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The ego war between Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State and his predecessor, Peter Obi, may have taken a dramatic twist with a group- Anambra State Concerned Professionals (ASCP) threatening to petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission (ICPC), Transparency International and other human and economic rights watchdogs.? ASCP is blaming the face-off on an alleged demand by the ex-governor for a N7 billion settlement.
Addressing a press conference in Awka on Thursday, its coordinator, Dr. Obiora Manaka further alleged that the money demanded was for helping Obiano emerge governor of the state. The group however urged the people of the state to resist insidious attempts to extort Governor Obiano and prevent
Anambra from sliding back into the dangerous days of political god-fatherism. It would be recalled that it was in Anambra a sitting governor was abducted by thugs acting on the instruction of a political god father some years ago. According to Manaka, the group decided to speak out on the bitter exchanges between the former governor and his successor, realising that most people had no clear idea whyObi was up in arms against the current governor.
Anambra from sliding back into the dangerous days of political god-fatherism. It would be recalled that it was in Anambra a sitting governor was abducted by thugs acting on the instruction of a political god father some years ago. According to Manaka, the group decided to speak out on the bitter exchanges between the former governor and his successor, realising that most people had no clear idea whyObi was up in arms against the current governor.
Obi, he alleged further, “wants Obiano to be paying him thesum of N50 million every month. That is the heart of the matter.” Speaking further, Manaka also recalled “that early in the life of the Obiano administration, the Anambra State Concerned Professionals (ASCP) had placed several advertorials in the newspapers
warning our people that Obi’s N75 billion legacy was pure fiction.
warning our people that Obi’s N75 billion legacy was pure fiction.
“We also warned Governor Obiano in one of the advertorials published in The Nation on Tuesday April 25, 2014 not to accede to Obi’s demand for N7 billion refund but as usual, nobody took our warning serious. Now, look at where we are today. Former governor Obi has finally come out to destabilise the state and he will do it if we do not put up a serious resistance as a people,” Manaka revealed. Speaking further, the Coordinator of the group dismissed the vitriolic media attacks unleashed against Governor Obiano and his family by former governor Obi and his supporters as a cheap blackmail, arguing that Anambra had seen it before. “Somebody should tell Peter Obi and his camp and that we are neither impressed nor intimidated by their antics. Our recent political history has prepared us to know blackmailers when we see one,” he declared.
Already, Manaka said the group hadcompiled a comprehensive report on former governor Obi’s stewardship which it planned to share with the people in a proposed Town Hall meeting scheduled for the second week of December 2015.“The report will lay bare Mr. Obi’s nauseating hypocrisy and burst his bubble on the bogus N75 billion that he has been waving on the faces of decent people in the hope that no one would have enough sense to discover the scam,” Dr Manaka maintained.Offering a rare glimpse into the group’s report on Obi’s stewardship, Manaka said: “We can authoritatively reveal that former governor
Obi collected the sum of N450 million monthly as Security Vote during hiseight-year regime; yet kidnappers and armed robbers crawled
all over the state like soldier ants and drove prospective investors away,” he revealed.Speaking further, he observed that rather than spend his Security Vote on providing security for Anambra State, Obi chose “to fund Vigilante groups through
the SURE-P account the state had with Skye Bank.”
Obi collected the sum of N450 million monthly as Security Vote during hiseight-year regime; yet kidnappers and armed robbers crawled
all over the state like soldier ants and drove prospective investors away,” he revealed.Speaking further, he observed that rather than spend his Security Vote on providing security for Anambra State, Obi chose “to fund Vigilante groups through
the SURE-P account the state had with Skye Bank.”