By CHARLES IWUOHA With NAN Report

The Ebonyi Governor, Chief David Umahi, has sacked political appointees from Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.

Umahi gave the order on Friday in a statement signed and issued to newsmen in Abakaliki by the Secretary to the State government, Mr Kenneth Ugbala.

“In the avowed determination of Ebonyi State Government to allow greater participation of people in governance, Gov. David Umahi has approved the sack of political appointees from Ohaukwu Local Government Area with immediate effect.

“The office holders include: all the Coordinators, all the Executive Assistants (EAs), all the Senior Technical Assistants (STAs).

“Others include all the Technical Assistants (TAs), all the Liaison Officers and all the Management Committee Members of Development Centres,” Umahi stated.

“All the affected officers are directed to handover all the State Government property in their possession to the Secretary to the State Government before the close of work on Monday, Nov. 23,” he directed.

Ironically, the sack came barely hours after stakeholders of Ohaukwu LGA threw their weight behind Governor Umahi, who days earlier defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The stakeholders who made their position known at a meeting held at the Council headquarters, Ezzamgbo, said they were solidly behind Governor Umahi, adding that the people of the Council were 99.9% APC.

The Chairman of the Council, Barrister Clement Odah, who addressed journalists on behalf of the stakeholders, said the people of the council had benefitted heavily from Umahi’s administration, assuring that they were fully with him.

According to him, on moral ground, none of them is entitled to take a different direction other than the direction of the Governor.

He maintained that Ohaukwu people would deliver 100% votes to the APC in 2023.

Senator representing Ebonyi North Senatorial district and first civilian Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr Sam Egwu, who is opposed to Umahi’s defection to APC hails from Ohaukwu LGA.

Odah said: “Ohaukwu Local Government are part and parcel of the All Progressives Congress (APC). At a personal level, I want to let the world know that I am the son of the Governor, David Umahi. He made me what I am today. As long as politics is concerned, he is the beginning and the end of my political sojourn. He remains my father, benefactor, and boss.

“Beyond me, we have appointees of Government and elected persons here. All of us are beneficiaries of the magnanimity of the Governor. On moral ground, none of us is entitled to take a different direction other than the direction of the Governor.

“As a people, we have witnessed tremendous development in our area. We have the gigantic and longest flyover and only a person that loves you can give you such a gift.

“Every Ohaukwu man, every Ohaukwu youth and every Ohaukwu woman will continue to support the Governor. As long as we are concerned, this LGA is 99.9 percent APC. I would have said Ohaukwu is 100 percent, but our Governor himself has conceded 0.01% for a certain class of persons.

“If anybody is not in agreement with the Governor, the question is: what are your reasons? We have flyovers, good roads, ecumenical centre, international airport, international stadium and international market. We have all the good things we see in Dubai. Anybody saying we shouldn’t stand with David Umahi, does he have anything better than what he had offered us? So, we stand with the Governor and we will always stand by him.”

Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Sunday Inyima, who was rumored to have resigned his appointment sequel to the defection of Umahi to APC, described the rumor as false, insisting that the entire Ohaukwu people including himself, were solidly behind Governor Umahi.

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