Another lunatic in Government House?

Governor T. A. Orji at Ekeneshi shrine?



Another lunatic in Government House?

Theodore Orji sat with rapt attention. He smiled from time to time. Clearly, he was the man of the moment. Fresh off the hook of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which accused him of being the conduit through which Abia State had been defrauded in the last eight years, he basked in the euphoria of the day. When Orji Kalu, the then governor of the state whom he served as chief of staff, mounted the rostrum and tried to defuse some misgivings that the new governor would not be his own man, Orji could not but laugh.

In no time, Orji was called to come and take the oath of office as the governor of Abia State, some minutes after Chris Akoma, his deputy, had taken his. The day was May 29, 2007. He swore to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and that his loyalty would be to no one but Nigeria. His inaugural speech left those present with the impression that the messiah was here. And to cap it all, he asked God to help him.

Unknown to many at the inauguration, however, their new governor had, five months earlier, specifically in January, sold his soul to the devil, all in a bid to be governor. He agreed to a fetish oath instigated by Kalu, the state’s immediate past governor and his political godfather. Facts at the disposal of the magazine indicate that Orji was taken to Eketenshi Shrine at Igbere, Kalu’s village, located in Bende Local Government area of the state, and made to swear to an oath of allegiance. Sheepishly, he sold Abia State and its people to Kalu, who told the audience tongue-in-cheek, while handing over to Orji, that “I have no control of the state henceforth. I hand you over and leave you to your conscience.”

That was months after Benedict Meregini, the chief priest of the shrine and chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, in Abia State, and Chris Osuagwu, who was Kalu’s commissioner for public utilities from 2004 to 2007, ensured that Orji, clad in only his underpants, observed the oath-taking to the letter. Meregini, a former staff of Tabs Assurance Limited, gave Orji some concoction to drink. It is believed that if Orji should betray his former boss, he would die. Amazingly, Orji was bound hand and feet while going through the rituals. The chains, according to people who understand the implications, symbolised subjugation of the new governor to the direct control of the Kalu dynasty.

Osuagwu, who was also the chairman of Reality Organisation Worldwide, an organisation run by Eunice Kalu, aka Mother Excellency, Kalu’s mother, did all within his power to see to it that in the event that Orji, a 1977 graduate of the University of Ibadan, goes against the kernel of the oath, there would be evidence to make him toe the line. So, Osuagwu ensured Orji’s session at the shrine was video-recorded and, at a point, when the new Abia governor appeared to be hiding his face, Osuagwu walked up to the platform to raise his head. Indeed, the plan is that, should Orji want to assert himself in power, and fail to resign at the appropriate time as has been earlier agreed upon, his undated resignation letter and the other details of his sordid ritual undertakings would be made public. That, in the reckoning of former Governor Kalu and Mother Excellency, would thoroughly embarrass and disgrace him out of office.

What's with this Orji name? Remember the name Clifford Orji? All flipping lunatics!