Umeh’s Aide In War With Obi’s Aide Written By Stan Okeke media Assistant to Umeh

The war of words among political bigwigs in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, has deepened, with media aide to APGA national Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, taking Obi’s assistant to task.

Reacting to an interview Obi’s media assistant, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, granted Sunday Sun on October 26, 2014, Mr. Stan Okeke, media aide to Umeh, said his boss never got any contract in Obi’s eight years rule, adding that the interview was full of lies.

Okeke alleged that former Anambra State governor spent N400 billion local government funds and over N600 billion from Statutory Allocations and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in eight years, with a chunk allocated for security votes, insisting that Umeh never bided for any contract in Anambra.

Said Umeh’s aide: “I challenge Obienyem, since he accused my boss of being the greatest beneficiary of Obi’s administration, to publish all the contracts awarded to my principal or any contractor nominated by him, and show the world how Umeh materially and financially benefitted from Obi’s administration. Obienyem should find out from the contractors who they paid 10 per cent of all the contracts awarded to them by Obi during his eight-year tenure.

“The answer to this will be a huge shame to them because Umeh had no relationship with the former governor’s contractors that litter all over Anambra State. The world also knows that when Obi was sworn in for a second term in office in 2010, Umeh insisted that he should conduct local government elections, an agreement that was reached among him, Umeh and Ojukwu, as a condition for their support for Obi’s second term, which he did not want to conduct for obvious reasons (LG Funds). From then, Obi started pushing for the ouster of my principal from office as APGA National Chairman, sponsoring all forms of activities to remove him from office, for demanding that he should conduct LG elections.”

He stated that Umeh was estranged from Obi’s administration for daring to ask him to conduct this election, while accusing the former governor of backing those who got High Court judgments against the APGA chairman, which he fought very hard to set aside on Appeal Court on each occasion.

“One, therefore, wonders how, and at what time my boss made all the money from APGA, a party Obi tactically starved of funds,” he said.

On the supposed mansions Obienyem alleged that Umeh acquired all over the place since Obi became governor, Okeke said it was funny for anybody to peddle falsehood to deceive unsuspecting public.

According to him, “Umeh’s present residence in Enugu was completed in 2006, the year Obi was sworn into office. The six luxury 3-bedroom flats with service buildings, which Umeh has in the village, was completed in 2003, three years before Obi became governor. These facts are well known to people and all those who attended Umeh’s father’s burial in 2003, including Obi.

“I wish to remind Obienyem that my principal graduated in 1984 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, along with Peter Obi. It was Obienyem’s boss who went to Chief Umeh in 2001 to solicit for his support and begged him to lead his governorship bid, a fact well known to their associates and everybody. Before Obi went to Umeh in 2001, Umeh has practiced, and is still practicing his profession as a consultant estate surveyor and valuer to many companies and multi-nationals, like the then Cooperative Bank, First Bank, UTC (Nig) PLC and Innoson Group, among several other companies.”

On the question as to who benefitted from the other, Umeh’s aide stated:  “I also challenge Obienyem to list all the breweries, shopping malls and wine yards in South Africa that Obi owned before he became governor of Anambra State. Furthermore, he should publish his Asset Declaration Form, which he filled before he became governor and then declare his present assets, after leaving office, as required by law.”

Okeke said Obienyem’s allegation that Obi procured Umeh’s first International Passport in 2002, when the cost of a passport was N5, 000 and that Umeh had a fleet of about five cars at the time Obi met him shows how reckless former governor’s aide could be.

He said: “Obi also never bought a car for my boss, never. The V-Boot he mentioned, Umeh bought the same from Germany, through his brother, Jeff Onyemalu, in 2001 before Obi met Umeh and my boss even used the car to drive Obi around while introducing him to people. This shows the kind of lies Obienyem can dish out to the public, just to ridicule a self-made man.

“Let me also refer him to Ojukwu’s immortal words on my principal, in view of his frivolous claims about his Oga’s relationship with the late Igbo icon, which was published in The Sun Newspaper of Monday, October 27, 2014. Without subjecting this response to the sublime, Umeh saved Obi in the hands of Ojukwu at least five times, including when Ojukwu went to Awka out of anger with his wife, Bianca, in 2009, to declare Barr. Emeka Etiaba the next Anambra State governor come 2010. This was a clear erosion of confidence by Ojukwu in Obi at the time.

“His story on Obi’s impeachment does not deserve a response because Obi knows the truth, as he cried out to my boss to help him. My final word for Obienyem is to remind him that those who live in glass houses do not throw stones, as it has severe consequences.”