02 December, 2012

Chime’s Prolonged Absence Grounds Enugu


The machinery of government in Enugu State is gradually grounding to a halt, following the prolonged absence of the State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, who has been away from the state for over 10 weeks now.
Chime had duly handed over power to his Deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, as Acting Governor and equally transmitted a letter to that effect, to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, before he left the state on September 19 for a six weeks vacation abroad. The governor’s vacation has however entered the tenth week with no trace of him or explanation by the State Government, while rumours continue to spread in the state everyday about his very poor state of health.
His prolonged absence is now taking its toll on the state with the machinery of government gradually grounding to a halt.
For the past six weeks, the Acting Governor has been unable to convene the weekly State Executive Council meetings (EXCO), where decisions on key state issues are usually taken.
A source in Enugu Government House who pleaded anonymity said it has become obvious now that the Acting Governor was only empowered by the Governor to perform ceremonial functions and not executive functions.
“You cannot find any difference between Onyebuchi as Deputy Governor and Onyebuchi as Acting Governor. When he was Deputy Governor, he was only representing the Governor in public functions, and Acting Governor today, he only does the same. For the past six weeks, the EXCO he has been unable to convene the EXCO, where decisions and monetary approvals are made. So, how has the state been operating? I think the hands of the Acting Governor are tied,” our source said.
Another insider source who pleaded anonymity said many of the commissioners can no longer run their offices as they were being owed arrears of overhead.
It was gathered that outside the offices of the Accountant General, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Secretary to State Government and Government House, no ministry has received overhead for about nine months.
Similarly, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in Enugu State have not received their state allowances for about six months now since the state government increased the allowance of each Corps member from N4000 to N10, 000.
Reacting to our report, Commissioner for Information, Chuks Ugwoke said it was not true that ministries were owed arrears of their overhead for nine months.
“It is not true. I have been receiving my own overheard and there is no issue of one ministry receiving and the other ministry not receiving. This is a uniform thing. You can find out from other commissioners,” Ugwoke said.
The commissioner also denied that Corps members were being owed in arrears, saying it was not the true picture. He however pointed out that there has been an astronomical increase in the number of Corps members posted to Enugu State, following the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northern states.
Meanwhile, an Enugu based legal expert, Professor Race Achara has allayed fears over a possible constitutional crisis over Governor Chime’s absence, saying the intention behind constitutional provision for an Acting Governor takes care of what we have in place today in Enugu.
Achara who is a Professor of Law at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus told Sunday Independent that “what we have now does not seem to me to be equivalent to the problem we had during the experience of President Umaru Yar’Adua.
“At the current time, we have somebody who is announced in the press as Acting Governor. From day one when Governor Sullivan Chime left, apparently on vacation, we had a Deputy taking over and being announced as the Acting Governor. That suggests to me that the provisions of Section 190 of the Constitution had been complied with. Those provisions say that once the Governor intends to be out for some time, that he is duty bound to write a letter to the Speaker, conveying his intention to be out. And once that letter gets to the Speaker, the House does not need to give any special resolution,” Achara said.
Source: Daily Independent

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