Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A group, Abia North Stakeholders’ Assembly (ANSA), has berated former attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Kalu Umeh, for faulting the call on former governor Orji Uzor Kalu, by the House of Assembly Speaker, Chinedum Orji, to take over the political leadership of the state.
The former commissioner said, in an interview, that inasmuch as there was nothing wrong with Abia speaker visiting the former governor, he should not have talked about political leadership since they are in different political parties.
Reacting to this in a statement by ANSA President General, Goodluck Ibem, and Publicity Secretary, Sunday Chukwu, respectively, the group accused Umeh of double standard for condemning the speaker’s comments and at the same time acknowledging the Senate chief whip as the political patriarch of Abia State.
“The visit of one political actor to another is not in any sense wrong as politics is not a Machiavellian affair. Senator Kalu, since returning from six months detention, has entertained many visitors ranging from friends, family, political colleagues, associates and even opposition camp from within the state and beyond. One of those said to have visited the senator and former governor was Orji, incumbent Abia Assembly speaker,” the group said.
ANSA said if it was for addressing Kalu as leader in Abia and urging him to come take his rightful position that Umeh was haranguing the speaker, it then means the former attorney general was also guilty of the same offence he was vilifying the speaker, having himself described the former governor as Abia political patriarch.