Gov. Elechi suspends three commissioners

Posted by admin Ebonyi, Governors, Headlines, State News Sunday, November 25th, 2012

PAST misdeeds rather than improper dressing might have been the major reasons Ebonyi State Governor Martins Elechi suspended three members of his cabinet from office for three months recently.

Governor Elechi had through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Dr. Onyekachi Eni, suspended the Commissioners for Works and Transport, Chukwuma Nwandugo; Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Ben Igwenyi as well as Culture and Tourism, Mr. Hyacinth Ikpor with a warning that they should not be seen in any government function within the duration of the suspension.

The statement explained that the trio dressed improperly to a state banquet organized by the state government for leaders and members of Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists of Nigeria (SOGON) after their 46th Annual General Meeting, (AGM) and Scientific Conference held in the state capital, Abakaliki.

However, investigations by The Guardian revealed that the commissioners had previously crossed the governor’s path in acts of omission or commission while performing their functions.

For instance, the Works Commissioner’s offence was not unconnected to an interview he granted a news magazine where the governor’s performance was said to have been taken to the cleaners. A source close to the governor said Elechi did not deem Nwandugo’s response sufficient enough to dilute the allegation of incompetence and non-performance bandied by the magazine.

In the case of Igwenyi, two decisions he took without being properly guided by the body language of the governor, which incurred the displeasure of Elechi, included the approval he gave for the conduct of Ishiagu Community Devlopment Union (ICDU) election despite subsisting court cases that led to the death of a personal assistant to the governor’s Special Assistant on Security, Mr. Collins Agbo.

“Not that alone, sometime ago when one lawyer came forward with a fresh claim for the payment of his professional fees for the conveyance he handled for Ebonyi State properties in Abuja and Lagos, the Attorney General advised the government to settle the claims despite spirited counter arguments by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Fidelis Mbam, that the lawyer had been paid for his services.

“Though Okafor was asked to go and bring further evidence to prove the state government’s indebtedness, the suspicion remained that Igwenyi may be acting in concert with the lawyer to rip the government off. But the governor swallowed his bitter suspicions because it was not easy to pin anything on the Attorney General,” the source said.

The Afikpo-born Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ikpor, was said to have gone into Elechi’s bad book for his alleged altercation with the former legal adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Mudi Erhenede, during which he (Ikpor) was alleged to have threatened that all non-indigenes would leave Afikpo, where Erhenede, has been practicing law in the last 20 years.

Via guardianwp_posts