13 August 2008
Lagos — The convoy of Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji was recently attacked by suspected assassins along Port Harcourt-Aba expressway. The incident has resulted in bickering between Orji and his opponent in the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Davidson Iriekpen reports
The altercation between the Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the April 14, 2007 election, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, gathers momentum by the day. While the governor accused Ugochuckwu and his opposition group of planning to assassinate him, Ugochukwu in turn asked the governor to look inwards because those planning to eliminate him are his close associates.
Ugochukwu and Orji have been in the struggle for power since the April 14 2007 governorship election in Abia State. The spate of verbal attack between the duo heightened with Ugochukwu's victory at the election petition tribunal in Umuahia. Orji who is at the Appeal Court has reportedly been jittery believing the opposition represented by Ugochukwu is perpetually seeking for his sack, to pave the way for the PDP's desire to regain what it describes as a lost mandate.
But the matter got to the peak when the convoy of Governor Theodore Orji was attacked recently by gunmen on the way to Port Harcourt International Airport to pick the governor and his wife, Odochi, who were returning from United States trip.
The attack, which occurred at about 8 am at Ngwa-Iyiekwe in Ugwunagbo Local Government Area of the state along the Port Harcourt- Aba Expressway was said to have lasted for about 15 minutes and left many of the vehicles in the convoy, including the governor's official car, riddled with bullets.
The governor's convoy was said to have ran into the robbery operation despite being warned that they were at risk of attack if they so choose to ignore the robbers.
One journalist, who was in the convoy, told THISDAY that the armed robbers just waited for the convoy of vehicles to enter within the radius of the robbery operation before opening fire on them. When the smoke cleared, a body of a man ostensibly caught in the crossfire was found at the scene. He was said to be a bus conductor. But the police issued a statement indicating that the victim had died earlier before the unleashing of a hail of bullets on the convoy.
Two vehicles including a back-up SUV of the governor were taken away by the gunmen but were later recovered at Ogwe in Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state, where the fleeing gunmen apparently abandoned them. As soon as the incident happened, the state government put the blame at the door step of the opposition, saying the attack was an assassination attempt on the governor.
To aggravate the situation, shortly after the attack, rumours had it that Orji had been kidnapped and it was not until the Abia governor entered the Government House in Umuahia at about 1 pm that the anxiety abated. This was followed by a quick and repeated statement issued by Chief of Staff to the governor, Mr. Mascot Uzor-Kalu on both the state radio and television stations debunking the kidnap rumour.
In a swift reaction, the Abia State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Ndidi Okereke, refuted the allegations that the party had a hand in Governor Orji's alleged assassination attempt. Okereke said the state PDP viewed the allegation as grossly irresponsible and diversionary.
For a party which had used every available forum and opportunity to petition the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro on the deplorable state of security and banditry in the state and to also task the governor on good governance including security of lives and properties in the state, the accusation was hardly one thing it could bear.
According to Okereke, it was a cheap attempt by the Abia State Governor "to defray the attack on his convoy by gunmen on the opposition," noting that the attack on Governor Orji's convoy "might have been a failed insider job to eliminate deputy governor Chris Akomas to realise the long-nurtured plot to pave way for Mr Mascot Kalu, current Chief of Staff to Governor Orji and former Governor Orji Kalu's brother into the position."
Okereke wondered why anybody would want to kill the governor when it was clear he was not in the vehicle, noting that it was common knowledge in the state that the governor was abroad; "so why would anyone aim to assassinate an empty car? How come there were no casualties?" He added that preliminary police reports indicated the attack was a robbery operation but the Governor, like a loose cannon, is shouting assassination without any shred of evidence beyond his own hysteria."
Okereke who anchored his response on media reports quoting the Governor as claiming that the attack was an "assassination attempt," by his opponents with whom he has a case at the Appeal Court added: "Since we are the only party he took to the Appeal Court where he is challenging our historic victory at the Tribunal, we take it that the statement is referring to us, which is truly unfortunate because Abians are too intelligent to fall for this cock and bull assassination dummy which is reminiscent of the Orji Uzor Kalu days of crying wolf to divert attention.
"The governor's hysterical reaction is typical of his desperation since the Tribunal nullified his election and declared the PDP candidate winner. The governor's fairytale raises more questions than answers. Why were they carrying N2 billion inside the bullet-proof SUVs allegedly taken away by the so-called robbers? Why were they carrying N2 billion to Port Harcourt , where the Court of Appeal sits? Governor Orji has always used the Owerri Airport on his domestic trips so why switch to Port Harcourt Airport on this day? Let him explain."
On his part, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state in the 2007 polls, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, who apparently was fed up with the propaganda being unleashed on the state by Gov Orji and his aides,, described the allegation as irresponsible, adding that although his party wants to remove Orji from office, it was with due process and rule of law.
"I don't know how the governor imagined that anybody would kill him when he was not there. It is just like late Chief MKO Abiola used to say in one of his proverbs: "You cannot shave my head in my absence. Anybody who can plan assassination would have known that he wasn't even in the vehicle. So why launch an attack when the man was not there? But we do know of internal wrangling in their party. They believe that there would be another election in Abia, and they are, therefore, trying to position".
Ugochukwu said the alleged shooting spree was designed to eliminate the deputy governor, Mr. Chris Akomas for Mr. Mascot Kalu, the current Chief of Staff to the governor and former Governor Orji Kalu's brother to take over.
Based on this scenario, the gubernatorial candidate claimed the deputy governor appeared to have been tipped off and so stayed away from the convoy, adding that credible sources believe people who knew about the sudden change in plan took advantage of the situation to make away with the two bullet-proof SUVs containing the N2 billion being moved to Port Harcourt.
"The game plan is eliminate the deputy governor and get in their candidate as the deputy governor before the ruling (by the Appeal Court) and then PPA (Progressive Peoples Alliance) will tell T.A. Orji that they cannot put him again because of the constitutional disqualification. After this argument, then the preferred candidate who happens to be Mascot Kalu, having first been sworn in as deputy governor, is now fielded by the party. That is the whole arrangement.
"The drama of opponents attacking him is to divert attention by accusing the opposition. The governor himself, should be asking questions on how come this money (in the attacked van) vanished. The point really is that this government and its marksmen are the people behind the killings. From 1999 when Orji Uzor Kalu was installed governor of Abia State till now, at least 36 people who held high appointments in that government have died in mysterious circumstances and they are still dying; the list continues to elongate.
"Actually we are compiling the list of all the people who died either tragically or in mysterious circumstances and these include a deputy governor, Commissioners, Special Advisers, SSG, et al and it will amaze Nigerians that all these took place without anyone raising an alarm."
The Director of Publicity of Abia Elders Forum, Hon. Uchenna Kalu on his part, advanced the argument further by noting that the recent minor cabinet reshuffle announced by the Governor confirmed the statement issued by the Forum "and other well-informed authorities in Abia state" that indeed vast sums of money were moved from the treasury to an unknown destination. In a press statement, Kalu accused Governor Orji of removing the Finance Commissioner "because the information about the movement of cash is believed to have leaked from his office".
Last weekend, the PDP in the state commended the State Police Command for apprehending the ringleader of the gang that allegedly attacked the governor's convoy. In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Henry Agbaeze, the party described the arrest as a significant confirmation that its account of the event was "more accurate, more factual that the Governor's hysterical version." It also commended the police for "exposing the lies and manipulation of public sentiment by the state governor who had blamed the shooting on his political opponents."
Said Agbaeze: "It is now clear that Governor Theodore Orji, spoke first before getting his facts right. His comments then blaming the shooting on the opposition were meant to procure public sympathy for a dying regime. Now the facts are out and the chickens have come home to roost." The statement said the next time the Governor makes another desperate and wild allegation against any segment of the state population, "we must first analyse his comments from the standpoint of his desperation and his unfortunate lack of control of the political situation in which he finds himself."
But what perhaps the governor did not tell the people of the state and the entire Nigerians as reason for his accusation, was the appeal currently pending before the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt. The case has created a lot of tension in the state and unsettled the current government. Since the Abia State Election Petition Tribunal which sat in Umuahia nullified the election of Abia governor on March 3, peace has hardly reigned in the state.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Yusuf Abdullahi, had nullified the election of Governor Orji and Akomas on the grounds that they were not qualified to stand for the election that gave them their current postions because they did not resign from their posts 30 days before contesting for the April 14, 2007 as specified in the 1999 Constitution, and that Orji was a member of the dreaded Ogwugwu Akpu deity, otherwise known as Okija shrine in Anambra State.
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