Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has said that he deliberately decided to stay away from the meeting of the South-East Governors’ Forum held in Enugu because some of his colleagues were allegedly sponsoring the current insecurity in his state. Anambra was the only state that was not represented at the meeting as the deputy governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke did also not attend.
Following the absence of Anambra State at the meeting, Obiano’s political opponents have been blaming the governor for absenting himself from such an important meeting where issues of insecurity in the South East were deliberated upon.
Obiano, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief Ifeatu Obiokoye said the governor could not fathom sitting to discuss security with ‘certain individuals’ who were behind the violence plaguing his state.
Describing his critics as noise makers, who were merely justifying the sponsorship of their benefactors, the governor said: “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”.
Accordingto him, “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.
