Insults on Ikpeazu: Call your aides to order, Ufomba tells Otti

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti

Ochiagha Reagan Ufomba has described as worrisome, the continued insults from the aides of Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, towards his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu.

The Isiala-Ngwa-born politician urged Otti to call his aides to order over the continued insults on Ikpeazu, describing it as unwarranted, unprovoked, and undeserving.

Ufomba said this in a letter addressed to Otti and titled, ‘RE: Need to Uphold the Sanctity of Abia State Order of Precedence: Dr Okezie Ikpeazu on my mind’.

He said he was constrained to write Otti the letter at “this critical moment in Abia’s political trajectory because a few moments ago, they met in the political trenches, working for and against each other, but with the overall interest of our dear state in mind.”

Ufomba stated that he addressed the letter to the governor out of courtesy and as a foremost banker, averse to risks and knowledgeable in the negative consequences of both contingent and vicarious liabilities, and how the unfolding scenarios might impact on his administration.

He noted that he was concerned about the abuse of office, abuse of protocols, abuse of due process, abuse of the rule of law, abuse of persons, and erosion of attributes.

He added that social media has become a market square where Abia young men and women buy and sell, gather for information, entertainment, and inspiration, consuming whatever is sold hook, and believing same to be true, coming from supposedly high moral grounds.

Ufomba said regrettably, some of the items and pieces of “(mis)information and ill-trainings and acculturations” the youths in Abia State assimilate from those who should know better are poisonous and retrogressive.

He said: “It is for these reasons that I am using this medium to also purge us of those negative vices and influences at the exact scene of crime. In the words of our elders sacrificial rituals are best performed at the scene of abomination.

“I, therefore, most candidly seek your kind understanding and indulgences for using the social media platform to address these matters of urgent public importance.

“We had had cause in the past to discuss the fortunes of our dear God’s own state. Frankly, I was convinced that one area in which you will do well as Governor is in the area of Corporate governance and financial engineering, all things being equal.

“This is judging by your background as a foremost banker. I do not share in the rumour mill that you are autocratic and dictatorial. We are all sinners in this autocratic sin to the extent that every good leader must have his pepperish side and a mind of his own.

“Having a mind of our own is the only way we can point the torch, show the way, and remain on top of all issues. I am thankful to God that the election has come and gone, without the loss of precious lives, even as the outcome is being challenged at the Election Petition Tribunal. I wish the winner the best.”

Ufomba said that the best position can only be attained through the sustenance of existing peace in Abia State “through meticulous, through innovations, and through ingenious reasoning and acts that lead to the transformation of our state under the rule of law and due process.”

He warned that the best position cannot be attained in breaches, or outside of an existing State Order of Precedences established under the 1999 Constitution.

Ufomba, therefore, enjoined Otti to call his aides to order, adding that under no condition should Abia State be seen to be aiding and abetting insubordination.

The Star