Former Anambra
State Governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju in an interview granted Ashiwaju.org
explained the problems he faced as governor and why he had issues with former
president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mbadinuju said,
”The first ground for probable impeachment was one incident which took place
during the presidential campaign. Former President Obasanjo was in Anambra for
the presidential campaign in 1999 and donated N500, 000 to the state chapter of
the Peoples Democratic Party. Perhaps, he wanted to assist in the
electioneering campaign.”
”The then
presidential aspirant Obasanjo, made his donation through his bosom friend, J.S
P.C Nwokolo. As leader of the party in the state, I handed the Ghana Must Go
bag containing the said amount to campaign leaders with the instruction to
share the money equally between the state, local government and ward
executives. I was shocked when Nwokolo later alleged that I only released part
of the money to the party. My explanation detailing the ratio of sharing to him
and considering the fact that my Odera Campaign Organisation spent over N800
million for the party and my campaign with a sizeable amount still left in the
kitty. I knew better soon afterwards, because Nwokolo went behind and
misrepresented facts before Obasanjo.”
”I don’t know how
Obasanjo reacted to the information given to him but for the next six months,
after our inauguration as governor; I was denied access to the Presidential
Villa and could not for that number of months see Mr. President even for
routine consultations on matters affecting Anambra state. This was the
situation on ground which was added to the crisis in the House of Assembly.
This probably explained the uncommon interest the Presidency had in the case of
the Anambra State House of Assembly. In the heat of the commotion, the
Presidency dispatched a presidential plane with the then Speaker, Salisu
Buhari, to explore the possibility of facilitating my impeachment and the
declaration of a state of emergency. With faith in God none of the plans they
hatched against me succeeded because the Speaker from Abuja reported what he
saw objectively.”
On other issues
which affected his relationship with Obasanjo, the former Governor said, ”At
the inception of my administration, I received a request from the wife of the
President, Stella, concerning a family friend of hers, who retired from the
state civil service. The request was that I should help pay the man his pension
and entitlements. I was quite amenable to do so. Unfortunately, this was
delayed because the payment was being awaited from Abuja. In the process of
waiting, the man was involved in a fatal road accident and he died. The
Nigerian first family was infuriated and this unfortunate coincidence further
separated me from the Presidency.”
”Their reasoning
was that if I had paid the man earlier he would not have died without his
pension. I had no comment on that as I am not God to determine the time and
season of life and death.”
”As if this was
not trouble enough, after the renovation of the Government House, which was
mysteriously gutted by fire on my assumption of office, I invited dignitaries
from within and outside the state to commission it as part of the projects
commemorating my first 100 days in office. I also invited Chief Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu to cut the tape and commission the structure. This move was
misunderstood by Abuja as some people thought I did not sufficiently carry
along the party leaders. Some complained that bringing the Ikemba Nnewi into a
PDP programme was trying to revive the Biafran connection. But my primary
purpose was to draw him closer to the PDP. Sadly, my plan didn’t work out as
the Ikemba Nnewi afterwards joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance.”