An All Progressive Congress chieftain from the southeast, Chief Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu, has mocked Governor David Umahi, over the widely-reported promotion of civil servants in Ebonyi State.
Umahi had on Monday, ordered for immediate payment of pension to all retirees in the state.
The Governor equally approved the release of promotion of civil servants for the year 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Umahi made this known through a statement signed and made available to journalists by the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Orji Uchenna Orji shortly after the state executive council meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi capital.
But berating the governor on his recent action, which contained in a statement forwarded to AFRIPOST on Thursday, Jideofo-Ogbuagu, who recently declared his interest for the position of President of Nigeria, regretted that Umahi carried out the purported promotion in order to curry sympathy from the masses over the recent order of a high court which recently sacked him as governor on the ground of Defection from the People’s Democratic Party to the governing All Progressive Congress (APC).
He regretted that,” Umahi knew what to do to alleviate power and empower his people, had the opportunity and money to do so, buy did not do it over the years.”
Jideofo-Ogbuagu queried, “was he going to owe the civil servants and withhold their promotion forever without that Federal High Court, Abuja ruling that was unfavorable to him?
According to the presidential aspirant, “his gracious (arrogant choice of words) for his civil servants can only now be seen as self serving, selfish, opportunistic, even unfortunate and callous.”
The Southeast Party Stalwart, who also recalled how the governor had at a recent outing claimed there was no money in coffers of the state to tackle backlog of salaries, regretted that Umahi has resorted to sponsorship of mega streets protest in respinse to his recent sack by high court for unlawful defection from the former ruling party in Nigeria to the governing APC.
His words: “A man who had claimed that he did not have any money to give to anyone suddenly found billions of naira to spend on sponsorship of mega street protests and to give to his long impoverished civil servants-just to try and save his own neck, after making tens of thousands of Ebonyi people and his other victims suffer in poverty for years.
“People must beware of Karma-unseen punisher of deliberate injustice. It is real”, he submitted.
AFRIPOST recalls that federal High Court in Abuja had sacked Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, and his Deputy, Kelechi Igwe, and declared their defection unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void and ordered them to immediately vacate their offices.
Justice Ekwo held that the votes that brought them to office belonged to the PDP and cannot hold on to the votes having elected to jettison the party that nominated them.
The judge also held that the votes cast for PDP in the March 9, 2019 governorship election are not transferrable to the APC that failed in the election.