to expect in the 2015 general elections in the country. If INEC fails to get it right in Anambra, it means the 2015 polls could be in trouble. INEC must, therefore, put up a good showing in Anambra. Not only must the electoral umpire be prepared, it must eschew bias and ensure a level playing field for all parties and contestants.

Most of all, INEC must ensure that voting and collation of votes take place only at accredited polling booths and centres. The practice of polling booths suddenly springing up in some evil forests must never repeat itself. INEC must also get its logistics right this time by ensuring that all election materials get to the polling centres on time. We must put a stop to the idea of materials arriving some centres just a few minutes to the end of voting. However, while INEC is working at delivering a foolproof process, the candidates must desist from overheating the polity with spurious and unsubstantiated allegations, which only serve to incite supporters and pave way for violence.

On the part of the police, there must be adequate security for both election officials and the voting public. Although it is common knowledge that every major politician, business person and moneybag in Anambra moves about with his own army of policemen, the authorities must ensure that these private armies are not used to abuse the process on election day. All stakeholders must endeavour to conduct themselves with decorum and respect for order. It is reassuring that President Jonathan has promised that the Anambra election will be freer and fairer than what was witnessed in the Edo and Ondo governorship polls.

We, therefore, enjoin the candidates, the electoral umpire and the electorate, whose actions and inaction will determine the course of this election, to play by the rules. This is another litmus test for INEC, the police and the Jonathan administration to prove that we can get our elections right. For Anambra, this is another chance to prove to the whole world that democracy has finally taken root in the state. May the candidate with the most valid votes be declared winner.