By Agwu Chijioke Special Correspondent
When Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State assumed office on May 29, 2015, the people of Ebonyi heaved a deep sigh of relief. It was clear from the widespread jubilation across the state that the people had unflinching confidence in the ability of the man they had elected as governor to confront, head-long, many of the developmental quagmires buffeting the Salt of the Nation all along.
However, some political watchers in the state, while agreeing that Umahi had come to power with the requisite political knowhow and zeal, were also of the view that how far the governor would go in tackling the major issues of development in the state depended, to a great degree, on the calibre and quality of people he would invite into his cabinet. Their argument was that it takes two to tango, and that a political will on the part of the governor alone would not be enough to face the crisis of development and deep political disunity among the political components of the state. They maintained that it was also important that many, if not all, of his commissioners and principal aides should share the governor’s zeal and enthusiasm as it concerns the development of the state, or the governor’s developmental zeal would eventually amount to nothing.
Governor Umahi himself, while delivering his inaugural speech at the Abakaliki Township Stadium, clearly and sincerely admitted that “one of the many reasons why the people willingly and enthusiastically entrusted this position to us is their belief that we have the qualities to secure a peaceful, harmonious and progressive future for ourselves, our children and the distant generations yet to come”.
Speaking further, he promised the people of Ebonyi that “within the next four years, we will take giant strides which will make Ebonyi State a shining example to all; and a beacon of collective achievement in the eyes of the world. Merit and excellence shall be our watchword, and mediocrity will be buried in the permanent crypt where it belongs. That is why we are determined to form a government brimming with creative ideas and innovative energy.”
With the assurances embedded in the governor’s speech during the inauguration, many Ebonyians were convinced that Umahi understood their fears and had prepared to deal with them.
Regrettably, when eventually the governor unveiled his cabinet list in June 2015, it was greeted with mixed reactions. While some of them were said to be people with requisite academic background and experience in public service, it was also rumoured in many quarters that many of them were called into the cabinet only for the purpose of political tokenism.
From the content of the cabinet list, some political observers expressed reservations over the credibility of the cabinet as well as their capacity to bring the creativity and energy needed to confront the myriad crises of development in the state which Umahi promised during his inauguration.
Sensing the mood of the people, Umahi, while inaugurating the commissioners in July – a month later, charged the commissioners to work had to justify their inclusion into the cabinet. He warned them on the dangers of laziness, incompetence and corruption, saying that his administration would not condone any of such acts.
Painfully, about a year after assuming office, some of Umahi’s commissioners and principal aides are either still learning the ropes or have not made their presence felt. The question then is, are they proving critics right?
On several occasions, Umahi himself has had reasons to express frustration over the performance and attitude of some of them.
By the close of 2015, rumours were rife of plans to disengage some of the commissioners and aides, especially the Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Ogo Ali Nome; Commissioner for Commerce and industry, Hon. (Mrs.) Elizabeth Ogbaga; and Commissioner for Finance, Barr. Dennis Ekumankama over allegations of hiking the tax rates in the state beyond the amount approved by the State Executive Council (SEC) and the House of Assembly. But after some interventions, Umahi spared the commissioners but cancelled the entire tax exercise and promised to revisit the issue.
In the same vein, the governor has officially suspended at least two of his aides on issues bordering on negligence of duty, incompetence and suspicion of corrupt practices. Those who have been suspended and recalled within the period under review by the governor are his Special Adviser on Lagos Liaison, Hon. (Mrs.) Jacinta Nwaorie and her counterpart in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Hon. Jeremiah Oketa. While Mrs. Nwaorie was redeployed to newly created office within the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) known as Talent Development Unity, Oketa was renamed Special Adviser to the Governor on Exco Decision.
The perceived incompetence and official laxity being displayed by some of the commissioners have caused grave concern to the governor and every well-meaning Ebonyian.
Worried by the development, the House of Assembly at a plenary recently rated the commissioners below par and charged its members through their oversight functions to keep close tabs on them and recommend any of them who fails to brace up for the demands of his or her office for sack.
“We need to checkmate, oversee what they are doing and to make sure they are doing it in a proper way. We can’t fold our arms and say government is doing well. I only see the Ministry of Works and (that of) Power as the only ministries that are doing well. Apart from the two ministries earlier mentioned, other ministries and their commissioners are not performing.
“But the House members are also not performing because they are not doing anything. Nobody is serious. Nobody is issuing query. We need to investigate them. There is the need for the House of Assembly to properly investigate the commissioners.
“We need to investigate their activities and make sure that all of them are performing their duties, and if they are not performing, we recommend their sack,” the Speaker, Hon. Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, said.
The lawmakers noted that they would not continue to keep silent over the lazy, lackadaisical and incompetent disposition of some the commissioners, saying that as grassroots politicians, they were the ones who would suffer the incompetence and non-performance of the commissioners, since they were the ones who contest elections.
The lawmakers specifically descended on the Commissioner for Agriculture, Uchenna Orji, saying that he had nothing to show for the huge funds that had been sunk into his ministry.
“We must do our job and not allow commissioners in the state to tarnish the image of the state government. Not when the governor is trying to put things on the ground, we will not complement his efforts,” Nwifuru added.
While urging the House to take its oversight functions more seriously, the speaker tasked the House Committee on Agriculture to zero in on all the activities of the commissioner as it relates to his ministry. He accused Orji of playing to the gallery while the ministry has nothing on the ground to show for the huge funds pumped into it by the state government.
His words: “As you embark on your oversight function, lay emphasis on the Ministry of Agriculture, find out how much the state government has so far appropriated to the ministry because I am aware that the state governor has appropriated huge sums of money into that ministry.
“But the commissioner would always have stories to tell on why nothing is happening there. We must get there and know what he is doing there.”
But one of the commissioners, who begged for anonymity while reacting to the development, noted that Nwifuru had personal grouse with the constitution of the cabinet, alleging that the speaker had been angry because the people he was pushing to be taken as commissioners did not make the cabinet.
The source noted that Nwifuru’s grouse against the commissioners began during the screening where he allegedly and vainly sponsored all manner of petitions to stop some of his perceived enemies.
“Let me tell you the truth; Nwifuru has something personal against this cabinet. This is not the first time he is getting at us. We know where his anger is coming from; he needs a commissioner which he failed to get at the beginning. His anger first manifested during our screening where he sponsored faceless persons to write useless petitions,” said the source.
The commissioner further accused Nwifuru of incompetence and crudity, saying that it was “shocking that a speaker who does not know the difference between Assembly and Assemble, is and are, colleagues and colleague, etc is talking of incompetence”.
According to the source, although the commissioners are not accountable to the lawmakers, the House members should be sensible enough to know their boundary, as recommending for sack of commissioners is not within the jurisdiction of the House of Assembly, but the governor who appointed them.
Reacting to the development, a notable politician and publisher of an Ebonyi-based newspaper, National Issue, Emmanuel Igwe, disagreed with the House, saying that the commissioners were doing well in line with the realities of the time. He enjoined the lawmakers to be mindful of their choice of words.
“I do disagree with the House of Assembly (members) if they truly made such comment. The commissioners are doing well as you can see in the state. The speaker and the House should be cautious with their statements,” Igwe said.
But for Okechukwu Nwamini, the House was correct in its assessment of the commissioners. According to him, “what the House said is not new to us. The governor appointed many of them as settlement for their various roles during the elections and not because they have anything to offer the state.”
However, one of the close aides of the governor who pleaded anonymity confided in our correspondent that “the governor knows those that are serious with the job given to them and those who are not serious, not only the commissioners”. He disclosed that the governor is still studying them and that appropriate actions would be taken in due course.
“The governor knows those that are working and those who are not working in all the branches of the state government and not only the commissioners. He is still monitoring things and the right action will be taken as soon as possible,” said he.
But following the furore that greeted the statement, the House recently sat and approved the sum of N130 million requested by the governor.
Governor Umahi, in the letter titled ‘Request for Approval of 130m for Empowerment of Selected Ebonyians’, said the fund would help him to assist some Ebonyians being buffeted by the economic hardship in the country.
Thereafter, the House members unanimously addressed newsmen where they passionately denied labelling commissioners as lazy, incompetent and corrupt, saying that they were quoted out of context.
“I never said that the commissioners are corrupt, lazy or incompetent. You quoted me out context. I was only urging my colleagues to brace up for their oversight functions. I cannot in good conscience begin to malign a government which I am part of,” the speaker said.
While there are indications in the state showing a government determined to improve both economic and infrastructure base of the state, there are yet strong indications that the state government believes it ought to have achieved more within the period.
The Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, while briefing newsmen in Abakaliki, accused forces working for the opposition of using voodoo against the state government under Umahi.
While the blame game lingers, Umahi knows that the buck stops at his table and that he was the one who sought and received the mandate of the people to lead them into a better future. Therefore, posterity will only zero in on him and regard him accordingly. He is the one who would take the blame or praises for the failure or otherwise of his government.