Posted by By CHRISTIAN ITA in Lagos; Geofrey Anyanwu in Awka and Christian Ochiama in Enugu on
Naivety on the part of Mr. Peter Obi and conspiracy by some power brokers from Nnewi may have accounted for his impeachment as Anambra State governor by a faction of the state House of Assembly and the subsequent swearing-in of his erstwhile deputy, Mrs. Virgy Etiaba as the new governor of the state.
•Ojukwu, Etiaba, ex-Gov in crucial talk
Naivety on the part of Mr. Peter Obi and conspiracy by some power brokers from Nnewi may have accounted for his impeachment as Anambra State governor by a faction of the state House of Assembly and the subsequent swearing-in of his erstwhile deputy, Mrs. Virgy Etiaba as the new governor of the state.
The picture got clearer even as Obi, Etiaba held a closed door meeting with Chief Emeka Ojukwu last night at the Enugu residence of the former Biafran warlord.
Sunday Sun gathered that though the decision to move against Obi was reached in Boston, United States of America during the World Igbo Congress (WIC) which held in September between the former state governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, and members of the state House of Assembly, the plot was however, hijacked along the way by some powerful forces from Nnewi led by the state Chief Judge, Justice Chuka Okoli.
Obi, according to a reliable source, ran into trouble with the state lawmakers when he decided to stop the "gift of cash," a tradition begun by Ngige, to the legislatures as patronage.
Following the stoppage of the largesse, the lawmakers were said to have made representation to Obi who insisted that the condition for further disbursement is for the legislators to offer explanation on how previous allocations were spent.
Miffed by that action, the legislators agreed with Ngige in Boston that it was time to remove Obi from the equation. But the original script was to make the Speaker, Mr. Mike Balonwu, the governor and not Etiaba.
Balonwu physically attended the WIC alongside the core members of the plot.
As such, in the letter to Okoli directing him to set up a seven-man investigation panel, the Belonwu faction of the House of Assembly had listed as the panel's brief, the investigation of allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy.
Counter plot
The Chief Judge, who under Ngige became a formidable political force, however, had his own game plan. He saw in the process, an opportunity to make Etiaba, who like him hails from Nnewi, the government of the state, thereby blocking the chances of the Speaker who hails from Onitsha or the Uba brothers who hail from Uga. Ngige hails from Alor while Obi is from Agulu.
So influential was the Chief Judge under Ngige that he was targeted on several occasions by arsonists believed to be working for the self-styled political godfather and Ngige's estranged benefactor, Chief Chris Uba.
In the serial arson attacks on public buildings in November 2004 in Awka, for instance, his office was bombed. But he escaped unhurt.
In what seemed his self-preservation strategy, the Chief Judge shunned his official residence in Awka while Ngige lasted in power. Rather, he prefers the sanctuary of his country home in Nnewi locally referred to as a fortress with an underground bunker. He commutes daily from Nnewi to Awka.
Okoli, Sunday Sun understands, had sometime ago boasted to some top media executives as being the legal strategist who sustained Ngige in office for that long despite several audacious attempts by Chris Uba to remove him from office using the legislature.
He reportedly told them that whenever any suit involving Ngige came up in any court under his jurisdiction in Anambra, he took special interest and would not hesitate in withdrawing such cases from the judges handling them once he discovered they had been compromised.
His loyalty to Ngige, he had explained, was because he (Ngige) tarred roads in the state, thus connecting the various towns and villages.
So, the Ngige elements in the state Assembly trusted him even when four out of the seven-man investigation panel, including the chairman, Chief Chinedu Oranumba, that he named penultimate Friday to try Obi is his clanman from Nnewi.
Other members of the panel include Ifeanyi Udeze, Ijema Okwu, Hariene Uche Okonkwu, Chineze Mbonu, Reverend Dominic Ofueme and Emmanuel Chuka Ifedike.
Obi's blind trust
Incidentally, Obi also trusted the Chief Judge. Prior to the pronouncement of the election petition tribunal in Awka in April that he was the duly elected governor, Obi was working hand in gloves with Emeka Etiaba, the son of his erstwhile deputy, in prosecuting his case at the tribunal.
So, when Obi became governor, Etiaba and his brother, Echisona, were understandably members of the governor's think tank. They exploited that to the advantage of their mother.
And so, when Okoli named members of the panel, Obi, like the Belonwu faction of the House of Assembly, thought he was working to protect his flanks.
With the four members of that panel coming from Nnewi, Obi, Sunday Sun gathered, was at ease, beleiving that with his deputy coming from Nnewi as well, there was nothing to fear.
Indeed, it was this sentiment that lured Obi into making an appearance before the panel despite his initial description of it as an illegal body. But he read it all wrong.
However, to achieve this aim, the consent of ex-Biafran warlord and major supporter of Obi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, was needed and this they reportedly got by appealing to clanish sentiments. Ojukwu, who also hails from Nnewi, is often regarded as the unofficial leader of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the party on which platform Obi became governor.
Balonwu camp returns to drawing-board
Having realized they have been double-crossed by the Nnemi mafia, the Balonwu camp is said to have returned to the drawing-board with a view to plotting a new offensive to getting Etiaba out of the way. But how feasible this is remains to be seen considering that, head or tail, the Chief Judge is the one they have to depend on to raise a panel in the event that fresh "impeachable offences" are dredged up against the new governor.
Ojukwu hosts Obi & Etiaba
Meanwhile, the tripartite meeting between Ojukwu, Etiaba and Obi was still going as at press time. Contacted, the Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Obi confirmed the meeting and declined further comments. But competent sources told Sunday Sun that the meeting was at the instance of Ojukwu with a view to reconciling Obi and Etiaba.
While storming out of the State House, Awka Friday, Obi had vowed that he remained the bonafide governor, insisting that the impeachment did not follow due process.
In a radio broadcast earlier in the day, he said: "My dear good people of Anambra State, information reaching me this morning shows that the Chief Judge of this state, Hon. Justice Chuka Okoli is about to swear-in my deputy, Etiaba, as the governor of this state, but I am not prepared to surrender the sacred mandate given to me collectively by the people during the 2003 election in the state."
I accepted to heed national call to duty -Etiaba
Meanwhile, opposition from her ex-boss notwithstanding, Etiaba seems to be worming up to her new office as she visited her native Nnewi yesterday to register in the ongoing voters registeration exercise by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Looking cheerful, she was registered by the resident INEC Commissioner,
Alhaji Ahmed Raji, at Umudim Ward I. Afterward, she visited the Nnewi monarch, Igwe Nwafor Orizu. Defending her decision to accept the job of her boss after her initial refusal Thursday, Etiaba told the Igwe that she never wanted to be governor, but decided to accept the offer in difference to the national call to duty.