Governor Sullivan Chime, who has
been missing from Enugu State since September 2012 when he applied accumulated
leave that ought to have lasted only one and a half months, is battling heart
disease in London's Cromwell Hospital, sources have told SaharaReporters.
Despite efforts to ferry him home to quell public restlessness in the State,
the condition of the governor, whose medical sojourn started in India, has
remained dire.
The prolonged absence of the
Governor has left the state under the complete control of his Chief of Staff,
Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo. Deputy Governor Sunday Onyebuchi, who is a neophyte, is
limited to monetary spending limit of not more than N500,000k at a time. Before
becoming governor, Mr. Chime was Enugu state's Attorney General in the government
of now-indicted former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani. During Chimaroke's reign in
the state and for eight years, several assassinations, including that of Victor
Nwankwo, the business manager of the vocal activist Arthur Nwankwo, helped to
chill public dissent.
Following the disappearance from
public view of Governor Chime in 2012, several assassinations have also been
experienced in the state. Emeka Agwu, a man described as vocal and fearless,
was assassinated in December 2012. He hailed from Udi, the same local
government area as the governor. Other assassinations, including those of Ogbo
Edoda and Ikeckucku Alagwu, a coordinator of MDG projects in two LGAs, have
sent fear throughout the state and chilled notable voices. So far, there are no
investigations into those murders. Enugu indigenes are fearful about what lies
ahead for the State, and many prominent church leaders who hail from the same
area as the governor have gone silent.
The state assembly is also in the
pockets of the governor. A few days ago, a pro-democracy association of Enugu
State citizens which calls itself the Save Enugu Group, called on Acting
Governor Onyebuchi to make a "categorical explanation" on the
condition and whereabouts of Governor Chime. The Acting Governor has yet to respond.
Sahara Reporters
