A statement signed by Chukwudi Achife, the Chief Press Secretary to Chime, said the deputy governor’s claims before the panel investigating the impeachment allegations of gross misconduct against Onyebuchi were malicious and intended to deceive the public.
He explained that while the government maintains an Agric Unit as part of the Government House structure where livestock are kept for slaughter to serve the needs of staff as well as both the governor and deputy governor’s premises, the unit was neither operated nor owned by the governor.
Achife said: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports credited to the deputy governor in which he alleged that Governor Chime owns a poultry and a piggery inside the Government House.
“Much as we would not want to join issues with His Excellency, the deputy governor (Onyebuchi), it has become necessary for us to put the records straight.
“The deputy governor’s claims that Governor Chime runs a poultry in the Government House is most unfortunate and surprising. This is because it is patently untrue and the deputy governor knows better.
“The truth is that there is an Agric Unit in the Government House where livestock are held for the use of the Government House. It has been in existence since the Government House was built and had served previous administrations in Enugu. It is neither commercially operated nor is it owned by the governor.
“The unit is manned by civil servants including a veterinary doctor. Funds for its maintenance are provided for in the annual budget of the government. The unit also serves the deputy governor. As a matter of fact, the staff of the unit slaughtered a cow from the unit at the request of the deputy governor on August 4, 2014.
“So, if as the unit as he (Onyebuchi) erroneously claims belongs to the governor, why should it form part of the state’s annual budgets? Why would the deputy governor request the unit to slaughter cows for him from its livestock holding?
“It is important to clarify that the said Agric Unit is not within the governor’s residential premises but a unit in Government House which has other units like the Press Unit, Drivers Unit, among others. The Agric Unit serves the purpose of holding livestock for periodic slaughter by Government House staff, the Governor’s Lodge and the Deputy Governor’s Lodge. It was on the strength of this fact that he (Onyebuchi) requested the staff of the unit to slaughter a cow for him from the unit’s holding on August 4, 2014, and this was done.
“Now, the other question to ask is, since the deputy governor is fully aware of the existence of this unit and benefits from its services, why was he operating another one? The truth, however, is that he was operating a commercial poultry with his own staff, including, as he admitted in his evidence, a marketing manager.
“The poultry in his residential quarters was relocated after he refused all official entreaties to do same, fully aware that running a commercial poultry within his residential premises, clearly violated a policy of government. So, why would the State’s Number Two citizen violate a policy made by his own government?”
Meanwhile, on Onyebuchi’s claims on what transpired between the panel and counsel to the parties on the day he slumped, Achiefe recalled that Nduka Ikeyi, Counsel to the Enugu State House of Assembly at the panel investigating the allegations of gross misconduct against the deputy governor, had clarified the events.
Speaking to reporters in Enugu, Ikeyi noted that some of the news reports on the proceedings had been “most inaccurate and full of conjectures,” adding that there also appears to be a deliberate effort to exclude reportage of evidence considered damaging to the deputy governor’s defence.
According to him, none of the reports had so far reflected the evidence given by witnesses to the House of Assembly, nor did they reflect evidence elicited under cross-examination from the deputy governor’s witnesses.
Source: Daily Newswatch