‘Don’t Link Me With Police Case In Abuja’ — Abia Speaker Warns Gov Ikpeazu’s Ex-Chief Of Staff

Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, Speaker of the Abia House of Assembly, has warned the former Chief of Staff to the Abia State Governor, ACB Agbazuere, to desist from making image-denting accusations against him for “selfish purposes”.

Orji claimed that Agbazuere has formed the habit of linking him to matters that do not concern him in order to create a negative impression about him or damage his reputation.

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Orji, who is the 11th Abia State Speaker and son of a former governor of the state, Theodore Orji, was reacting to a video in circulation on social media where Agbazuere accused him of intervening in a police case involving Ginger Onwusibe, the Labour Party candidate for the Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala South Federal Constituency, but failing to do same about the arrest of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in the state, Tony Otuonye, by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Otunoye, who is the Director-General of the Abia State Signage and Advertising Agency (ABSAA), was recently arrested by the DSS after he allegedly threatened to kill anyone who stands in the way of PDP’s victory in Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections in the state.

Reacting, Agbazure, who contested in the recent Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala South Federal Constituency election, claimed that Orji made a similar threat on the life of Abia State governor but was not investigated by the police.

ACB-Agbazuere
ACB Agbazuere

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“Somebody in this state threatened the life of a governor and the police in Abuja kept playing politics with it. The Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, which never happened when his own father was governor, went to Abuja and played pranks with the police.

“At the end of the day, somebody who threatened the life of the governor was just treated as if nothing happened. Up till today, the police have not done anything. Even if Tony Otuonye has said funny things, those things were mere intentions,” he said, vowing to stand as Otuonye’s lawyer in court.

The Abia Speaker in his response said he would no longer tolerate Agbazuere using his name for “selfish” purposes.

“For the records, this is the second time the said Agbazuere has attempted to desperately seek the attention of the Speaker by blackmailing and dragging him into matters that he is not involved in.

“It has therefore become pertinent to state that the Speaker does not owe the said ACB Agbazuere any explanation as regards the role(s) he might have played during his father’s reign as the Governor of Abia State or as the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly.

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“This release serves as a stern warning to Mr Agbazuere that the Speaker will no longer tolerate the indiscriminate use of his name to achieve selfish purposes,” Orji added.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the video, Agbazuere vowed to challenge the outcome of the Isiala Ngwa North/Isiala South Federal Constituency election which INEC declared was won by the Labour Party candidate, Ginger Onwusibe.

“It is however regrettable and I’m constrained to place on record that the elections were manifestly characterized by compromises on the part of the commission and others,” Agbazuere said, pointing out that there were cases of snatching of Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, disenfranchisement of the majority of the voters, mutilation of results, over voting, intimidation and violence during the poll.

“INEC could not timeously distribute election materials and materials arrived at some polling units at about 2 pm and INEC ad-hoc staff left by 4 pm thereby disenfranchising many people who were present and thus couldn’t vote when accreditation was supposed to have started by 8:30 am,” he alleged.

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