By Favour Goodness
Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra state has opened up on the controversy trailing his absence at the recent meeting of the South East Governors Forum held in Enugu.
The meeting was convened to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the South East region, particularly Anambra State.
The absence of Obiano at the security meeting triggered a lot of controversy as his political traducers accused him of being insensitive to the security of lives and property of the people.
However, Obiano has fired back at his detractors, explaining that he deliberately stayed away as he could not fathom sitting to discuss security with certain individuals who were behind the violence plaguing his state.
Obiano who spoke through his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ifeatu Obiokoye described the controversy as “mere factory noise” from desperate politicians who are out to justify the sponsorship of their benefactors.
The governor said he cannot sit in a meeting with those whom he described as sponsors of the killings in his state. “Did you really expect my Governor would be meeting, and dining with some persons ostensibly funding and sponsoring insecurity and terrorism in Anambra state?
“What people are saying goes to no issue in the first instance because it is a 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 aparthy 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 on the board 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,” Obiokoye said.
It would be recalled that the Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, wife of late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, had urged the governor to attend the meeting because, according to her , Anambra state is boiling and that he has to take charge and arrest incidents of killing in the state.
Also the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC ), Sen. Andy Uba had accused the governor of not rising to the challenges of insecurity in the state alleging that he has been overwhelmed by it.
