Chijioke Agwu ,Abakaliki.
Ebonyi state governor, Chief David Umahi, yesterday said he resisted alleged plan by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation,Chief Anyim Pius; former governor of the state, Dr. Sam Egwu and the acting National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South East zone,Chief Ali Odefa to set the state on fire.
Umahi accused the trio and 7 other national assembly members from the state of planning to instigate violence to discredit his administration because of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking in Abakaliki on Friday, Umahi noted that he was not asking any of them to join him in the APC against their will, adding that they were free to operate their party, the PDP without any form of harrasment in the state.
He stated that he was not planning to contest any other political position after his tenure as governor but to return to his private business.
He said “I want the media to note that I reported an allegation that some Ebonyi people are engaging cultists and according to them, some IPOB members to start killings and crisis in Ebonyi state in the name of fighting Ebonyi state government and the governor. And their leader is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and their members are Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, Mr Ali Odefa and others.
“This is alleged information I got and I needed to share this information with the security agencies. The reason is that every governor in the state has been fought by the same set of people and it is very interesting to know that the same Senator Pius Anyim fought the former governor Egwu and many people were killed.
“I am not saying that this information is true or not but I needed to raise an alarm because lives will be lost, I pray to God that this shouldn’t be true. And I have asked the security agencies to reach out to them.
“Their party (PDP) will exist peacefully in the state and nobody is going to harass them. But it is important to put it on notice that this is what we heard. It may be true and it may not be true.
“It is something that we need to bring to the notice of the members of the public, so that, God forbid if the information is true and it started happening, let it be that I got the information and I shared it with security agencies.
“I have also directed security agencies to reach them and assure them that nobody will harass them. That nobody will stop their activities in the state and this is very important.
“Nobody is above the law. Nobody is asking them to join APC but they cannot set the state on crisis. We cannot allow them. They should be told that we will confront them openly, if they try to start killings in Ebonyi state, the governor is appealing to them to be peaceful and know that Ebonyi belongs to all of us.
“Nobody is the owner of the state, so let them not stay in Abuja or another place and behave like they are the owner of the state. If they try to fight the state, this will be their last fight, they will fight this one and they will not fight again” he stated.
When contacted, the National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South East zone,Chief Ali Odefa, said the governor was angry because they refused to join him to the All Progressives Congress.
He said the allegation of planning to cause crisis in the state was unfounded, noting that the beauty of democracy is the ability to allow others to belong to any political party of their choice or to express divergent political views.
He advised the governor to stop panicking and concentrate on governance, adding that in the fullness of time the will of God will prevail in Ebonyi.