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Anenih to drop N25bn suit
against Kalu
•Aknowledges apology
MATTHEW OGWUCHE, (Bureau Chief, Abuja)
T HE
face-off between the acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board
of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State over
the latter’s allegation that Chief Anenih threatened to kill him has, at last,
been rested, with a formal apology by the governor.
Chief Anenih has kicked off the process of withdrawing his
suit against Gov. Kalu.
The apology is part of the terms of truce
brokered by the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolopolo Erediauwa,
recently.
The Benin monarch had insisted that the
governor apologise to the former Minister of Works who, in return was expected
to withdraw the N25 billion suit he slammed on Gov. Kalu.
Speaking to Daily Champion last night,
Chief Anenih said: "You know that there was a condition I gave after he
apologised to me in Benin and I told him I would forgive him.
"The condition is that I would withdraw
the case against him only after receiving a written letter of apology. Now that
he has written to apologise to me, I have considered withdrawing the case from
court."
In the letter, made available to Daily
Champion yesterday, Gov. Kalu said he wrote the letter in line with the promise
he made at the peace meeting which was arranged by Eze Uzo Ukandu of Abia State.
He restated his belief that the dispute
arose "as a result of the misinformation communicated to me on the issue of
threat to my life," stressing that he was further inspired to apologise to Chief
Anenih after careful reflection on the matter and on the person of the Oba of
Benin who took it upon himself to intervene in the rift.
"I returned home to deeply reason and
think of the great height of the Benin monarch and his historic intervention and
the reconciliation over the issues at stake," he said.
The governor said further that he "felt
humbled and deeply touched that the Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolopolo Erediauwa,
Oba of Benin, could undertake the stated responsibility."
He also said that in deference to "the
factors of age and seniority, I willingly oblige on the decisions reached that I
should apologise to Chief Anenih. I hereby do so as one with a disciplined and
respectful family upbringing and exposure."
Reacting to the letter, Chief Anenih, who
had promised to withdraw his suit once he got the formal apology, said at the
South South PDP leaders meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last weekend that he
would instruct his lawyers to withdraw the case.
National publicity secretary of the PDP,
Mr. Venatius Ikem, in a telephone conversation with Daily Champion yesterday
confirmed that the governor had formally apologised to Anenih and that Anenih
was putting machinery in motion to withdraw his case against Kalu.
He also said that this was the original
position of the PDP and that the party was happy that the matter had been
resolved amicably.
Gov. Kalu, acting on information from his
deputy, Dr. Chima Nwafor, had written a letter to President Obasanjo, alleging
that Chief Anenih threatened to kill him as former Attorney-General and Minister
of Justice, Chief Bola Ige was killed.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the
National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday
resolved to wade into the impeachment move by the Abia State House of Assembly
against embattled deputy governor, Dr. Nwafor.
Also on the card was another move to work
out modalities with Anambra State governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, who attended the
meeting, on the way forward for the election of a new state executive.
These were some of the highlights of the
major issues discussed at the meeting, according to sources.
Sources also disclosed that the
contentious issue of harmonisation of the two lists of candidates for local
government elections in Anambra State which came up for mention was said to be
tied with the election of a new executive.
As at press time, the meeting was still
on.
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