Former Senate President and Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, has said the Governor of Ebonyi
State, Chief Dave Umahi, is angry because leaders of the Peoples
Democratic Party,(PDP) in the state refused to join him to move to the
All Progress Congress(APC).
“The only offence we committed is that we refused to follow Gov. Umahi
in his political adventure. We do not know when belonging to parties of
one’s choice has become an offence against a Governor or means fighting
a Governor,” Anyim said.
Gov. Umahi had during a press briefing in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state
capital, accused Anyim, Sam Egwu, and other PDP members of engaging
members of IPOB and cultists to start killings under the guise of
fighting him and the Ebonyi state government.
Umahi said; “I want the media to note, that I reported an allegation
that some Ebonyi people are engaging cultists and according to them some
IPOB Members to start killing and causing crisis in Ebonyi State in the
name of fighting Ebonyi State Government and the governor and their
leader is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and their members are Dr. Sam Egwu,
Senator Obinna Ogba, Mr. Ali Odefa, and others. The same Senator Anyim
Pius Anyim fought the former Governor Sam Egwu and many people were
killed.”
However, the former Senate President, in his reaction, described Gov.
Umahi as a prisoner of greed, inordinate ambition as well as a drowning
man looking for whom to drag down with him.
“Gov. Umahi has made his worst mistake after his latest misadventure by
taking on me and other noble and respectable sons of Ebonyi State who
have served and continued to serve our dear State with resolute
commitment, dedication and integrity.
“The case at hand is his defection to APC on the 19th of November, 2020.
The discerning public knows that he has been on the plan for a long time
and when he decided to consummate it, he suddenly concocted an
accusation against PDP, that PDP was not willing to zone Presidency to
the South East. When he spews these allegations, he would not even mind
whether they make sense or not. He did not have the mental capacity to
reason that no party in less than two years into a new term would bring
the next election unto the front burner. That even in APC where he has
gone to, the issue of next election is not yet on the table as doing so
would distract the government.
“People who know Gov. Umahi know that he normally starts this way
whenever he is hatching a sinister plan. He raises dust, makes wild
allegations and accusations against people just to divert the attention
of the public before he strikes. It is public knowledge that Gov. Umahi
had been planning his defection to the All Progressive Congress, APC for
a long time. In his delusion, he believed his own lies that he is the
only man who matters in Ebonyi State. He did not consult with anybody
notable before consummating his defection to APC. After his defection,
no person of note followed him.”
Anyim disclosed that the Ebonyi Governor visited him with some eminent
citizens of the state when he could no longer contain and the backlash
from Ebonyi people on his defection to the APC.
“Unable to contain and manage the unsavory reactions from the public he
ran to my home in the company of some high-profile people, On the 20th
of November 2020, and pleaded with me to defect to APC, saying that if I
do, others will follow suit. I pointed out to him that his approach has
made it almost impossible for anybody to defect.
“He pleaded with me that if I cannot defect now, I should not attend any
PDP meetings, and I said no, I must attend PDP meetings as long as I am
in PDP. He realized that he could not persuade anybody when he saw the
crème of Ebonyi Elders and citizens that gathered for the inauguration
of PDP Caretaker Committee. He could no longer sleep and declared war on
everyone who has refused to defect with him.
“I would not have taken his present spew of baseless allegations
seriously, but because I suspect he is under a spell and perhaps
something is pursuing him. He may have been told that he will need to
kill before he would achieve his present enterprise and so to build up a
scenario for him to kill, he will need to spew allegations of killings
even when they make no sense. I have no doubt that Governor Umahi may
have been told that he needed blood to accomplish his present
enterprise, otherwise, how can a man in his 6th year as Governor of a
State suddenly realize that a former President of the Senate, a former
Governor of the State and two-time serving Senators; Dr. Sam Egwu,
Senator Obinna Ogba, are now cultists and IPOB members. Something is
wrong somewhere.
“It is obvious that either something is pursuing Governor Umahi or that
he is pursuing something. For those who know him well, please notice
that his lips have shifted out of shape and his eyeballs shrinking.
Something is pursuing Gov. Umahi. Gov. Umahi’s modus operandi is well
known and his moves are easily predictable.
Citing the cases where Gov. Umahi quarreled with the pastor to his
campaign organization, Ephraim Onononye; his former SSG, Prof. Bernard
Odo as well as his threat to many journalists practicing in Ebonyi state
including Charles Odo and Peter Okutu of Vanguard newspaper; the former
Senate President said Umahi is unstable and intolerant of opposing views
and doesn’t keep promises.
He further accused Umahi of boasting to the two journalists he accused
of offensive articles that “if they think they have the pen that he will
show them that he has ‘koboko’.
“I believe that Gov. Umahi needs help. He was not in this shape when I
picked him. His present behaviour is certainly not normal. His behaviour
and utterances are strangest whenever he puts on the costume for the new
enterprise – an oversized white Agbada and an elongated red hat that
oversizes his head. I want to advise his brothers to seek psychiatric
and psychological help for him before it is too late.
“To notify the public that I fully understand that what Umahi meant by
“this will be the last fight I will fight”, is that he will kill me so
that I will not live to fight again. While I invite the security
agencies to note this plan, I want to assure Gov. Umahi that my blood is
not available for him in pursuit of his ambition.
“Gov. Umahi should know that there is a record of those who died
mysteriously, violently, and those who just disappeared since he became
governor of Ebonyi State.”