By Anayo Okoli

Umuahia—ABIA State government has said there was no truth in the speculations that there is a rift between Governor Theodore Orji and the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Orji Kalu, insisting that the relationship between the two was very cordial.

The government was reacting to a publication in one of the dailies to the effect that the two were having problems, to the extent that the former governor was planning to drop the incumbent for 2011 race.

But Governor Theodore Orji’s aide on electronics media, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, who spoke to journalists in Umuahia, dismissed the report as baseless.

Emezue said there was no rift whatsoever between the former governor and the incumbent, and likened the relationship between both personalities to that between Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and his predecessor, Senator Bola Tinubu.

“For record purposes, the former governor and the present governor are the best of friends, they work together for the good of Abia State.

“They always consult. Their friendliness manifested at the PPA special convention in Abuja where they ensured that the party grows stronger. They have the best relationship.

“The rumour that the former governor has picked somebody for 2011 is not true. Governor Orji is bent on giving the people democracy dividends, that is why he has decided to move into Aba to develop the city.

“On the issue that governor Orji may defect to PDP, the governor had said time and again that he has no such plan. He had said that he can’t leave a house where he is a landlord to a place where he will become a tenant. He has no such plan,” Emezue said.