EBONYI GOVT SLAMS REP OVER COMMENTS ON ELECHI

By PETER OKUTU
Ebonyi State government has described as unnecessary and deceptive utterances made by the member representing Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Innocent Chima, on Governor Elechi's personality and affairs of the state.

Chima, in an interactive session with newsmen was reported to have allegedly accused the governor of electoral malpractices, falsification of the history of the creation of the state and failure to fulfil his political promises to the people.

Reacting to the remarks by the lawmaker yesterday, the Commissioner for Information and  Orientation, Mr. Egwu Chima,  noted that the high point behind the lawmaker's misgivings were predicated upon his failure to win the last Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primaries in the state.

He made it clear that the lawmaker's defection to All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP,  was a reflection of his ungratefulness to the PDP as a party that made him the state chairman of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo and later took him to the National Assembly for the third time in his life.

He said:  'Just because honourable Innocent Chima failed to secure a return ticket to his seat at the Federal House of Representatives,  Chief Martin Elechi is no longer entitled to his hard-earned MFR, Ocho, foremost founding father etc . He is now a liar, an impostor and a despot.'

'Chima is a victim of traumatophopism, which in itself results from traumatophobia. The morbid fear of failing the primary election he had felt he won many times over in a dream state only to see the physical manifestation of something else.

'When Elechi, known for his knack in keeping records, wrote his own account and published it so many years ago, the likes of honourable Chima hailed the effort, contributed in the promotion of the sales of the book, hailed the writer, Chief Elechi and called him a hero of his people, a foremost founding father.'

Egwu, who stated that the PDP primary election was conducted transparently without hitches, advised politicians who wish to criticize the governor and his administration to do so sincerely and with even-handedness.