Hate him or like him, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, will never change his style of governance. His seemingly well known philosophy of “I must do what I think is right for the state and not what will make the people clap for me” appeasrs to be very loud, and many indigenes of the state take such posture for granted.
Those who know him very well said that he also applies this philosophy in the way he appoints his aides and how he threats them. For six solid years, Obi retained the same set of people as members of the state executive council, even when their appointments did not meet the expectations of most citizens of the state. Shortly after he was sworn-in in 2006, Obi picked his commissioners from tertiary institutions around the state. Not a few people complained that most of the commissioners have very little or no experience at all in politics. Of course, Obi himself was largely considered then as a rookie in politics.
The consensus was that as a greenhorn, the governor needed tested and attested politicians as commissioners. These are those who are capable of translating government policies and programmes into concrete reality. But Obi refused to budge. He said that he was on a mission to salvage the state, and therefore, only core professionals should man ministries if the aim must be realised.
Recently, like a bolt from the blues, Obi ordered his commissioners of over six years to prepare their handover notes. For many, that was a welcome development, as many people had hitherto stridently canvassed for the dissolution of the state executive council, and the appointment of people with fresh ideas and perspectives to steer the ship of state.
The proponents for change believe that most of the commissioners had become too big for their ministries, and beyond that, they saw their offices as their birthright, and practically did nothing to improve the state. The clamour for change had come at intervals, but Obi paid deaf ears to them, only to ask the commissioners to prepare their handover notes when he deemed fit. As soon as the news spread, the governor’s media aides denied any move by their boss to sack the commissioners. In fact, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, senior special assistant to the governor on media and publicity, was reported to have said that what the governor requested from the commissioners not a handover note but an update of activities in their respective ministries. The commissioners, therefore, stayed on as if nothing happened, but after two weeks, it became obvious that they were on their way out.
LEADERSHIP gathered at the week end that the state executive council had been dissolved. But there was neither a radio announcement nor press statement to that effect. The secrecy that surrounded the dissolution of the state executive council left many thinking what the government might be up to. Of course, some people adduced reasons for the governor’s mode of disbanding his cabinet. For instance, when the rumour of the dissolution broke out, some people said the governor was merely flying a kite, since most of the commissioners were very close to him, and could threaten his political career, if they were sent packing. Therefore, they said he had to come by way of making his plan to sack them appear like a rumour, so he could gauge their reactions.
However, some other people said that since the rumour started making the rounds at a time when Chief Victor Umeh, national chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, went public on the reasons behind his soured relationship with the governor, the rumoured dissolution was targeted at getting Umeh to resolve his differences with the governor since he couldn’t afford to lose his loyalists in government.
But the governor picked holes in all the deductions. He claimed that he adopted the covert style for the good of the state. He insisted that he couldn’t have woken up one morning to send the commissioners packing with immediate effect as it is usually the case in Nigeria. Not a few said that if he had made his intention to sack the commissioners some of them might have pressured him to drop the idea.
“They have become my friends, and I have to treat them well as they are leaving.” True to his words, Obi treated the commissioners well before they finally left office, they were paid severance allowance in full, and given enough time to tie up loose ends.
Though it is still not clear if a list of commissioner nominees have been sent to the state House of Assembly, tongues have started wagging already about the people that may make the list. One thing is sure, with Obi’s unpredictability, he may either choose members of his new cabinet from party faithful as a sort of compensation to those who helped in his re-election bid, or he may again go to the universities to choose professionals who will help him consolidate on his achievements over the years.
For now, it is no longer a rumour that the state executive council has been dissolved. But what is not certain is whether some of the former commissioners would return, or whether as usual, the governor whose tenure will end in 2014, will pick his new crop of commissioners from the ivory tower.
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