ABIA GOVERNOR GETS DESPERATE
Faced with a barrage of criticisms over his alleged poor and unimaginative governance of Abia State since he assumed office on May 29, 2007, Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji has bared his fangs against his perceived critics with a desperate demand on the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim, to arrest his predecessor and benefactor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu.
He also pledged to provide 'logistics' that will 'aid' the police in their task of clamping down on Kalu.
In a personally signed letter with the insignia of the 'Office of the Executive Governor of Abia State' (see bromide) and copied to the AIG Zone 7, Commissioner of Police, Abia State and State Director of the State Security Services, SSS, Gov. Orji made unsubstantiated allegations of threats against his person and that the threats constituted the reason he was not rendering good governance to the people of Abia State.
The letter reads in parts: 'I am further compelled to bring the above facts to your notice with a demand that the facts raised above be thoroughly investigated and Orji Uzor Kalu made to FACE THE FULL FORCE OF OUR LAWS as his incessant threats is not only a violation of my right as a Nigerian citizen but a great distraction from the arduous task of rendering governance to the people of Abia State.
'I will avail your officers and men all relevant facts and LOGISTICS that will aid their prompt and thorough investigation of these threats.
'Thanks in anticipation of your prompt action and accept the assurances of my warmest regards. T.A ORJI, Governor, Abia State.' Daily Sun gathered that Gov. Orji for quite a while now has been searching for all kinds of excuses to move against Kalu since they became politically estranged, including peddling rumours and allegations that he was responsible for the pervasive insecurity in the State.
He has also been spreading wild tales that Kalu's administration left a huge debt profile of N29 billion, in an administration he wielded enormous powers as chief of staff for eight years. Worried over the desperate moves of Gov. Orji to pin his weak response to the security challenge in Abia State, especially the incessant cases of kidnappings on him, Kalu had on December 17, 2010, drawn the IGP's attention to the deployment of state apparatus against him by the Abia governor.
In the letter received at the IGP's office on December 20, 2010, Kalu wrote: 'In my eight years as the governor of Abia State, I paid attention to security. I never supported violence, political thuggery or kidnapping. There were no political killings and nobody's house or property was burnt or destroyed for political reasons. Even those who saw me as their political opponent, I managed them well and gave them fair playing ground. We did not infringe on their FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS. The records are there and you can check with the State Security Services; I am a law-abiding citizen.'
Kalu further noted in his December 17 letter to the IGP that instead of seeking creative and proactive methods to tackle the insecurity in the State, Gov. Orji had resorted to 'scapegoatism.'
'The governor has of recent been using state apparatus and every form of device to harass innocent citizens, especially those he presumes are in good stead with me, and even has it lined up to come after me. I have always believed that politics is not war but service to the people. I, therefore, appeal to you to use your good offices to look into all these excesses and please call him to order before things get out of hand, more so as political campaigns are about to kick off.'