…Protest is against Mrs Jonathan’s visit, alleges PDP

By Peter Okutu

ABAKALIKI—OVER 2, 000 youths in Ebonyi State Monday staged a peaceful protest in Abakaliki against the impeachment plot against Governor Martin Elechi by members of the State house of Assembly.

The House of Assembly had last Friday served an impeachment notice on the governor over alleged gross misconduct and breaches of the constitution.

The protesters, who converged on the state township stadium as early as 8 a.m, disrupted human and vehicular traffic as security personnel were positioned at strategic places to prevent any break down of law and order.

However, the Divine Mandate Campaign Organization of the state Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship candidate, Engr. Dave Umahi, alleged that the youths were mobilized by the state government to protest against the visit of the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is due in the state within the week.

Chairman, Media, Research and Strategic Team of the Organization, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, said thee people of the state were not in any way intimidated by the action of the governor.

“Today, we witnessed yet another example of the degeneration of opposition politics in Ebonyi into the sewage. The youth of Ebonyi were brought into the capital city Abakaliki, given placards, empty coffins and paltry sums of money to protest against the PDP in Ebonyi State. The Labour Party in Ebonyi is tainted with corruption, duplicity, dishonour and violence. No amount of rented crowd can launder or cleanse the image of this malnourished orphan child. The State of the PDP in Ebonyi is robust,”he said.

The governor’s supporters, mainly members of the opposition Labour Party, were received at cabinet office, Government House by the Secretary to the State government, Chief Boniface Chima; Commissioner for Finance, Barrister Timothy Odaah and others.

Addressing the protesters, Odaah urged the state commissioner of police to quench the fire burning in the state, alleging that some detractors were manipulating the speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku, to take the governor’s seat by force, less than 100 days to the end of his tenure.

The commissioner reassured the unwavering commitment of the people of the state to the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, asking the President to be wary of those pretending to be working for him, describing them as agents of destruction.

He advised the people of Ebonyi to support the second bond proposal of the state government, saying if other states in the federation could obtain bonds from the capital market within three weeks, there was nothing wrong for a poor state as Ebonyi to borrow.

The spokesman of the youths, Barrister Leonard Igboke, warned against the impeachment which might spark violence if allowed to happen, especially at this critical period when the governor had less than three months to vacate office.

Meanwhile, one of the protesters who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the protest was mainly for sympathizers and supporters of the Labour Party.