I want to be deputy governor � Uba � Exclusive details of what he told Senate committee on Anambra
Sam Akpe and Tajudeen Sulaiman
The controversial godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba, has said that the only condition for peace in the crisis-torn state is for him to be appointed the deputy governor of the state.
But the Ikemba Nnewi and former presidential candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, on Wednesday asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to begin legal moves for the removal of the state governor, Dr. Chris Ngige.
Uba�s condition for peace was contained in the report of the Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration.
He said if he became deputy governor, he would use his good offices to settle the dispute between his group and Ngige�s.
He disclosed his ambition during an interactive session with members of the Senate committee.
The committee, headed by Mrs. Iyabode Anisulowo, was in Anambra State on the heels of the November 10 mayhem.
The visit was part of the committee�s oversight functions, to assess the crisis and seek avenues for peace.
But in the report submitted to the Senate last week, the committee said Uba�s ambition was unrealistic, as it would only aggravate the crisis since a deputy governor has no constitutional functions.
It said that the appointment of Uba as deputy governor to Ngige would lead to a fresh round of power struggle in Anambra.
The 25-page report, signed by six out of 12 members of the committee, also quoted submissions by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu; a former chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Chief Dan Ulasi and Mr. Uchenna Emordi.
Those who signed the report were: Iyabode Anisulowo (Chairman); U.K. Umar; Cosmos Niagwan; Sule Gandi; Abiola Ajumobi and Bala Adamu.
Others who did not endorse the report were: Isa Mohammed (Vice-Chairman); Titus Olupitan; Fidelis Okoro; John Azuta Mbata; Ifeanyi Ararume and Idris Kuta.
The committee reported Uba as saying that, �a breach of mutual agreement� by the governor over appointments to the state executive council was at the heart of his dispute with him.
The committee said, �Chief Chris Uba emphatically expressed his wish to be made the deputy governor in order to ensure the implementation of the agreement his group reached with Dr. Chris Ngige.�
Ulasi, in his submission, informed the committee that there would be peace in the state if Uba�s group nominated the deputy governor and the commissioners that would work with Ngige.
He said their group wanted Uba �to be made the deputy governor and the list of local government candidates prepared and published by PDP national headquarters retained.�
Speaking on the last crisis, Ogbaudu said based on intelligence reports, policemen were deployed in the legislative quarters but were later withdrawn when a lawmaker alleged that they were being held hostage.
He said no sooner were the police withdrawn than the hoodlums took over the quarters smashing glasses of over 10 official and private vehicles of legislators.
According to Ogbaudu, another lawmaker, whom he identified as one Echezona Okechi, later called for the return of the police.
He said the legislator was asked to put the application in writing on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, and he did.
He said while the riot was going on, over 1,000 protesters asking for the removal of Ngige blocked the Niger Bridge at Onitsha.
�This situation persisted for the three days the riots lasted and brought to a halt socio-economic activities within and around Onitsha.�
The committee, however, identified four factors behind Anambra crisis.
Its report read, �That the recent mayhem was caused by the outright rejection of the authenticated party list of local government chairmanship and councillorship candidates for Anambra State by Governor Chris Ngige, which was published at the national secretariat of the PDP.
�That the initial breach of mutual agreement between the governor on one hand and the party caucus/Chris Uba on the other hand was instrumental to the initial crisis.
�That the refusal of the governor to recognise the party leadership as constituted by the national headquarters of PDP but instead appointed a state coordinator for the party in Anambra State forms part of the causes of the crisis.
�That the crisis in Anambra State is political, and thus requires a pragmatic political solution.�
The report had already generated controversy as senators argued that the visit to Anambra State by the committee was not based on a resolution of the Senate.
It was also alleged last week that the decision of the committee not to circulate the report to all senators, which is the normal thing, suggested a hidden agenda.
Last week, in the heat of the debate, which led to a hot exchange, Anisulowo was asked to lay the report on the table until the Senate finds it convenient to discuss it.
The kernel of the disagreement between the committee and other members of the Senate centred on the observations made on pages 22 and 23 of the report.
In it, the committee painted a picture of absolute lack of security in Anambra, which members alleged to be a call for a state of emergency.
The committee actually came close to that when it stated that the Federal Government should restore sanity to the state, using all the available constitutional means at its disposal.
The committee said, �It was observed that major institutions of democratic governance were all destroyed, that is the Legislature, Judiciary and Executive apparatus.
�That in all offices visited, workers were visibly absent, in other words, civil servants could not go to work because of absence of security in the state, except the vandalised office of the Secretary to the State Government where signs of skeletal operations were visible.
�That in Anambra State, there is a state of lawlessness and anarchy with no one in charge.
�That accusations by the Ngige group that police were collaborators to the arson cannot be substantiated.
�The police report to the Inspector General of Police, which was forwarded to us indicated that police made arrests, impounded vehicles, recovered arms and ammunitions during the mayhem contrary to the submission by the group.�
In another development, Ojukwu has urged President Obasanjo to initiate constitutional process to remove Ngige.
Ojukwu, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent in Enugu, said the recent revelations in Obasanjo�s letter to the National Chairman of PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh, did not come to him as a surprise.
He said it was obvious that APGA won the governorship election in Anambra State but the results were falsified in favour of PDP.
He said, �What is happening is a divine intervention. God made it possible for the criminals to confess their crime, and that�s moral victory for us. But now that the criminals have confessed, we�re praying and hoping that, somehow, it would be resolved justly.
�Because we cannot abandon it half way; we cannot just ignore the confessions. If I were Obasanjo, and if indeed what has been said were the truth, which I have no doubt that it is, at least honour demands that he should give requisite instructions that all these be given judicial notice.
�As an Igbo man like myself, I�ve always said that Ngige is taking his luck a bit too far. He should just pack his things from the Government House, resign and apologise to Anambrarians. That�s all.�
He said the nation was waiting to see what steps the President would take on the confessions that had gone into public record.
�So perhaps, after all the confessions, they would do the right thing and allow APGA take its rightful place,� Ojukwu said
Speaking on the proposed national dialogue, the Ikemba expressed the hope that there would be an �equitable selection of persons� that would participate.
He said he would like to see the true representatives of the people at such a forum.
He said the conference should, among other things, focus on proper definitions of terms like a federation, resource control and other concepts, which Nigerians have taken for granted.
Ojukwu said he would also want the conference to properly define the status of the country as a secular state.
�I will like to see the whole question of religion thrashed out. We must clearly state the position of government on religion. Two parallel governments cannot exist in one country, the same way we cannot run parallel jurisprudence.
�The idea must emerge that it is a country that accommodates, and not one that excludes. What do I mean by that? We must agree that everyone has a right to worship in his own way, and the laws must protect him.�
