ABUJA—THE latest peace talks between Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State and his estranged godfather, Chief Chris Uba, appeared, yesterday, to have hit the rocks after the governor turned down a demand by Chief Uba that the position of deputy governor be conceded to his group.
Governor Ngige already has a deputy in Chief Ugochukwu Nwankwo who replaced the impeached Dr. Okey Udeh, a loyalist of Chief Uba.
Governor Ngige himself returned to Awka from Abuja yesterday, weeping after seeing the level of destruction brought by the thugs that seized the state last week. Support for him came yesterday from the Governors Forum which deplored the handling of the Anambra crisis by the police.
Vanguard gathered yesterday that Gov. Ngige, who had on Monday promised to make any sacrifice for peace in the state, rejected the peace term by Chief Uba, the position of deputy governor for his group. An angry Gov. Ngige, according to a source close to the development, stormed out of the meeting held yesterday morning at the Ebonyi State Governor’s Lodge.
Efforts by Gov. Sam Egwu to get Governor Ngige back to the meeting failed as he (Ngige) was quoted as saying: "The demand amounts to an attempt to ridicule the office of the Governor of Anambra State and I would not allow that to happen."
Uba was said to have intermittently excused himself during the meeting to put telephone calls through to his principals. Gov. Ngige, following taunts from the Uba group to go to Awka if he could, walked out of the meeting and headed first to his lodge, and then Awka.
The governor, as learnt, was angry that the Uba group was trying to take advantage of the current crisis over the local government elections to go for a bigger pie.
Vanguard learnt that the peace deal, which was being brokered by Governor Egwu, at the instance of President Olusegun Obasanjo, was to review the list of chairmanship candidates for the 21 council areas in the state with a view to accommodating the interests of both parties in the list.
The meeting expected to resume today to ratify details of the peace deal, was to have secured concessions for the two groups in terms of percentage shares of the chairmanship slots as well as determine which local government areas that the factions would go home with for the election.
Efforts to reach Chief Uba on the development yesterday were futile, but when our reporter got through to his Special Assistant, Engineer Emeka Okeke, on his mobile phone to confirm the demand by his principal, he said: "It was not true."
Mr Fred Chukwuelobe, Senior Special Assistant (Media) to Gov. Ngige also contacted last night, said he was not aware that the peace talks had collapsed.
Ngige weeps
Gov. Ngige after going round Awka yesterday said: "I just came back to the state. I came back this afternoon from Abuja to answer a call with the Peace Commitee. We met last night and up till this morning before I left. Before now, I have seen and read what happened on the newspapers and television and now I have seen for myself. Those who destroyed the property in the state are not true Anambrarians. They destroyed what we inherited from the old Eastern Region. They came on a mission just to destroy Anambra. I am speechless. I know they have set Anambra State backward by the carnage which would not be repaired with less than N30 billion," Ngige said.
Meanwhile, the Forum of Governors has deplored the stance of the Nigerian police in the lingering crisis in Anambra State, saying the recent destruction of government property in the state was avoidable but for its attitude. The forum also told the Federal Government that the only thing acceptable to it was the recall, from suspension, of one of its members and Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, with the expiration of six-month state of emergency in the state.
Speaking with newsmen Monday night on the wanton destruction of property in Anambra, its Chairman and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Victor Attah, said it was most condemnable and not good for the image of the country.
On the state of emergency in Plateau State, he said the governors in the country were in support of the restoration of democratic structures in the state without delay since the emergency rule had expired..He said while the president had the authority to declare a state of emergency in Plateau State, the Governors Forum had opined that such powers did not include sending members of the state House of Assembly away. "Our position is that the state of emergency is over. Certainly, we believe it is. So Dariye should come back," he said.
