
The Enugu State government has denied a news report that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has commenced a probe of his predecessor in office, Sullivan Chime.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Uwakwe Abugu, said that the headline of the report, “Enugu Governor Begins Probe Of Predecessor, Godfather ”- “ is, to say the least, a huge deception of the mass- reader, a deliberate attempt to create and stoke the embers of a non-existent rift among political leaders in Enugu state which currently enjoys visible peace, harmony and progressive actions midwifed by the administration of the state governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.”
The statement said further that “it is an embarrassing distortion of journalistic story-telling for the headline of the said news report to scream an alleged probe of the former governor of the state by the incumbent governor when the body of the story contains nothing about any action of the governor in that regard but purely legislative oversight functions of the Enugu state House of Assembly.” It said that “any discerning mind which goes through the report would naturally ask, ‘whither the role or hand of the state governor in the actions of the state assembly which decided to look into execution of some contracts in the state?
“At the moment, Governor Ugwuanyi is engrossed in several salvage actions of his administration aimed at raising the bar of performance in all spheres of governance. His is an administration embedded in momentous actions involving flag-off of development projects, continuous engagements with various stakeholder groups, business groups with a view to ensuring that no stone is left unturned in the drive to achieve all aspects of the four-point agenda of the government.
“The governor being a true democrat, and having served his people for a decade and two years as a dependable National Assembly member, would not use his present office to meddle in the affairs of the legislative arm of government in Enugu state. In fact, the state assembly goes about its constitutional duties without any form of encumbrance by the executive arm.” Therefore, the statement said, it is grossly unfair for the platform “to skew its interpretation of the constitutional function of the state assembly” to mean that Governor Ugwuanyi, has started a probe of his predecessor and godfather.
“The general atmosphere of cordiality in Enugu’s political environment since the governor assumed office on May 29 is a direct result of his personal and official efforts to galvanize all leaders of the state into working for the general well-being of the people because he believes, and it is truly so, that his desired development for the state can only be achieved in an atmosphere of peace and harmony among the critical stakeholders,” Abugu concluded.