The Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has explained why neither he nor his deputy showed up at the recent South-East governors’ meeting in Enugu where the spate of the general insecurity in the region, particularly Anambra State, was discussed.
Tracknews Online had reported that at the end of their meeting, the South-east governors expressed their resolve to show their support to Anambra State and also directed security agencies to ensure a peaceful election in the state come November 6.
Chairman of the South-east Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, while reading out the communique after the forum’s meeting in Enugu, disclosed that the regional security outfit codenamed ‘Ebube Agu‘ will be launched in all the five states of the South-east before the end of the year.
Following insinuations in some quarters that his absence at the meeting was a pointer to his insensitiveness to the welfare and safety of Anambra people, Governor Obiano disclosed that he deliberately stayed away from the gathering so as not to be in the same meeting with the governors sponsoring the bloodletting in his State.
It would be recalled that the wife of late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, had urged Obiano to attend the South-East Governors’ Meeting because, according to her, “Anambra state is boiling” and that he had to take charge and arrest incidents of killing in the state.
Also the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Andy Uba had accused the governor of not rising to the challenges of insecurity in the state, alleging that he had been overwhelmed by it.
Governor Obiano, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ifeatu Obiokoye, on Thursday, described the controversy as “mere factory noise” from desperate politicians who were out to justify the sponsorship of their benefactors.
While stating that he could not sit in a meeting with those he described as sponsors of the killings in his state, the aide asked, “Did you really expect my governor would be meeting, and dining with some persons ostensibly funding and sponsoring insecurity and terrorism in Anambra State?”
Obiano continued, “What people are saying goes to no issue in the first instance because it is public knowledge that those doing the killings are not from Anambra State and no Anambra person would go to this extent.
“These people are from outside Anambra State and those sponsoring them are from outside Anambra State and you expect the governor to be holding meetings with them on security challenges which those people are executing?
“Be it known to all and sundry that the killings are politically motivated to create voter apathy in Anambra and then manipulate the electoral process to the advantage of these desperados.
“The governor has already put in place a full proof security arrangements to nip the problem in the bud than going to sit in a meeting to tell the same people what he is doing to stop them killing innocent people in Anambra state,” the statement read.
