Ebonyi: South-east in Jubilation over Court Ruling, Says Umahi’s Ex-aide

Nume Ekeghe in Lagos, Kingsley Nwezeh and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former Commissioner for Information in Ebonyi State, Abia Onyike, has said the state and the entire Southeast were exultant over a recent court judgment, sacking Governor Dave Umahi of the state and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe.

Onyike, who said this yesterday while featuring on The Morning Show, Arise News Channel, noted that the Ebonyi people were happy and that the reaction to the court ruling,has exposed the unruly character traits of Umahi.
He said, “The issue is that the people of Ebonyi State are highly jubilant. People are happy;they are celebrating all over the place. And some of them who are afraid, because of the dictatorial tendencies of the governor and his unpredictability, would prefer to, celebrate quietly in their homes.

“People are happy, not only in Ebonyi State, as I’m speaking to you, I’m talking from Enugu and I have been able to monitor events and reactions to  this development from the entire South-East as people are jubilant, because there is the thinking that some of the excesses we are getting from our present crop of leaders should be checkmated. So, that judgement came at the right time to try to instill discipline into the attitudes and conduct of the political class.”

On the  attack on the judge, who ruled against Umahi, the former commissioner added that this was unacceptable of a leader and that it was the right judgement, stating that PDP had won the seat.

According to him, “The attack by Governor Umahi on the judiciary and the Judge and his unleashing of that very judgement, which was seen to be very acidic is part of the character of the governor, because in Ebonyi State, we have learnt to live with his excesses and he is generally perceived as a bully and doesn’t take to any opinion that is contrary to his own.

“His vituperations presented his totalitarian and dictatorial mindset, which was condemned by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He has already been unsettled, because he never believed this would happen to him.”

“Do you know that this is not a man, when he was still in PDP? One day, he told us that he was both PDP and APC and that he was the only person that can belong to two political parties at a time, and that anybody who ever tries to emulate him will get into trouble? So, what kind of mentality is that in a democracy?

“Why should he blame the PDP when he himself was the one who defected from PDP to APC? So, what did he expect the PDP to do, because he stole their mandate and took it and another political party after having been elected twice as governor? And he is also a former state chairman of the party, and former deputy governor of the state. All this under the platform of the PDP and there was no reason for him to decamp.”