Chief Joe Martins Uzodike, Director-General of Peter Obi's senatorial campaign, was former Commissioner for Information and Tourism during Obi's administration. He also served as Special Adviser to Governor Willie Obiano on Political Matters, among other offices. In this interview with PAMELA EBOH, he examines the friction between Obi, Obiano and former National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh.

News Express: You were initially in Willie Obiano’s administration when it got on board; but after a short stay you were dropped. I am sure you didn’t leave that position happy. Where did things go wrong?

Chief Joe Martins Uzodike: Well, it is wrong to say I left unhappy.
Naturally, no person will be happy when relieved of a position he/she is occupying, not even a class prefect. There must have been a tint of anger?

Well, I will start by saying that you are aware I was Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Anambra State before the Obiano enterprise. You may also recall that I was the Director-General of the Willie Obiano Campaign Organisation. But knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly, the next position I found myself being given the position of a Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters after the election. Ordinarily, one should expect that if you are part of a project, you should aspire for a higher position. Remember, I was a commissioner under former governor Peter Obi, and then moved on to become the face of Obiano’s administration. If there was anything above commissioner status, that should be my position; but I was made a special adviser and I did not complain to anybody. I didn’t complain to Obiano, neither did I complain to his predecessor, Obi. I accepted to work in that capacity as a player. I have been a player all my life. I was the national hockey goal-keeper for Eastern Nigeria, and equally the goal-keeper for East Central (defunct) State. Hockey is like football; the only difference is that football is played with the leg while hockey is played with stick. Likewise, it might interest you to know that I was a player in Rangers International Football Club. I grew up to be the administrator of Rangers International Football Club: that position I held from 1975 to 1984 and won 17 cups. Since I left that position on July, 17 1984 till now, Rangers has never won any trophy, shovel or pin. So, I am a player.

When Obiano appointed me as special adviser, I said to myself: he is the coach, may be, that is where he wants me to stay and play to help his administration succeed. I was not interested in the demotion or the money aspect because demotion is in terms of money. I was ready to play that role for him and it might interest you that as an adviser to the governor of a state, who also happens to be my school mate and student, I never had an opportunity of staying with that governor and talking with him one-on-one…not even a single day to discuss with my principal for the period of ten months that I served him. Quote me anywhere! For a person like me, who is self-fulfilled, I’m a grandfather and, in all ramifications, I am taken to be successful. But I accepted to remain in that position until I was asked to go. Nobody called me to ask me anything. I was not even told that I have been relieved of my appointment. I simply heard it over the radio that my position had been taken away. At that point, I was in Abuja attending Jonathan’s Campaign Organisation programme, where I was asked by the governor to represent Anambra State. I was there when I was told that my job was finished. The next thing I saw on my arrival to Awka was my secretary issuing me a letter that says my work is finished. I moved on with my life. Everyone was blaming me for accepting the appointment in the first place, after being a commissioner. But I told them it doesn’t matter. That insult that people felt was heaped on me was again removed by that same man who asked me to go. You are here looking at me now, you will know whether am bigger or smaller.
What do you think is the genesis and the crux of the row between the trio: Obi, Obiano and Umeh?
There is no genesis to the row. They know the crux of the matter. The problem is simple: someone does not want to meet up the obligation for which he signed to become a governor. There is an obligation and it is simple, Obiano did not put in one kobo into his election; I was the D-G, somebody else underwrote that money. That person is a billionaire of his own status and they agreed. Willie said on the day he was contacted that he had no dime and governor Obi said, ‘just come and fill in the position. I am going to make you a governor, but when you get to that position, you must remember that this money we will be spending is borrowed from people and myself, to which he agreed.’ That said, Obi then went ahead and made him governor of the state, without his contributing one kobo.

Every other person in the state that contributed to Obiano’s course, Obiano used it for his own personal rehabilitation. He used the money to complete the auditorium in his house; built a new two-storey building, and the governor allowed it because it was his right. For the entire campaign, he didn’t put a kobo. The person that signed the money for the campaign was Dubem Obaze and Patrick Obi who was the secretary then. I was the director-general of his campaign organisation and I said I was not going to touch a dime. I did every other thing, but allowed other people to handle the financial aspect and every kobo that was brought in for the campaign was signed by Willie Obiano. Whenever the bill was brought, Peter Obi will copy it in his own register, which he bought, and make it in three copies. He will send one to Obiano to approve that he was going to use the money. That was how the Anambra State governorship election was run. Obiano signed all the expenditure with his pen then. When he became the governor, it became obvious that he was not willing to pay the expended money and, rather than pay the money, he started finding fault here and there. Peter Obi has not spoken and he is not even interested in this thing I’m telling you now. He has not confronted him, either. That is the problem: paying back what was used for your (Obiano’s) election; the money he (peter Obi) approved for use and he know the people that took the money: that includes his deputy.

Peter Obi has not asked to be given commissioners, or for his relation to be taken in government. Every appointment Obiano made from Agulu today, Obi was not consulted and the man has even gone his way. The problem is paying back what was given into his election campaign. I was part of the government of Obiano, so I know what the problem is. He, first of all, went on the frolic of looking for where Peter Obi got the money for his election; that was his first assignment. All the commissioners and parastatals were asked to go and look for where any money was used for election and nobody could find any. I was a member of the state executive council and we told him that there was none. I told him that we should meet so that I could tell him as an insider where the money came from, because I was aware in one instance, that the NNPC House in Abuja belong to NEXT Limited, which is Peter Obi’s company. Peter sold that house for the election and the proceeds from the sale was domiciled in Fidelity Bank, Abuja branch and the manager then was Uzu, who is now the Chief of Protocol to Governor Obiano. It was Uzu that transferred the money to Peter in Awka, and the money was used for the election. You don’t need to go far to find these things, but the young man doesn’t want to sit down so we educate him. I know individuals who gave in N500 million, some N50 million. I countersigned for Peter that the money must be refunded. Obi has been refunding those money borrowed for the past two years. He has since settled those he borrowed from, while some are still outstanding, but he is taking care of it. Then, you talk of his own money that he invested. That is the problem and nobody would say it except me, because I was at the centre of it all.

As for Victor Umeh, what problem does he have with the governor who has since gone his way? In fact, based on these things I have told you, on the 24th of October, 2013, there was a meeting between three Catholic bishops in the state. That meeting was between Peter Obi, Willie Obiano and Victor Umeh. In that meeting, Obiano and Umeh told the bishops that what they want was for Obi to leave APGA for them, quote me. They made a demand before three bishops and said: ‘We want this man to leave APGA for us.’ They didn’t even discuss it because if you want someone that brought you in and empowered you out of the party that he used to bring you in, it means you don’t want to keep your promises. They made that request plainly. If you ask someone in your party to leave, it means the person will simply leave and become an opposition.
Is the All Progressives grand Alliance (APGA) an individual property over which the two principals have the right to ask Obi out of the party he took from nothing to something?

Of course, APGA is an individual party owned by Victor Umeh. There is no EXCO meeting of that party heard anywhere. So, what would you call that kind of party? You always hear NEC of PDP or APC will meet on so-so date: have you ever seen APGA on the national television discussing one issue or the other? He gave Obiano a false impression that he is now the leader of APGA and the man sees himself as having a whole empire that he knew not when the buildings were erected. They want to have a hold because they feel that if they have a hold, that’s it! But that is a wrong notion. The hold is on the people and that is why there is no more APGA. People you find in APGA now are new people who want to see if they can get in and get something, but when they see nothing to grab, they come out. All the foundation members of APGA have since left the party. Tell me who was in APGA under Peter Obi that is still there now; I mean a person of notable stance.
You said earlier that Obiano built the auditorium in his country home while he was a governorship candidate of APGA. But the governor in a meeting with journalists had claimed to have built the auditorium at a time he never imagined himself being a governor. What is the true picture?
To be honest with you, the building was already there, but uncompleted. It was roofed; there was no ceiling, all the decoration was not there. All the doors you find there are new, go and look at it. Common sense will tell you when those doors were hanged. He commenced the building for one reason or the other, nobody is taking that away from him, but it was abandoned. He only completed it as a candidate of APGA. In fact, after he had won the election and we had started all the ceremonies that preceded his victory, the building was still going on as well as furnishing. The two-storey building in front of his house was started from the scratch and completed. That compound you see asphalted was done after he became governor. He was preparing for himself a place befitting for a governor. But, in all fairness, he had completed his old building, the only thing that went in there was that he re-furnished it when he came back from US and money was flowing. When next I will talk, I will tell you which person gave money and what the money was meant for. I was the D-G, I was the person that took him round to the contractors and I took records, because any person who gave him money would report to me and I put it down. But, most of those people, he has up till today not sent a letter of appreciation to them.
As an insider, why do you think Obi went as far as USA to pick a candidate when there was a lineup of qualified aspirants such as Chike Obidigbo, Chinedu Idigo and Obaze?
Victor has already answered that question during a programme he featured in at Odenigbo FM. He answered the question when he said that Obiano was not a candidate of Peter Obi, but a candidate of compromise. And I agree with him.
How do you mean?
I was part of the entire thing that transpired. The names you have mentioned were the candidates standing on the line for the governorship election, but when a meeting was summoned before the bishops to decide who will be the next governor of Anambra State, there was no name like Willie Obiano there. There was Obidigbo’s name but he was rejected by Victor Umeh and he gave his reasons.
What were the reasons Umeh gave for rejecting Obidigbo?
I won’t tell you now.
Why not?
That would still be told, but not now. Oseloka Obaze’s name came up; he was rejected by Umeh and he gave his reasons. Then Chinedu Idigo’s name came up. But again, Umeh rejected it. These were the three names that were prepared for the election. There are people who were groomed to take over and in the instance of someone like Oseloka Obaze, there was a ballot between the commissioners and special advisers to know if he was an acceptable person before he was picked as a candidate. There were criteria. There was also another panel that chose Obidigbo as well as Idigo. So, they were the candidates, but Umeh rejected all of them. Upon that rejection, Peter was given 45 minutes to up and think about a replacement, because the nomination would close in a couple of days. He went out and placed a phone call to Obiano in America and without going through the gamut, Obiano accepted the offer; but gave a condition that he was not going to put a dime because he had none. He is alive today to prove me wrong. That was how he came back to Nigeria. The people you mentioned were the fore-runners of the competition, but Umeh rejected them. If Umeh challenges this thing I am saying as falsehood, then I will say what he tabled as his reasons for their rejection. My witnesses are the bishops, they are ‘men of God’ and they will never tell lies. They will all attest to what I have said, because I am talking competently.
Umeh had earlier admitted that he didn’t know Obiano as a person before he emerged candidate of APGA, neither did he pick him; that everything about his candidacy was handled by Obi. The question is: why do you think he accepted an unknown face to those already known?
Yes, that is true and buttresses what I earlier said. He accepted an unknown face because not knowing him and his not being from Nigerian circle would enable him to manipulate things. Let me tell you how he manipulated things. He wanted Uche Ekwunife who sponsored him through his court processes. Uche Ekwunife and Prof Charles Soludo were the two people that sponsored him all through his court cases and several mouth- watering millions were expended in the process. So, when Peter Obi finally nominated Obiano, he accepted believing that Uche Ekwunife would defeat him. Then, two days to the primaries, he changed the entire list of delegates to favor Ekwunife. but Peter Obi on sensing what was going on had to come out in the night with his wife to go through all the hotels that were in Awka, soliciting for support for Obiano and introducing him to people from hotel to hotel. I was at Choice Hotel with Idemili North/South and Dunukofia delegates when they came there. Throughout the night, Peter was busy going round the hotels while his wife was doing same in another hotel, pleading with delegates to vote for Obiano. Immediately Peter leaves, Ekwunife would come there to talk to the same people. So, if not for Peter’s personal struggle, Victor would have had his way with Ekwunife beating Obiano. Furthermore, when Uche lost, he went and promised her that she would be made the deputy governor; after she was usurped in the first one.

The agreement on the day of nomination was that Peter Obi would bring governorship candidate while Victor Umeh would bring the deputy. But, surprisingly, Ekwunife was not nominated as the deputy. I pardon Victor in that case because it was said that once a Catholic member was made the governor, the deputy must come from another denomination. That was how he left Uche and moved over to Nkem Okeke. It was after the nomination that Victor then went back to this man he doesn’t know (Obiano) and deceived him. Immediately Obiano was nominated in that meeting, Peter Obi called Victor and said: ‘We have made a choice, but allow all the candidates who have bought forms to go for the primary. Buying of forms then was no easy ride; it was sold at N3 million. Based on that, Peter told him to allow them take part in the primaries and we will then chose who we want, because we control the people: anybody we tell them to vote for is who they will choose.’ But Victor is devilishly intelligent. He felt that leaving it that way Peter had the stamina and power to influence the voters, so he disqualified the tree other candidates. What was their offence? He said Idigo did not have the financial power to contest the election. Meanwhile, he doesn’t know his financial strength. For Obaze, he said that he had no voter’s card, having returned from the US. Meanwhile, there is no such law here: if you come from America or anywhere else outside the country, you simply apply for a voter’s card and you are given one. He was even in the process of getting one when he was disqualified. For ObIdigbo, he said the man was an Anglican. And he asked the bishops: ‘How can you allow an Anglican to be the governor?’ So, the man knew what he was doing. When he disqualified the three persons, Peter sent him a message and said, ‘my brother, how dare you do this to this people? They have bought forms and fulfilled all the obligations, you would have allowed them to be part of the primaries; why?’ It was that text that he went and showed Willie Obiano and told him that Peter didn’t want him to win; that he brought him so that on that day one of the other candidates will win. Willie Obiano bought the garbage hook, line and sinker. This is what has held the man in bondage till now. Victor still has that text message, if you go to him, he will show it to you. He showed it to me in his house in Enugu and I told him, ‘you are a wicked person.’ He also showed it to the chief of staff and to all the people that were related to Willie and they all held him in high esteem. And the Aguleri people, despite not knowing him from Adam, they called him and gave him the title of Ibubo Aguleri. That is the highest title in Aguleri. Aguleri people also went to his house with cows to appreciate him for making Willie Obiano governor. He didn’t make Obiano governor: that is fraud! I repeat, that is fraudulent!!

There are rumours making the rounds that Obiano may not make a second term in office because of the many enemies he has surrounded himself with, even within APGA?
I don’t know whether he will make it or not. It is purely the decision of the people of Anambra State. I have always said that what will make him excel is the work he has on ground. Anambra people will decide whether he is working or not. And work is not ‘Willie is working!’ Work is not only on sign posts, work is what people see and feel; see and know that he is working. The blind Bathemaeus in the Bible didn’t see Jesus when he came in contact with him: he said, ‘that is the messiah.’ Peter Obi bought 700 cars for schools, as well as the security outfit, but his name is not written on them. When people see, they know who bought it; that’s simple and clear. You don’t need to go to anywhere to ask if anybody is working or not. So, Willie must be in a position to have people applaud him after this year and say he is working. You don’t need to tell somebody you are building heaven in Awka, that person is part of your governance. The federal allocation was brought for the entire state and meant for people to enjoy the dividends of democracy. I can assure you – you are in my town today interviewing me – there are over 60 per cent of people in this town that don’t know where Awka is; and it is less than 35 minutes from here. They have never been there so, when you tell them you are building skyscrapper in Awka, you have not made any point to them. What they need is: go to Saint Joseph’s Secondary School, Awka-Etiti and show what you have done there: they will go there and see for themselves, first hand, nothing else. So, for my brother, Willie, what will save him is the work he has done and how it affects the people. That’s it. Peter Obi is the only governor that went for a second term in office in Anambra State, no other person has achieved that and for anybody to feel it’s a birth right. It’s not, but it is an achievable right based on performance.

Second term is not given to any person as a title: you earn it by way of people being happy with what you have done. They will simply support you to go again and continue in your good work. I am telling the government this through your medium, I was shocked when I asked somebody who is working in a school the name of the state governor and he said Peter Obi… that’s because he has not seen his governor. By this time during Peter’s administration, he attends seven churches every Sunday: four Catholics, three Anglicans and next Sunday he will attend four Anglican churches and three Catholic churches. That way people saw him in the church and they could identify him. I am not saying this to derogate anybody. I asked an okada rider I called at a petrol station to bring me home if he knew me. He said no. And the man is from my town. So, don’t get surprised that somebody doesn’t know his governor. The governor has to move to be known; he has to work to be known. This road that passed in front of my house was commenced under Peter Obi’s administration. But for the past two years that Obiano has been governor, no single shovel or sand has gone on it. It is a four- kilometer road, but only this distance you saw to the next house, there is where it stopped. The road goes as far as to Nnewi, and it has been sand-filled, primed and due for asphalting. But for two years that the rain was on, it has excavated it. This is the story everywhere in Anambra State, the entire central and south. The other day I was at Achina, the bishops were lamenting: St Paul’s University road which was almost at the verge of asphalting has been abandoned, and no person can pass the road now. Of course, this year is gone already; nobody can commence any construction work now. He has already commenced his third year in office and the next one is fourth year. That’s it! So, all this will determine whether he will serve a second term or not and I believe he knows that.
As the director-general of Peter Obi’s senatorial ambition, do you think his emergence as a candidate is justified?
Peter Obi has been nominated by the PDP to go and contest the election based on court order. The order of the court says…. Before that, let me remind you that the Constitution of Nigeria cannot be changed except with two-third majority of the house. It is clear, and it says: ‘Once a candidate dies or willingly resigns from a party, he/she must be replaced by the said party.’ That is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It’s not the constitution of any political party, it is the law. The Federal High court in Abuja said that a woman called Uche Ekwunife has willingly resigned from her party via ‘Exhibit B and in Exhibi C’. She has communicated same to INEC and PDP. Immediately Uche Ekwunife stated that she was no longer part of PDP, the party knew that she had resigned and they went ahead to conduct a primary in which Peter Obi emerged.
When and where was the primary conducted?
I have said it before, that it is not anybody’s business to ask when a primary was conducted or how and where it was conducted, because it is an internal affair of the party. You cannot go and ask a man: ‘When did you impregnate your wife?’ It is nobody’s business to know. It’s only when you see the protruding belly, you will know that the thing has come.
Given Obi’s performance record, after being a two-term governor of Anambra State, shouldn’t he be aspiring for something bigger, for example, being nurtured for presidency?
Who nurtures people? Where was Obama nurtured as President of America? Was it not through the Senate? So, if Peter Obi decides to go into that nurturing you are talking about, then what is wrong with it? Peter Obi had already gone to various schools after he left as a governor. I’m his personal friend, so I know what I’m saying and I also taught him in school just like I taught Obiano. I know that when he left government, he attended eight schools and he was in the ninth one by January when this issue started. Was he going to these schools to return as chairman of a bank? You are well aware that he is the highest shareholder of one of the banks in Nigeria and a major director of three other banks. He is the only person who was allowed by CBN, due to his contributions, to be member of three boards of a financial institution. Little wonder, you saw that during Jonathan’s administration, he was made an Economic Adviser to the President. The man who has these potentialities, you want him to be on his own and continue making money for his one son and daughter? We felt that we need that talent and resourcefulness for the benefit of the human race. He has too much money, which he has genuinely achieved on his own. You can’t get into any market and find five products without his own being up to four in any market in provisions, and they get into this country. He has all going for him. We went and asked him: ‘You want to make more money for who: for your only son and only daughter?’ That’s crazy! I tell my children that what I have today on earth as Joe Martins, if I leave it for them totally, they will be useless because they will have nothing to struggle for. So, what I do for them is give them education. I have three daughters and one boy. One of my daughters have a PhD now, while two has masters’ degree; and they are all oversees. They started from here: I told them, ‘you must school here and obtain your first degree; then you can go wherever other people are going so you won’t say my daddy was stupid not to allow me go out.’ You go to one country and get your masters’ degree, then go to another one and get your PhD. The one with PhD is already married in that country. The second one married this year and, after December, she would join her husband. That way, I have given them a good foundation. For my son, I told him: ‘if you want to benefit from me, go and read law.’ The only thing I know I cannot take away from him is my law chamber. The books in my chamber, as at last year, worth several millions. They were valued at N16 million. I was buying books all the time and they are there. I told him if you read law, you inherit it and it becomes your first asset; if not, people will come and steal them or, better still, buy them at a valueless price. That he is doing; and by next year he will graduate, inherit the chambers and have an address. That way he can never be hungry in life, if he exploits his position as a lawyer.

So, we told Peter that he has to come back and get into the business of helping other people, because in the government here, people are lamenting that things are hard. Yes, things are hard. Because there is no more MDGs in Anambra, the people are gone, and that was over 80 per cent strength that Peter used in developing the state; 20 per cent was federal allocation and internally generated revenue (IGR). There is no hope that MDG will come back to this state under this administration. For United Nations to give you money, they look at your life-style, your own liabilities and how you spend money. If you are given a certain amount of money, how will you manage it? If they discover that you are a donator, you dash money around, they won’t give you. Public money is not for dashing, but for enhancing the growth of the welfare of the people. Mind you, MDG started in 2001, but Anambra State did not earn a dime until seven years later, 2008. They watched Peter Obi and saw how shrewd he was with money; and they made sure that by 2013, he had earned higher than all the other states in the country: the attraction was his spending pattern. So, what I’m trying to say is that Peter Obi is eminently qualified to run for Senate, we have been begging him to run and he has accepted. He will run and no person can stop him from running. Anybody giving you the impression that he will not run is wasting his time. He will run. People are living on the euphoria that he will not run, no person can stop him from running.
Are you saying that the view that his running is a sort of vendetta against Umeh holds no water?
What was Ekwunife’s vendetta against Umeh? Did she commit any offence? Why was she removed? You think that if you spend people’s money – N250 million, N2 billion - to go and remove somebody from something God gave to him, that God will allow you to go and benefit? God just allowed them to perform that act to give devil an opportunity to hit them; and he performed an act which he is receiving the ends. Victor Umeh was already celebrating being a senator. In fact, if you were at his sister’s burial recently, the chairman of APGA addressed him in his condolence message as ‘Senator Victor Umeh.’ All the hope was that by the time that burial ceremony will be taking place, election must have come and gone. He was seeing heaven already, but he would never enter into it. You don’t get things by fraudulent means. If Uche Ekwunife lost election gallantly, no person will be talking. But you went and did what you know was against the law to get her out; you paid money and then they used the parameter, issue of primary, which is supposed to be an internal affair of the party, to remove her. It’s shameful and God will not allow Victor to benefit from that shameful act, unless he is not a good God. I can assure you that! We are all in prayers.
What is your overview of President Buhari’s administration vis-vis his campaign promises?
I don’t know what he promised during his campaign.
One of the promises was that he was going to place unemployed youths on a monthly stipend of N5,000. What’s your take on that?
As far I’m concerned, I didn’t hear anything he was saying during his campaign, but I know he would pay if he has money. I think he made promises without knowing that there was no money. He got on the wheels and discovered that there was no money. It was not as he had envisaged. I have said for the umpteenth time that Buhari did not sit down to work out being a president. He thought it was going to be business as usual, and they were busy cooking what they will do when there is confusion: maybe, when Jonathan wins election or refuses to leave. That was all they were planning but, unfortunately, Jonathan gave them the room to go in and they discovered they had no team. A party that was going for election must have said if we win this election, next thing I will inaugurate this team, that team and so on and you will see everyone working in preparation for governance. When Obiano was preparing to take over after swearing-in, he immediately appointed shadow commissioners in all the ministries. He brought his brothers and friends from the banks and they came over, understudying every commissioner to know what was happening in that ministry. We were holding meetings and having arguments with them. When they argue on things they don’t know well, we will stand our ground and tell them the way it is done.

What do you think will happen if Obiano extends a hand of reconciliation to Obi and appeals to him to forget the past and join hands to build a mega-party for APGA?
Obiano is not capable of building a mega-party because he is not a party person so: he lacks the capacity. And the worst of it all is that they have appointed somebody who is not a member of their party to lead the party. That is the highest political crime any party can commit to itself. There is no link between the past and the new. Peter Obi left the party in 2014 and I left in January 2015. As I’m talking to you, last Friday (May 7), Peter Obi was telling me in the church at Agulu-Uzigbo to point at who was the national chairman of APGA for him, so he could know him. He has never met him in his life. As of 2015 when I left the party, Victor Oye was not a member of APGA: you can quote me. So, how can a person who is not a member of a party lead the party. Our people always say: ‘If you are not party to learning a dance, you cannot lead that dance; because if you lead it, your steps will not be in tandem with the rest of the dancers.’ It’s very clear. Talking about reconciliation, Governor Willie Obiano on his part does not even know those in the party to call; he doesn’t know what button to press and ask the person to assist him. So, once he is not capable of doing that, then he is not capable of doing it. The party is not going anywhere. Peter Obi on his part is not a cantankerous person, he doesn’t quarrel with any person. For me, he doesn’t want anything from Obiano’s government. What can he do for him? Is it money or what? For me, reconciliation means if you are owing anybody, go and pay him. Because, if you don’t pay him now, you’ll pay him later, if you don’t pay him on earth, you will pay him in heaven. It is that simple.

Restitution is the answer, not I have forgiven you. You stole my money. You must give me back that money, if you have it: that is the issue. If out of 20, not one person that managed Willie Obiano’s campaign organisation made it into the State Executive Council; rather it is people from America and banks, both failed banks and the ones that didn’t fail, if you call the people again to come and assist you, will they come? No person wants to see an ill he saw at the first instance. Now that Peter Obi has put in Willie Obiano in power, then every day the story is that they are at loggerheads, he is not in agreement with Peter, who else would sponsor him? Then, talking about love, we went to Victor Umeh’s place and he rejected condolence. You didn’t even invite someone to your ceremony. He came on his own, then you turned around and said: ‘Peter Obi’s condolence is not accepted.’ And they paid people money not to publish it.
How true is the story making the rounds that Peter Obi has promised a former governorship aspirant of APGA, Obidigbo, that he was going to make him a governor to appease the Anglican faithful?
I am sure Peter Obi never made such statement and he doesn’t have issue with the church as to who becomes a governor. Peter Obi vehemently stated that he wanted Obidigbo to become governor. He was even the person that lured Obidigbo into the race and he has said he is ready to support him anytime he wants to run for the governorship position of the state. Peter cannot make any person a governor, it’s the people of Anambra State that would decide who governs them. If he made such statement, it would mean assigning himself to be God. So, the issue is first struggling and getting the nomination of a party and that party being a party that is capable of being accepted by the people. A politician that wants to throw his weight, these are the variables he would weigh.

•Photo shows Chief Joe Martins Uzodike.

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