Posted by By Emmanuel Aziken on
SENATE President Ken Nnamani and his state governor, Chimaroke Nnamani have resolved their differences and yesterday said they are determined to advance the development of Enugu State.
ABUJA - SENATE President Ken Nnamani and his state governor, Chimaroke Nnamani have resolved their differences and yesterday said they are determined to advance the development of Enugu State.
Affirming his strong respect for the Senate, Governor Nnamani who came with a host of party and state officials with traditional rulers trudging along, distanced himself from recent altercations between state officials and the office of the Senate President.
Senator Nnamani who received his visiting Governor (no relation) with some leaders of the Senate, on his part stressed his recognition of the Governor as Enugu's number one citizen as he detached himself as the nation's number three citizen.
Yesterday's courtesy call was against the background of perceived animosity between the two Nnamanis following the election three months ago of Senator Nnamani as the President of the Senate.
Also present at yesterday's courtesy call were members of the House of Representatives from Enugu State including Hon. U.S.A. Igwesi who alleged that trouble makers pretending to be supporters of the two men were behind the crisis.
Affirming his strong respect for the institution of the Senate and its leadership, the Governor said:
"I bring you felicitations and goodwill from the people of Enugu State, I bring you sincere respect, sincere respect to a house that serves as a veritable symbol of democracy.
I know that you were in Enugu a few weeks ago, I also know that I did not have opportunity to felicitate with you and host you formally during that visit.
I use this opportunity to say that it was in no shape or form, any slight on this august house, but for miscommunication. And I believe we would put that away and look forward into the future."
"If you note a lot has been written, a lot has also been said, but there's no way that the governor of Enugu State was cited there making reference to the senate president. That is very easy, because he is a man whom we look at with much respect, he is an elder, he is a senior, but more importantly, any aspersion cast at him may be misunderstood as one cast on this noble house."
"We cannot in any shape or form engage in any activity that would demean or decrease any respect or any authority that this august arm of government command. We have come here, as one brother to another, we have come here as one Nigerian to another. We've come here as one patriot to another, we''ve come here as one people come to another, so that the job of nation-building, so that the job of addressing our people would continue. So that mutual respect would be restored, so that mutual peace would be restored."
Responding, the Senate President said:
"A host of my people visiting here today is a demonstration of the fact that we value peace and tranquility at all times. We''re peace-loving people. Once in a while, even people from the same parents, do at time quarrel, do disagree."
"Husbands and wives disagree, father and son do disagree, but even in those moments of disagreement the truth can be told and its somebody who cares for somebody else who tells the person the truth."
"We are peace-loving because any disagreement between arms of government can only translate into distraction instead of us concentrating on what we can do for our people."
Giving credit to the President for his role in forging the peace, Senator Nnamani said:
"The President of this country is not only the president of Nigeria, he is the father of all, he played a very fatherly role in (stopping) what was going to translate into a major cause of confusion and distraction. And am here testifying to that fatherly role, because my governor is number one citizen of the state and I at no time tried to deny him that fact from 1999 till date. It has nothing to do with age, the chronological order of birth has nothing to do with it, but by virtue of the position he occupies he is the number one citizen in my state."
"And constitutionally speaking, you know the position of the President of the Senate of Nigeria. We are not drawing any inference from any other country outside Nigeria, but as far as the 1999 Constitution is concerned, we know the position of the Senate President in Nigeria as number three in the government." "We all have our functions to perform; we can only collaborate and let our people grow. We can only collaborate to attract things to our place, but if we spend time dissipating energy, we will lose grounds, we can''t achieve much. But I think the president of this country has played a major role and I am abiding by that completely."
Speaking to Vanguard after the visit, Hon. Igwesi alleged that the supposedly frosty relationship between the two eminent Enugu citizens was the work of troublemakers who he said have been benefiting from the crisis. He thus called on such persons to stop their activities following what he said was the determination of the two Nnamanis to forge peace.