By Echezona Okechi
Ikeogu Oke, an Abuja-based communication analyst, recently wrote a syndicated article entitled “Peter Obi and His One Wristwatch,” which newspapers published. The article seeks to exculpate Obi, the immediate past Anambra State governor, from blame for claiming that he has been wearing one wristwatch for the past 17 years. The erstwhile governor made the claim on May 1 as part of this year’s celebration of Labour Day organized in Lagos by one Pastor Poju Oyemade, leader of the Christian Centre in Lagos, who annually brings together different high-profile persons to speak on the Nigerian condition. No sooner had Chief Obi made the claim that he has been wearing only one wristwatch for the past 17 years to prove that he leads a Spartan lifestyle than the media began to show various photographs of him in recent years wearing at least three different wristwatches.
Oke’s intervention was expected. In fact, more of such articles are most likely to be published soon in defence of the former Anambra State governor. All the articles are organized. Obi has of late been image driven. Having abandoned the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) just before the 2015 general elections for the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he even served as the Deputy National Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation, he has since found out that the move was disastrous. Not only were Jonathan and his PDP routed in the election, the party is all but dead. Chief Obi does not know whether he belongs to the Momodu Sheriff faction or Senator Ahmed Makarfi’s.
If the PDP is practically dead at the national level, it is in a worse state in Obi’s Anambra State: it can never resurrect here. Obi and one or two of his political associates may soon be the only remaining PDP members in the state. So confused—if not outright stupid—has the PDP in Anambra State become that it has chosen as its chairman one Ken Emeakayi, a person arrested and detained by the police for a whole three years in connection with the murder of Barnabas Igwe, Onitsha branch chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and his wife, Abigail Igwe, as well as their unborn baby.
To remain relevant in the national consciousness, the former governor now attends every function with religious commitment. And he prefers to speak on each occasion. Surprisingly, he prefers speaking outside Anambra State where he makes large claims. He carefully makes no such claims in Anambra State where the people know him better. In other words, Chief Obi would not have made the claim of wearing only one wristwatch for a whole 17 years if he was speaking to an Anambra audience. Nor could he have claimed, as he did last October 1 during Nigeria’s 56th Independence Anniversary celebration on Pastor Poju Oyemade’s Platform, that as governor he was so prudent that he rode only in Peugeot cars.
In Anambra State, people do not remember the last time they saw Chief Obi in a Peugeot car. He was always in big SUVs, particularly bullet-proof Toyota Land Cruisers. Even when he was leaving office, he purchased armoured-plated Land Cruisers for not just the incoming governor but also his deputy. Even the bulletproof Honda Pilot SUV used by Obi’s lovely and unassuming wife, Margaret, was purchased with state resources when they were in government. All vehicles were procured from Legacy Motors, owned by Chief Obi’s very good friend, Chief Okey Ezibe from Awgbu Town in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, whom the former governor made a member of the APGA Board of Trustees. I understand Gov Obiano is working very well with him on the APGA Board. Obi drives the biggest Land Cruiser and Lexus vehicles in Onitsha but moves about in a Prado SUV in Lagos just to impress his Lagos crowd. Until the Ikoyigate broke out, who would have believed that Obi would live in a flat bought at about N400m?
Admittedly, Chief Obi did well as governor. But his propensity towards garnishing his personality and achievements is outlandish. When he was departing office in March 2014, after eight fruitful years, he asserted that he was leaving for his successor over N70 billion in cash and he was not saddling Chief Willie Obiano with a kobo debt. He received a near unprecedented applause across the nation. But it soon turned out that he actually left behind N13 billion, with N2 billion already committed to contractual obligations. Even so, he did better than most of his counterparts who left only debts for their successors. Still, when it was demonstrated that he left behind N13b and not over N70b, he said it was in both cash and assets. The assets curiously included investments made by ex governors Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Chris Ngige in Orient Petroleum as well as investments in Nigercem Company by the old Anambra State government and investments in such national programmes as the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) which every local government in Nigeria and every state made.
To repeat the obvious, it was counterproductive for erstwhile Governor Obi to claim that he had paid all the contractors before he left office. As Willie Nwokoye, the articulate economist, investment banker and former journalist and writer, was to explain on Channels Television popular breakfast show, Sunrise, it did not make sense for anyone to claim that payments for contracts which were at different stages of execution had been paid for fully. Government contracts all over the world are typically executed on the basis of work certificates generated, that is, based on every milestone achieved by the contractor. A paper is produced showing the level of work done and payment is made on this basis. Some of the contracts awarded by Chief Obi were only 10% completed when he was leaving office. It would be asinine to suggest that full payments for them were made at this stage or even before reaching this stage. Doesn’t Obi cherish any longer the image of a frugal or prudent manager of resources?
Obi also needs to work on his hyperactive media team which makes claims that do its principal a lot of harm. For instance, one Stanley Chire who goes by the pseudonym of Odera Igbo has been alleging vehemently that the present Anambra State government has abandoned the multi-million naira 100-room Agulu Lake Hotel and Resort which Obi initiated in his hometown of Agulu. The hotel has ironically just been completed, and on May 10, 2017, Governor Obiano signed a contract with Golden Tulip of Switzerland to manage the exquisite facility. The false claim reminds us of a similar claim by Obi’s media team that the exceedingly beautiful three flyovers which the current state government built in Awka in imitation of the Ikoyi-Lekki Bridge in Lagos are collapsing simply because there is now a bar stopping big trucks from plying them.
Putting bars to stop big vehicles from using flyovers is common practice. Lagos State does it to prevent big vehicles from falling from bridges, as we have seen at Ojuelegba, Costain and Apapa. As governor, Babatunde Fashola explained that a critical reason for removing the part of Oshodi Market under Oshodi Bridge was to prevent possible fall of petrol tanks from the bridge which could kill thousands of people. When I travelled to Lagos by road on Sunday, May 14, 2017, I noticed there are now crossbars on the Ajah Bridge which is still under construction. Far from Lagosians condemning Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for barring big trucks from using the new bridge, they are rather heaping praise on his administration for building the flyover. After all, like in Awka, there is always a road for big vehicles. Anambra politicians should not play politics with everything. Unfortunately, it does appear for Chief Obi that it is now extreme partisanship all the way. His media team has gone to the extent of taking photographs of the three flyovers in Awka and claiming that the openings in the bridges which allow for expansion and contraction of the materials, as is the practice worldwide, are signs of cracks. When politicians indulge in scaremongering, they intend to damage the sitting government, but they end up driving investors away and hurting the people profoundly.
Ex governor Obi has his place in history. The current effort to garnish his profile and demonise every other person, including his successor whom he drafted into politics and is doing brilliantly, will boomerang. This is dangerous for someone who wants to be the Igbo running mate of any political party at all. As every political analyst in Anambra State knows, Obi’s days in the PDP are numbered. He wants to remain relevant. But he is going about it in the wrong way.
Okechi, a former lawmaker, was chairman, Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Public Petitions. he can be reached on 0803 558 5188, echezona.okechi@yahoo.com
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