By Emeka Mamah,

Although, both Governor Ugwuanyi and his predecessor in office, Chime have not told anybody that their fragile relationship was about to degenerate, two decisions by the State House of Assembly indicate that all is not well between the two political gladiators in Enugu State.

Ugwuanyi

The directive by the House of Assembly to Ugwuanyi to revoke deals on parks, as well as its decision to probe the Internally Generated Revenue by the Board of Internal Revenue when Chime held sway in the state, are indications that there is fire on the mountain. The House directive on Ugwuanyi to revoke deals on recreational facilities so that such parks regain their past glory and serve as good sources of revenue, came on the heels of the death of two sisters in an amusement park tragedy in Enugu on July 15, 2016.

The two sisters whose parents are currently in South Africa, died while on a picnic at the popular Oakland Amusement Park, Enugu.

The deceased Onyinyechi Ozumba, 5, and Ebubechi Ozumba, 8, all natives of Anambra State had joined other children at the park to enjoy themselves when they met their untimely death.

Although it would appear on the surface that the House was reacting to the tragic incident, sources said that it was an opportunity for the state government to look into how the popular Polo Field was leased to a private company for the building of a mall to house Shoprite without major gains to the government.

It has been alleged that top officials of the Sullivan administration benefitted from the deal given the zeal with which they pursued the completion of the mall.

The decision mandating the revocation and other actions followed a motion presented to the House at its plenary by the member representing Igbo-Etiti East, on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party,  PDP, Ezenta Ezeani on urgent need to ensure that the parks regain their past glory and serve as good sources of revenue for the state.

Chime

In a resolution supported by the members, the House said repossessing the outfits was to ensure efficient management and better performance as well as boost the revenue of the state and directed the General Manager of the Enugu State Tourism Board to ensure that due process was followed in future award of contracts on the facilities. Also, the Assembly urged the State Ministry of Capital Territory to demolish all illegal structures within the said parks and open spaces.

Ezeani, who is the House Committee Chairman on Culture and Tourism during the plenary and presentation of the motion said that there was need to look inwards to ensure that the centres were repositioned to yield revenue for the state in the face of current economic crunch in the country.

Ezeani also said that the House derived the authority to order for the revocation from the 1999 Constitution section 128 (2)(b)” to expose inefficiency, or worst in the execution or administration of laws with our legislative competence.”

He said that the motion was timely as it would not only attract revenue for the state but ensure that the centres were maintained instead of serving as breeding grounds for hoodlums and other miscreants. The new government had earlier revoked the concession of the state water corporation by the Chime administration. That concession had stoked much controversy at the time it was entered into by the past administration.

However, the second decision, which threatens the relationship between the two leaders relates to the motion mandating Governor Ugwuanyi to probe the IGR during Chime’s tenure. It is noteworthy that those in the leadership of the House were chosen by Governor Chime shortly before he left office on May 29, 2016, hence any adverse decision on the former governor would be viewed seriously.

The House raised a seven-man committee headed by Sunday Okoye, Awgu North Constituency to probe the IGR collected by the government between 2008 and June 2015. The House based its decision to probe Chime’s tenure on petitions received from the public alleging misapplication of funds throughout the period under investigation.

Before the latest development, it was on record that all governors of the state since 1999 had at one time or the order, quarrelled with their political god fathers. Governor Chimaroke Nnamani who ruled the state between 1999 and 2007 quarrelled with Senator Jim Nwobodo on whose back he rode to power on the PDP platform.

The same scenario played out when Chime assumed office in 2007, after serving in the Nnamani administration.

Nnamani received the same dose, if not a more poisonous dose when Chime uprooted the vestiges of the Ebeano machine framed by Nnamani through which he came to power.

However, political observers in the state expected a change in political acrimony in the state, with the entry of the Governor following his adoption of “seamless transfer of power,” as his slogan during the campaigns in 2015. Shortly after assuming power, Ugwuanyi spent a whole week running around the three senatorial districts to mobilise visiting teams for various thank you visits to Chime for making him governor.

Although Ugwuanyi undertook the thank you visits, associates of the taciturn governor expressed anger that Chime did not hand over anything to him. It is on record that till today, neither Chime nor Ugwuanyi told the electorates in the state how much that was left in the treasury or inherited by the new government.

A close confidant of the governor told Vanguard that “Chime did not handover even an exercise book to Ugwuanyi,” adding that the new administration inherited nothing from its predecessor.

He stressed that although the former governor did not handover a kobo to the incoming administration, Ugwuanyi had continued to not only play along by continuing to work with Chime’s security and other close staff but play the second fiddle in view of the court case he still had with his main challenger during the PDP primary election, Senator Ayogu Eze.

However, the latest rumbling in the state House of Assembly is an indication that the party would soon be over. It is likely that the cosy relationship between the god father and godson would soon be over with some rancorous political developments ahead.

The only time Chime was said to have grumbled in silence was when Ugwuanyi failed to conduct elections into the local government  and instead, appointed care-taker committees, thus disrupting the democratic practices which had taken roots in the system with consistent elections in the third tier of government in the last 12 years in the state.