How to end crisis, by NBA chief
From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
FOR the immediate past chairman of the Onitsha branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Obele Chuka Obele, the best way to resolve the Anambra crisis which robbed the state of over N20 billion is that Governor Chris Ngige and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should "relinquish the mandate criminally converted" in the state during the 2003 election.
Anambra has since Wednesday last week, remained under a heavy siege owing to a continued attack by hoodlums on public property including the Government House.
In a statement in Enugu, Chuka, who blamed the PDP for the violence that had paralysed commercial activities in the state, said the party's insistence on "stealing a mandate that does not belong to it was the cause of the crisis".
He advised the two parties to sheath their swords in the interest of what remained of the state.
He said: "Anambra will continue to witness such violent upheavals until the sacred mandate in the criminal custody of Ngige and PDP is restored to Mr. (Peter) Obi. But the state cannot go on like this, witnessing massive looting and destruction by a faceless few".
Obele stated that with what was happening, it was clear that Anambra residents voted for the All Progressive Grand Alliance candidate, Obi, in the 2003 election, only for the PDP to snatch the mandate "violently".
He noted that Anambra has lost billions of naira from the property so far destroyed, stressing that such omen was not good for any state in an evolving democracy.
The lawyer, who led Onitsha NBA to fight Ngige's predecessor to a standstill after the murder of the late NBA chairman, Barnabas Igwe and his wife, Abigail, warned against imposing an emergency rule in Anambra.
He said: "Any suggestion of a state of emergency is an invitation for the military to stage a coup against our democracy and we shall hold Obasanjo and his gang responsible".
He also warned the PDP against removing Ngige through the back door, saying that the election petition tribunal should deliver its judgment and save Anambra
from the "inferno of the PDP mob" or in the alternative, Governor Ngige should confess and vacate
office for the rightful winner of the Anambra gubernatorial poll.
"While Ngige must not be removed by terror, he must make haste to recant and surrender the stolen mandate to its owner.
"Ngige had offended God and heaven by swearing to a false oath of office claiming a mandate belonging to another, offended the deities by breaking their covenant, offended our people by attracting violence", Obele said.
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