- * 'Those Who Did Are Hangers-On, Sycophants'
- Why We Okayed Ebonyi Gov For President...Alleged Elders
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
Founding fathers and some elders of Ebonyi state have washed their hands off the rumored 2023 Presidential ambition of the state governor, Engr Dave Nweze Umahi, saying that such idea was never discussed or agreed upon, casually or seriously, by the elders in the state, to the best of their knowledge.
A news report, especially on digital media, trended on Tuesday last week, stating that the Ebonyi State Council of Elders have endorsed Governor Dave Umahi as the "best choice" for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, come May 29, 2023.
The report also mentioned that Engr Ben Okah, said to be the Chairman of Ebonyi Council of Elders, had said in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi state, that following what the Council described as Umahi's "track record in budgeting, Infrastructure, human capital, youth, and women empowerment among others", the governor remains the best candidate of the state for the 2023 Presidency.
The report also quoted Engr Okah as saying that members of the said Elders Council of Ebonyi, after a painstaking tour of Gov Umahi’s projects in the state, were however impressed and therefore were of the view that "Umahi is the leader Nigerians really need to reposition the country".
The report further quoted the said Elders Council as saying that they would embark on consultations with other states, leaders, and other stakeholders to realize the rumored 2023 Presidential ambition of governor Umahi.
But one of the Ebonyi founding fathers, Chief Felix Mgbada, an elder statesman and one of those who fought for the creation of Ebonyi state, refuted the claims that Elders of Ebonyi state have presented the governor for Nigeria's presidency for 2023.
According to Mgbada, no Ebonyi State Elder of note knew what the said Elder's Council were talking about, as the leaders and founding fathers that matter in the state, were not part of any such project tour or discussion and said resolution to endorse governor Dave Umahi for the Presidency race.
Mgbada, in an exclusive interview with NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER NEWSPAPER ONLINE in Abuja at the weekend, during the inauguration of the newly elected National Working Committee (NWC) members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: "If any group ever masquerades as Elders of Ebonyi state, such group is never far from the factional group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the control of the governor in the state. Such groups is mere political associates of the governor and not the real Elders of Ebonyi state.
"The real Elders of the state are the founding fathers in which I am one of them. At no time did the fathers and Elders of the state made such declaration. Should anyone else call himself an Elder in Ebonyi to the exclusion of the founding fathers of the state, such a person is a fake Elder", Mgbada maintains.
Chief Mgbada however disclosed in the interview, that the only citizen of the state with known presidential aspiration in 2023 and who, according to him, has already been screened and duly endorsed by those referred to as the league of Ebonyi founding fathers and elders, is Nigeria's former number three citizen and ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
"The only son of Ebonyi state who the Elders have known, recognized, and pray that he wins the presidency of Nigeria is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim. Anyim is one man who enjoys not only the support and respect of Ebonyi Elders but the majority of Ebonyi people. Anyim himself is hundred percent convinced that a greater per percentage of Ebonyi people are fully behind him", Chief Mgbada stated.
Also, another Ebonyi founding elder, Dr. Benjamin Igwenyi, a former Attorney General of the state in the administration of ex-governor Martins Elechi, equally echoed the views of Chief Mgbada. Igwenyi told NIGERIAN NEWS-LEADER in a telephone conversation from his base in Ebonyi, that "Ben Okah who issued the declaration endorsing governor David Umahi for the presidency by the so-called Ebonyi Elders is far my junior in age".
Dr Igwenyi wondered: "If he (Okah) is now an Elder of the state, what are we then, the boys? In any case, the so-called Ebonyi Elders Council is a mere contraption which the governor created to whittle down the influence and powers of the real Elders of the state. The real Elders of our state always tell the governor the truth, which, of course, he would never like to hear nor listen to. But this Ben Oka group which he now assembled, are the types who will tell him what he wants to hear all the time.
"I will therefore not be surprised if the governor had jettisoned the real Elders of the state for his own chosen political allies. I remember that the last time the governor called the real Elders of the state for a meeting, the Elders told him nothing but the truth. Chief Martins Elechi, the immediate past governor of the state and I, told him plainly, that the PDP Secretariat which he now wants to convert to the APC secretariat does not belong to him as personal property.
"We told Umahi that there was no way he could convert the PDP Secretariat built by PDP in the state to APC secretariat, simply because he was once a governor under PDP but now switched to the APC and he wants to now carry the property of another party to the other. We however made it very clear to him that the secretariat in question was built by the PDP, not even under his regime, and that there is no way he could convert the belongings of one person to another person just because he once occupied such house".
Dr Igwenyi disclosed that those he described as the real Fathers and Elders of the state had advised governor Dave Umahi to do the right thing regarding the party secretariat saga, as no court in Nigeria would grant him such request of transferring one's belonging to another not so entitled.
"Such genuine and truthful advice don't often go down well with the governor, hence his latest move to abandon the real Elders of the state to create a pseudo group which he called Elders. Despite such elder advice given to Umahi by Elechi, his predecessor who is even a member of his party, he still locks the PDP Secretariat in the state up till date, using court injunction.
"In fact, l am not surprised that the governor is using the likes of Engr Ben Oka who will never tell him the truth and the implications of such nefarious action, because they are characteristic hangers-on at the corridors of Government House Abakaliki.
"Of course, there is no way they will have the courage to speak the truth to the governor because they are under the influence of table-manner political syndrome, to speak less while the food is still in their mouth", Dr. Igwenyi said. NNL.
