The Enugu state governor Sullivan Chime, yesterday, September 25, 2014 blasted the indigenes of the state in the National Assembly for ignoring the Enugu state rally earlier declared for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan saying they were mere sycophants.
He made this known at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium which spilled with a crowd yesterdaay during the rally.
However, the Enugu Rescue Group, (ERG), described the rally as damage control from the backlash of the non-support and participation in the Transformation Ambassadors Nigeria ( TAN), South East rally in Awka, Anambra State, by those behind the rally.
Among all the indigenes of the state at the National Assembly, only Senator Ayogu Eze, representing Enugu-North senatorial district that honoured the occasion with his presence.
According to a Vanguard report, while blasting other National Assembly members who were not present, Governor Chime said: “Any person that is not present in this rally cannot be said to be supporting President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Enugu is intact as one party and will vote 100 per cent for Jonathan as is evidenced in our block vote in 2011. The President should save the time of coming to Enugu for campaigns because Enugu has decided unequivocally to vote for him.
“I got a call from the Minister of Foreign affairs, Mrs. Vola Onwuleri, this morning telling me that the Federal Government has signed a bilateral agreement with the government of Turkey which will see Turkish airlines operating five flights weekly in and out of Akanu-Ibiam Airport, Emene, Enugu.”
Vice President Arc. Namadi Sambo represented President Goodluck at the rally, he extended the deep appreciation of the President. He said the team spirit of the governor Chime and citizens of Enugu State has shown on the administration is unquantifiable.
A part of his statement stated: “I agree with all the speakers here that, indeed, we do not need to campaign in Enugu State; we shall simply come to say ‘ thank you’ for your support.”
However, the ERG, has criticized the Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State on the statement, dstating that the PDP members who were not at the Enugu rally were simply opponents of the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan’s.
The publicity secretary of the ERG, Comrade Martin Okenwa, said: “Governor Chime’s comment is an irony because from the turbulent days of the struggle for the emergence of President Jonathan as the acting President to the successful efforts spearheaded by TAN to have the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, adopt Mr. President as its sole candidate, both Enugu State government and the governor are renowned for their opposition and hide-and-seek games.
“Not only was Sullivan Chime the only South East PDP governor who refused to collect the TAN registers to mobilise signatures in support of the President, it is a public knowledge that the governor took the entire State Executive Council and all the local government council chairmen to a birthday party in Umuahia on the day of the rally attended by all the other PDP South East governors’’.
Therefore, he regarded the Enugu state rally as a late measure of damage control and a vain effort on the part of the governor to join the Jonathan 2015 re-election because of the adoption as the sole presidential candidate from the People’s Democratic Party.
