Bloody lies; Abia State Government

Reacting to media reports in the past one week that Dr Kalu’s statement to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indicted him, Governor Orji, through a press statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ukoha Kalu, accused the newspapers which published the report of fabricating falsehood. He said that the former governor could not have made such statement.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Abia State Government, particularly that of the Governor, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji has been drawn to several media reports with particular reference to the one carried in the Vanguard, Friday, July 27, 2007, where it promoted as riders to the lead story: “Alamieyeseigha convicted, Nnamani charged” that Kalu “fingers Governor Orji in N2.6bn fraud.”

“It is very doubtful whether such a statement at all would have been made by the former governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu. What the authors of the statement want to achieve is to create confusion within the circles of the former governor and the incumbent.
To set the records straight, the incumbent governor of Abia State, Chief Orji was indeed the Chief of Staff during the time the former governor, Dr Uzor Kalu was in office. The office of the Chief of Staff (COS) is by no means the equivalent of the office of the Accountant General of the state or the Ministry of Finance.

The schedule of the COS office is clearly spelt out and does not include the general disbursement of monies accruable to the state. Money that the office of the COS disburses is approved and the mode of disbursement is contained in the former COS statement with the EFCC, a statement that the former COS stands by today and tomorrow.

The government states that the report is calculatedly false and mendacious and is seen to have been written to breed suspicion and disaffection between the affected parties. The Government condemns the alarming resort to falsification of reports, especially when they are credited to people who can easily be reached to get confirmation or otherwise of such reports. The government respects the rule of law and will not bring itself to comment on an issue that is already in court.”

You really must speak for yourself, Mr Governor. Reading between the lines, it is actually Uzor that you have called a liar and no-one else. You have simply said that if it is true that anyone (Uzor inclusive) said such stuff, they are bloody liars. Having declared that you stand by your confessionals to EFCC, today and tomorrow, it becomes clear that your concerns are not for newspaper commentaries but to send a clear message to Uzor that you are not about to be his fall guy this time around... once bitten, twice shy, I may add.