By Ibiba DonPedro
Lagos - Despite the return to civilian democracy in 1999, Nigeria's political godfathers, men who accumulated huge wealth under the country's massively corrupt former military rulers, still wield extraordinary power behind the scenes.
The bizarre tale of Chris Ngige, the embattled governor of Anambra state, has confirmed the worst suspicions of a nation jaded by tales of corruption.
Ngige's tale, still unfolding, has also alarmed Nigeria by exposing just how fragile its civilian democracy remains.
| Ngige entered into a Faustian pact with Uba before the elections |
At the time of writing, Ngige was still clinging precariously to his office and his life, having survived an apparent assassination attempt - an abduction in which he was forced to read out a resignation speech - one or two court injunctions, the withdrawal of his official bodyguards and several political attacks, including an attempt to declare a state of emergency in the state to remove him.
His nemesis is Christian Uba, 37, a very wealthy businessman, and self-styled godfather of Anambra state.
Continues Below ↓
Uba was until recently an unknown figure in political and business circles in the country. Now he has been revealed as a highly influential figure with close connections in Nigerian politics that go all the way up to the presidency in Abuja.
He is believed to have singlehandedly financed the elections and ensured the victories of Chris Ngige and over two-thirds of the Anambra legislature in April last year - an election widely suspected to have been rigged.
His backing apparently came at a price. The elected politicians - especially the governor - were expected to make regular financial returns to enable their sponsor to recover his investments - plus profit margins that would elicit the envy of any banker. Ngige himself apparently entered into what can only be called a Faustian pact with Uba before the elections.
Ngige, a medical doctor, was made to swear secret oaths at the shrine of a witchdoctor that he would pay Uba three billion naira (about R13-million) from the state treasury after being elected.
He also reportedly swore to cede to Uba his official powers of appointment of political officers, including commissioners for the various ministries.
And he agreed to step down at a certain point, to be replaced as governor by his deputy, Kingsley Udeh, an acolyte of Uba. This is now being regarded as perhaps just a slightly colourful variation on standard political practice.
Where Ngige departed dangerously from precedent was that he reneged on the pact. Since then he has endured an extraordinary campaign to get rid of him.
The battles in the campaign include:
Barely three months after the election, on July 10 last year, a team of policemen led by an assistant inspector-general of police acting with "orders from above" removed Ngige from his official residence in the state capital. Uba had filed a suit with Nigeria's federal high court, getting an injunction suspending Ngige from office on the grounds that he had signed a letter of resignation.
The Anambra state house of assembly announced that the governor had tendered his resignation and swiftly swore in his deputy, Kingsley Udeh, as governor.
But just hours later, Ngige emerged, screaming that he was still governor and informed the shocked nation that he had been abducted;
Later he was forced at gunpoint into a hotel toilet and forced to read out a resignation speech before a video camera.
He was stripped of his official bodyguards on January 2 - despite being the state's chief security officer, constitutionally. He now gets by with a private security company.
Some weeks after the failed attempts to remove him politically, Ngige's convoy was driven off the road in the state capital Awka in an apparent assassination attempt.
Recently Uche Chukwumerije, a senator from Anambra in the Igbo-speaking southeast of the country, raised the alarm by claiming that Arthur Nzeribe, a controversial and influential Igbo politician, was secretly lobbying other senators to pass a motion declaring a state of emergency to end Ngige's 10-month old tenure in the state.
Nzeribe did not deny the charges, saying that a state of emergency was the best option for resolving the Anambra crisis.
But according to reports the senators had been offered bribes of 500 000 naira (about R23 000) each to back the state of emergency move.
Ngige now lives in fear of his life and is apparently in hiding to avoid being forcibly removed from office by police again, on grounds of court injunctions that he believes have been obtained illicitly. He has good reason to fear for his life as political assassinations are becoming common in Nigeria.
On February 7, Aminasoari Dikibo, the vice-chairperson of the South-South zone of the ruling People's Democratic Party - and a good friend of Ngige - was killed by unidentified gunmen along Asaba Road in Delta state.
Several other politicians, including the former attorney-general and the justice minister, Bola Ige, and Marshall Harry, a leading figure of the opposition All Nigeria People' s Party, were before that killed in mysterious circumstances that have yet to be unravelled. - Foreign Service
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
