Kalu’s Burden, Gov Orji’s Again   

Published on September 6, 2010 by TheNEWS   ·   2 Comments

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State makes his much waited move to the Peoples Democratic  Party while his former boss Orji Kalu faces an uncertain political future

On 28 August, Umuahia, capital of Abia State, hosted the nation’s biggest political event  for that week. The venue was the Umuahia Township Stadium, which hosted the much expected  defection of Governor Theodore Orji to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The governor had  earlier defected from the Progressive People’s Alliance, PPA, to the All Progressives Grand  Alliance, APGA, from where he completed his round trip to the PDP.

At every corner of the stadium were campaign posters of Governor Orji and President Goodluck  Jonathan, announcing their intention to contest the 2011 elections. One of the posters  screamed: Orji Can’t Stop Orji, an allusion to the presumed incapability of former governor  Orji Uzor Kalu to stop his successor’s re-election bid.

Governor Orji’s supporters could not resist taking digs at Kalu. Joe Mgbeh, a member of the  Abia State House of Assebly, remarked that the parting of ways between Governor Orji and his  erstwhile godfather, Kalu, is good for the people of Abia. Mgbeh said it was Kalu’s  overbearing influence on the governor that was responsible for the lack of development in  the state.

“The Executive Governor of Abia State, like Moses in the Bible who was brought up as  Pharaoh’s prince, forsook all the luxury and comfort of Egyptian kingship and told ‘Pharaoh’  that PPA is dominated by people of insatiable appetite of their own only, not the interest  of the people. That called for ‘Let My People Go’. At first, he led them near Jordan–APGA.  But the people must go to the promised land, where His Excellency said is full of milk and  honey, where he will bring prosperity to the entire Abians. Above all, where the dividend of  democracy will be assured–PDP,”  Mgbeh said.

The turnout at the stadium appeared to suggest that Kalu, who announced that he was  returning to the PDP from the PPA he founded, is the underdog in the contest between the  governor and his former godfather.

In attendance were President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience. Also there were Vice  President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State;  Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State and Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State.

Others were Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, PDP National Chairman; Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, his  predecessor; Chief Emeka Nwogu, Minister of Labour and Productivity; Chief Ojo Maduekwe,  former Foreign Affairs Minister; Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, PDP governorship candidate in the  last election; Senators Ike Nwachukwu, Nkechi Nworgu, Uche Chukwumerije, Eyinnaya Abaribe  and members of the state House of Assembly.

One after the other, they mounted the stage to congratulate Orji and praise the PDP.  According to Nwodo,  the PDP has finally found its missing rib. “This is a historic occasion  that will usher in good governance in the state. What we are seeing here today can be done  by God alone,” he said, while presenting the flag of the party to Governor Orji.

President Jonathan, who was the last speaker, hailed Orji’s defection, but added that the  move would not have been possible without the cooperation Ugochukwu. “Let me specially thank  Chief Onyema Ugochukwu for making this event possible, because he was the one that contested  election with the governor and there are so many litigations in court over the election.  Without him dropping the suits, all we are witnessing today would not have been possible,”  the President said.

This magazine gathered that it was the presence of Ugochukwu at the stadium that led to the  conclusion that Kalu has totally lost his political grip on the state.

The movement of the 24 members of the state House of Assembly from the PPA to PDP, also  hints at the political emasculation of Kalu, who was rejected by the PDP in his ward. The  former governor is suspected to be working for the emergence of the former military  president, General Ibrahim Babaginda, as the PDP presidential candidate.

So, how did Kalu, a one-time political heavyweight, lose his steam? Analysts reasoned that  Kalu lost it when he started working to prevent Orji from vying for a second term and  plotting to replace him with Mascot, his younger brother. Kalu, said sources, treated Orji  and Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State like serfs. Ohakim was the first to break free,  returning to the PDP from where he had joined Kalu’s PPA. With Ohakim gone, Kalu  concentrated on Orji, whom he was said to have ferociously squeezed with the assistance of  his mother, Chief Eunice Kalu. Orji and his mother regularly demanded money from Orji and  cornered juicy contracts. This forced Senator Chukwumerije to describe the state as a public  liability company, with Orji and his mother as the only shareholders.

When Orji realised that despite his acquiescence to Kalu’s numerous demands, the former  governor was still bent on preventing him from seeking re-election, he defected to APGA,  along with over 90 per cent of his followers who were all Kalu’s former loyalists. His move  to APGA helped erase the notion that he had sworn an oath of allegiance to Kalu and also  delighted Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chairman, APGA Board of Trustees. But, no sooner than  Orji joined APGA than the PDP began to court him.

In the calculation of the PDP, taking Abia State is a good prelude to capturing Anambra  State. By the time this is successfully achieved, the PDP and, by extension, President  Jonathan would have been assured of a bloc vote in the South-East.  Patience, wife of the  President, was mandated to strike a deal with Ojukwu for the release of Orji. Even though  Orji gave conditions for his return to the party, including allegedly telling the party not  to admit Kalu, it was gathered that Patience, whose grandmother hails from the same town as  Orji, successfully negotiated Orji’s return to the PDP. She reportedly made numerous sorties  to the state to get the job done.

Ugochukwu’s decision to make peace with the Abia governor and his promise to back him for a  second term in office shocked many. It is believed that Obasanjo’s closeness to Ugochukwu  played a part in getting Ugochukwu to opt for a “negotiated settlement’’ with Gov. Orji. It  was learnt that President Jonathan has assured Ugochukwu of a big post-2011 role should the  PDP retain its control of the centre.

Another thing that surprised many pundits was the decision of some elements in the rival All  Peoples Grand Alliance, APGA, Ojukwu’s party, to work for Governor Orji. TheNEWS gathered  that this was made possible by the PDP leadership’s visit to Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, just  weeks after the Governor defected to Ojukwu’s party, where Ojukwu was urged to release his  new catch to them. In return for their support, Orji will concede some key posts to APGA in  his government.

This state of affairs makes it look like Abia is already a one-party state and the huge  crowd that attended Governor Theodore Orji’s grand return to the PDP must have sowed doubts  in the hearts of even the most loyal and confident of Orji Kalu’s supporters.

As it stands, Kalu is said to have put his political fate in the hands of Babangida. Those  close to him swear that should Babangida lose the PDP presidential ticket, he is likely to  crossover to another party to contest the presidency. “If this happens, Kalu may move along  with Babangida,” one of them said.

Yet, Kalu’s headache extends beyond the political turf. On the home front, the former  governor is struggling to exculpate himself from the death of Ms. Chinwe Masi Ogbonna. The  death of the 47-year-old lady, thought to be Kalu’s mistress, in his residence in Potomac,  USA, has generated a lot of accusations and counter accusations.

It has already been alleged without proof that Chinwe died by diabolical means. Those who  reason along this line claimed that a former governor had in the past died at Kalu’s  residence after vomiting blood. But Kalu’s statement to the Montgomery County Police  suggested that the late Chinwe was in his residence to deliver bottles of perfume he forgot  at a shopping mall, where she worked.

A particular report has it that Kalu met Chinwe at Montgomery County Mall in June, where he  went to shop. He was said to have forgotten two bottles of perfume at the store, and when he  returned, Chinwe called to say she wanted to bring the bottles of perfume. But Chinwe’s  family members have since faulted the story. They claimed that the perfume story is not  true.

“When Chinwe met the former governor at the shopping mall, they exchanged numbers and agreed  to meet in Nigeria, but they could not connect when Chinwe visited Nigeria. But when Chinwe  came back to the US, Kalu called her and fixed an appointment for Thursday, 19 August. The  ex-governor said the deceased should come in the evening as he was fasting. She even told us  that the former governor gave her $300. It’s not true that he forgot any cologne at the  store,” a family member said.

The family members added that it was also not true that there were five people present in  Kalu’s house when the incident occurred. They claimed that Kalu was alone when Chinwe  arrived at his residence around 8.30 p.m. But Kalu’s lieutenants deny the allegations.  According to them, when Chinwe got to the house, she was offered a drink. “We asked her to  join us as we were drinking red wine. She said no, she would prefer soda or Guinness. She  took the Guinness and after about 15 minutes, she started shouting ‘my chest, my chest’. She  started vomiting blood, and as the ambulance called by the ex-governor arrived to take her  to the hospital, she gave up the ghost,” one of them said.

But Chinwe’s family members countered that she was not a consumer of alcohol. Chinwe, who  was resident in Hyattsville, Maryland, USA, was pronounced dead at about 8.48 p.m., on the  same day, 18 minutes after getting to Kalu’s residence. Kalu has, however, condoled with  Chinwe’s family members. In his condolence message titled I’m in deep shock, Kalu maintained  that Chinwe died of heart attack and that it was the first time he would see a corpse at a  close range.

In addition to the mysterious death, Kalu is also said to be yoked with the failing health  of his mother and wife, Dr. Ifeoma Kalu.

—George Opara/Umahia

Tags:  All Progressives Grand Alliance, Governor Theodore Orji, Peoples Democratic Party, Umuahia Township Stadium