•States peace terms
THE protracted crisis in Anambra State has taken a new dimension as the state government alleged a plot to kill Governor Chris Ngige and eight other top members of his administration.
“The government was reliably informed that the planners and sponsors of this assassination plot have concluded that having failed to achieve their inordinate ambition to force a declaration of a state of emergency in Anambra State and sack the Ngige administration, the next available option to illegaly remove the governor from office is to kill him and his principal officers,” the state government said in Awka yesterday.
The planners and sponsors of the assassination plot were not identified.
The plot was alleged as Ngige listed his term for peace to return to a state which has been embroiled in political crisis since July 10, 2003 when some policemen abducted the governor allegedly at the instance of his estranged godfather, Chief Chris Uba.
Ngige listed his terms to include acceptance of Uba’s nominnees as commissioners in his cabinet.
In Abuja, the Federal Government also at the weekend challenged those
criticising President Olusegun Obasanjo’s handling of the Anambra crisis to establish his complicity or keep quiet.
Some Anambra State elders including former Governor C. C. Onoh had last Thursday condemned penultimate week’s mayhem in the state which they blamed on the President.
The elders spoke at a meeting in Enugu-Ukwu Civic Centre by the Anambra State branch of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
The deputy governor of the state, Chief Ugochukwu Nwankwo, who addressed a press conference in Akwa yesterday, named Ngige and himself as among those on the hit list of the assassination plot.
Nwankwo listed others allegedly marked out for elimination by the opposition to include the speaker of the state house of assembly, Mr. Mike Balonwu; commissioner for special duties, Sir Chris Atuegwu, the governor’s principal secretary, Mr. Emma Nwosu; senior special assistant to the governor on legal matters, Mrs. Benne Nwachukwu, who is also Ngige’s elder sister; the governor’s media adviser, Mr. Fred Chukwuelobe; the deputy speaker, Mr. Ozo Ughamadu and the majority leader, Mr. Humphery Nsofor.
According to the deputy governor, others on the assassins list are other principal officers of the state legislature as well as other undisclosed government officials.
“The state government is worried about the development and hereby alerts the Federal Government and enjoins it to take measures to forestall this plot. Law enforcement agencies particularly should take immediately steps to ensure that this dastardly plan is not executed,” he stated.
Nwankwo went on: “The Government is more worried because few days before the mayhem unleashed on Anambra State between Wednesday November 10, 2004 and Saturday November 13, 2004 by the same characters involved in this latest plot, it received the information and duly passed it on to security agencies. Yet the police, which acknowledged receiving the information, rather than take measures to forestall the mayhem, actively aided and abetted the three-day violence that rocked the state and shook it to its foundation. “The government was reliably informed that the planners and sponsors of this assassination plot have concluded that having failed to achieve their inordinate ambition to force the declaration of a state of emergency in Anambra State and sack the Ngige Administration, the next available option to illegally remove the Governor from office is to kill him and his principal officers.
“The state government is equally aware that this option had always been in the cards of the enemies of the state since July 10,2003 when the first attempt to illegally remove Governor Ngige from office was carried out. “The government’s fear is made worse by the fact that the police, which responsibility it is to safeguard lives and property, watched and protected the hired thugs that unleashed mayhem in Anambra State. They not only watched and did nothing; they also assisted them in pouring petrol to some of the buildings before they were set ablaze. “This is a wake up call on all peace-loving Nigerians to prevail on the authorities to call these people to order before they waste innocet blood. The time to act is now”, the Deputy Governor said.
Ngige’s fresh offer of the olive branch weekend came on the heels of the collapse last Tuesday of the truce talks brokered by the Ebonyi State Governor Sam Egwu-led presidential reconciliation committee.
The Tuesday meeting held in Abuja sparked off a fresh row with the Anambra governor storming out.
He was infuriated by the concessions demanded by Uba and his men. Ngige told Sunday Vanguard Friday that negotiations at the meeting broke down after Uba and his group started to make what he described as impossible demands.
“The meeting broke down because Uba and his people made impossible demands. Uba specifically demanded that he wanted to become the deputy governor. Of course, you know this is impossible”, the governor who spoke through his senior special assistant (media) Mr. Fred Chukwuelobe, said.
Ngige continued: “Uba also said that he would like to become the deputy governor and get other concessions including the appointment of finance and housing commissioners, the secretary to the state government and the principal secretary to the governor”. “Apart from the commissioners, these are the governor’s essential officers and conceding their appointments to any other person apart from the governor to whom they must be absolutely loyal will make the governor a lackey, at the mercy of the person who appointed them”.
“Of course, we couldn’t have conceded that to him given our benefit of hindsight. Once beaten, they say, twice shy. When at the inception of the administration Uba was given the opportunity of appointing some of the governor’s aides, we know how they tried to sabotage the system”. Besides, appointing Uba the deputy governor is out of it, the governor said.
Saying his administration was willing to bend backwards to accommodate Uba in the interest of peace in Anambra State, Ngige stated: “We are willing to allow them have some commissioners. They will not determine the portfolios to be allocated to the nominees. They will also have some other positions in government”.
“The state government is bending backwards because it genuinely believes in peace so that it could concentrate on programmes that would benefit the people rather than trying to manage crises every now and then”, he pointed out.
According to Ngige, he was doing all these because of his genuine interest in peace in Anambra State.
“Otherwise, what Uba and his group have done since July 10, 2003, should have been seen as criminal activities and rather than sitting discussing peace, we should have been in court prosecuting them. I hope they understand this and accept this fresh opportunity to make peace”, he added.
Presidency reacts
The Presidency Friday rose in defence of Obasanjo over the allegation of complicity leveled against him over the Anambra problem.
“We have nothing but tremendous respect and admiration for the likes of Chief Onoh who can be fairly regarded as some of the elders of Nigeria. However, there is no evidence to substantiate what they are saying”, special assistant to the president on public affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said in Abuja in apparent reference to the accusation by some Igbo leaders that Obasanjo was taking sides in the Anambra crisis.
Fani-Kayode explained: “If there is any evidence of Mr. President’s involvement, I would challenge them to produce it. When I say evidence, I am not talking about hearsay or disinformation but real evidence. This is the same person they are accusing that set up a panel that just brought the warring parties together and that has managed to restore a certain level of peace to Anambra State”.
“The most important thing to appreciate is that Governor Ngige himself came to Aso Rock and said he never alleged that Mr. President was behind the crisis in his state”.
Dismissing the claim that there was a plot to impose emergency rule on Anambra State, the presidential aide said: “Nothing could be further from the truth. The President has just established a committee under the leadership of the Ebonyi State Governor, a man that we have tremendous respect for to settle the matter between the two factions in the state”.
“As we said before, this is a factional dispute that is coming to an end and it has nothing to do with us or the Federal Government. The point is that, there are many people from Anambra State who are members of the Federal Government and who are doing exceptionally well”, Fani-Kayode stated.
He went on: “Amongst them are the Minister of Information, Chukwuemeka Chikelu, special assistant on the due process, Obi Ezekwesili, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Charles Soludo and special assistant on presidential matters, Mr. Andy Uba”.
“These are all well educated, decent and civilised people and they are great ambassadors of the state and I do not think all of them would want to be part and parcel of any conspiracy to destroy Anambra State or declare a state of emergency there. If you contact any of these individuals, I can assure you that they would confirm to you that Mr. President has no hand in what is happening in their state”
