The 2015 governorship aspiration of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who is representing Abia South Senatorial District, has suffered a major setback as leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abia South Senatorial District and traditional rulers from the zone shunned a thank-you visit he (Abaribe) planned to the Governor of the state, Chief Theodore Orji, last week for allegedly saying that he (Orji) will handover to someone from Abia South in 2015.
It was gathered that the visit didn’t hold due to Abaribe’s inability
to inform and discuss the visit with other leaders in the zone.
The leaders included the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief
Emeka Nwogu; former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Acho Nwakamma;
former President of the Senate, Senator Adolf Wabara; Hon. Uzo
Azubuike; Hon. Eziuche Ubani; and Hon. Uzoma Abonta.
Abaribe, a reliable source said, contacted Eze Eberechi Dick, one of
the influential traditional rulers in the zone from Obingwa, to
organize traditional rulers from the zone for the visit and also told
the PDP leaders in the zone to get ready for the visit with a promise
that he will provide 20 buses each for the six local government areas
in the zone with the sum of N20,000 for fueling the buses for the trip
to Umuahia, the state capital.
Event turned against Abaribe when some of the PDP leaders and
traditional rulers contacted other leaders from the zone to confirm if
they were a part of the visit as the senator told them, but they were
shocked to their marrows to hear from other leaders in the zone that
Abaribe did not contact or inform them of any plan by the zone to pay
a thank-you visit to the governor.
This development made the traditional rulers and Abia South PDP
leaders to pullout from the visit.
Some of them confronted Abaribe and told him they would also not be a
part of his planned visit to the governor.
As a result of the exclusion of other leaders of the zone by Abaribe,
Orji, it was reliably gathered, said he would not see Abaribe and his
group.
Abaribe and his group met under the aegis of Abia South Senatorial
Indigenes Assembly at Abia Hotels in Aba last week Monday, where a
communique was drafted and he sponsored its publication in some
newspapers.
One of the traditional rulers from Obingwa, who spoke under the
condition of anonymity, accused Abaribe of trying to use them for his
selfish governorship interest, against the good relationship they’ve
enjoyed in the state.
The source said: “If we didn’t crosscheck by asking other political
leaders in Abia South, we would have fallen to Senator Abaribe’s
antics.
“He wanted to use us for his selfish governorship interests.
“He told us that Chief Emeka Nwogu, Chief Acho Nwakamma, Senator Adolf
Wabara and others were part of the thank-you visit to the governor,
but when some of us contacted them, they told us that Senator Abaribe
didn’t discuss such matter with them and that they would not be part
of the visit since Abaribe did not inform them about it.
“That is why we had to tell Abaribe that we cannot join him on the
visit since others are not part of it.
“If he had told us to join him as our senator to visit the governor,
that would have been a different issue, but he told us that it was a
visit by the people of Abia South to the governor.
“What Senator Abaribe was trying to do was to play a smart one because
he knows he has lost the support of the people due to his exclusion
kind of politics.
“Senator Abaribe is one politician from Abia South that the people
sacrificed a lot for, especially in 2003, during his fight against his
former boss, Orji Kalu.
“Then, Abaribe had nothing to give to anybody, but we followed him in
that fight believing that when he gets to power, he would remember the
people’s struggle for him.
“Some people died defending Abaribe.
“The entire Ukwa-Ngwa people, in unity, supported him in 2003 when he
ran for governor and 2007 when he ran for Senate.
“But immediately he became our senator, he changed from the Abaribe
that we used to know.
“He fenced himself off from the people and forgot completely the
sacrifice of the people.”
However, a communique issued by Abaribe and his loyalists, signed by
Chief Don Ubani and Chief Chinwe Nwanganga for Abia-South Senatorial
Indigenes Assembly, after their meeting in Abia Hotels in Aba last
week Monday, reads in part: “Sequel to the recent pronouncement by the
Executive Governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji, to the effect
that, in the spirit of equity, justice and fairness, good governance,
peace and progress, the next governor of God’s own State of Abia, come
2015, shall be an indigene of Abia-South leaders and indigenes of Abia
South Senatorial Zone met in Aba and resolved:
“That we, the indigenes of Abia South Senatorial Zone do hereby
express our unalloyed gratitude to Governor Theodore Orji, for openly
declaring and asserting that equity demands that his successor in 2015
shall be an indigene of Abia South Senatorial Zone.”
Meanwhile, sources in the Governor’s Office have debunked the
insinuation that Orji said he would handover to a candidate from Abia
South.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that what the
governor has always said is that he will handover to an Ukwa-Ngwa
indigene after his tenure.
The communique from Abia-South Senatorial Indigenes Assembly
continued: “That we, the said Abia South Senatorial Zone, are not
surprised by this pronouncement by Governor T. A. Orji because we have
always had absolute confidence in him due to his known pedigree as a
leader that unequivocally believe in the equity, accommodation, peace
and progress.
“That we, the indigenes of Abia South do hereby reaffirm our continued
loyalty to and confidence in the administration of Governor T. A.
Orji.”
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