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*Why spend N27m on helicopter show
Governor Willie Obiano [above] will have to do more to explain successfully his involvement or otherwise in the killing of demonstrators in Anambra State because he has failed to do his primary duty of protecting life and ensuring justice for Anambra Citizens.
As a party, we had sternly warned Gov Obiano and his All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)-controlled government against killing or destroying the properties of suspected kidnappers in the state before proper trials and convictions, but they chose the illegal path of crudely uprooting suspects from their house, demolishing the properties and in some cases aiding the extra-judicial handling of their cases in collaboration with the Police in the state.
At that time, it was convenient for Obiano to take credit for these acts as part of his own political expediency of solving the security challenge of Anambra State; an item exclusively in the manifesto of the APC which detail did not entail throwing away justice in Anambra State through the back door.
How then can Obiano say that he should be counted out of a top security matter concerning Anambra State as reported by The Authority Newspaper yesterday, December 21, 2015, while answering to accusations that he ordered the killing of demonstrators protesting the detention of Nnamdi Kanu of ‘Radio Biafra’
Does it not occur to Obiano that once any leader conveys an impression, that the life of his citizens are not of value, and justice is immaterial, it is a broken egg without reversal.
We know that Anambra State is not the first State in Nigeria to witness demonstrations, but it is in Anambra State that a Police contingent led by a sergeant orders citizen of both sexes, all ages, creeds and climes to raise their hands in the air while carrying out their daily activities, under the watch of a governor.
We are conscious that this is happening in a state where the courts have not worked for about 90 days, because the executive arm led by Obiano insists on controlling the judiciary, holding their money, buying their cars.
That to a large extent will influence their judgments when other states in the federation have since moved on in this matter where judicial workers are backed by a Federal High Court judgment mandating state and federal governments to allow the judiciary have their funds on first line charge.
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But rather than address these issues squarely- allowing the independence of the judiciary and clearing the back-log of salaries owed them Obiano is using scarce resources of Anambra State to set up and fund parallel unions , and getting deeper into the crisis bordering the emplacement of registers in courts to force attendance by brute force.
We recommend sincere dialogue, where respect for the rule of law is given and insist that government of Anambra State can meet its responsibilities to judicial workers, if only profligacy can be reduced, even by 50 percent.
How does one explain for instance the expenditure of close to N27 million to move two helicopters from Umuahia to Awka for a ‘show’ organized around the hasty commissioning of an uncompleted road project in Awka by mapping out separate elements like bridges, culverts, ad roundabouts for separate commissioning.
It is unthinkable that a state who lost the opportunity to raise a soft loan along with other bailed-out states, boasting at the time that it was not owning workers, is now held down in a state of near anarchy by issues arising to debt owed judicial workers and arising from the mishandling of funds which the court has ordered should be handled directly by the judiciary itself.
We urge Gov Obiano to mend his ways and return justice to Anambra State as a matter of priority, while doing more to explain his role in the killing of Anambra citizens, and what action he has taken since these incidents as the Chief Security Officer of the State.
These, in our priority schedule are better guarantees for peace and happiness than ephemeral street decorations.
For: All Progressives Congress (APC), Anambra State
Okelo Madukaife
State Publicity Secretary
