For the record purposes, can you tell us what happened?
Did you resign your position as the Deputy Governor?
I actually resigned, I resigned on the 7th,of March but
knowing that he would in his characteristic manner of evasions
and half truth and denials that he would say that I didn't
in order to carryout any other thing he intend to do. I
sent it by DHL for which I have the copy and I also have
the copy of the proof of delivery to his office, so having
had these two, there is no way he can say I did not resign
or he didn't get it.
This is the third time you are facing an impeachment
in Abia state. For so long what kept you going?
What kept me going really is the need to protect our democracy,
also the need to protect the mandate of my people. I was
voted into power by the people of Abia state for four years,
to have somebody trying to truncate it on his own personal
whims and caprice could not be accepted by me just like
that, so I decided that I will still hold on to my mandate
and when the time comes, let the people decide whether they
will have me there or not and the time has come now since
I am going to run for governor against Governor Kalu himself,
let the people judge between us.
Before coming to that you were formally a Deputy
Governor. Do you believe that Deputy Governors are relevant
or according to others they are mere spare tyres. Do you
believe in the relevance of a deputy governor in the system?
Of course deputy governors are very relevant, they are
supposed to be part of the government, they are supposed
to be assistant to the governor in making sure that they
will cover the state, they are suppose to also provide for
the governor those areas that he is lacking, because no
one man has all the wisdom in the world to be able to govern
a state successfully, so usually it is always a position
of this nature where two people will work together harmoniously
so that the ends of the election will be seen, which is
to provide good governance to people, unfortunately, people
like Governor Kalu who manage to find themselves into power
tried to personalized the government and that is not what
democracy is all about, it is our own opposition to the
personalization of government that has led to this type
of friction, I believe that deputy governors are very relevant
in every system otherwise you won't have chairmen of corporations
and deputy chairmen, president and vice-president and so
forth, if you have only one man sitting in there, what happens
when he is not there, the misgovernance that has gone on
in Abia state for all these four years has come out of the
fact that only one man was sitting there trying to run our
lives in every material particular and he failed woefully.
Talking about misgovernance in Abia state, governor
Orji Kalu once said that he concentrated over 80% of the
development in the state to your own area. How true is that
assertion?
It is completely untrue just like other things that he
also said that are very untrue, and we do not know from
what indices he said he constituted his development and
we do not know in what area he has said he had done and
besides, if he concentrated 80% of development, that means
he marginalized the Bende people and that is not good also
under democracy, he is supposed to be an epitome of even
development, he is supposed to be an epitome of equity,
he is not to be an epitome of marginalizing one side against
the other, so you can now see that he is just talking from
both sides of his mouth, he is not saying what is the correct
thing in reality.
Under the principles of collective responsibility,
any blame to the administration, you must share of it. How
do you react to this?
Well, if it is a blame that I am part of, of course I will
share of it, but in a situation where you keep me out of
government, you don't let me attend executive councils,
you push me away and not give me any responsibility, in
what way can I now be said to share his responsibility.
If that is the case, what can we say is the difference
between Enyinaya Abaribe and Chief Orji Uzor Kalu in the
administration of Abia state and what will you put in to
make the difference if God gives you the state?
Well the difference is that I am going to run a collective
government, I am not going to do a one man show, I am going
to ensure that governance is run from government house Umuahia
and not from Nweke street, I am going to make sure that
I heal the wounds of Abia state and not to divide Abia state
further, I am going to ensure that I do not use the resources
of Abia state in a way to further my own personal interest,
but I will do everything for the welfare of the people of
Abia state.
What is it Chief Orji Uzor Kalu has not done that
you want to do now?
Chief Orji Kalu in many ways has not catered to the welfare
of our people, he has not provided for them good health,
he has not provided for them good education, he has not
provided for them the infrastructure, he has not also provided
for them a good investment climate, he has not made sure
that he has created employment in any way, there are too
many things he has not done, all he has just continue to
do at every time is to indulge in self promotion and propaganda
about himself and people are tired of all these type of
self promotion, people are tired of mis governance covered
up in beautiful words, people are tired of the fact that
everything that they are being told that they've been done
for them is being done only in the radio and not in reality,
people are tired of a governor who decides that his personal
interest. People are tired of a situation where he has created
more than one thousand, putting families against each other,
in terms of making sure that people continue to pay to have
Ezeship titles, people are tired of the fractionalization
in the state which was created by him, people are tired
of all kinds of misgovernance going on and when we look
at it, we don't see what is it that he has contributed for
the four years he has been here, rather he has been a galore
of misery for the people of Abia state, we want to wipe
the tears from the faces of our people in Abia, the time
is now to make that change and that change will occur with
an ANPP government that will be installed by the votes of
the people who have gotten tired of the government.