The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Chime

  • Chime is hale, hearty, says official

    Chime is hale, hearty, says official

    •‘Governor on vacation’

    The Enugu State Government yesterday said the reported illness of Governor Sullivan Chime is false.

    It said the governor “is hale and hearty”.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwuoke, who spoke in Enugu, explained that Chime was not receiving treatment in a foreign hospital, as a national newspaper reported.

    According to him, the report is “cheap and mischievous” because the governor is on vacation, his first since he assumed office over five years ago.

    The commissioner explained that contrary to the claim that the governor’s last public appearance was on September 9, “Chime had actually presided over the State Executive Council (Exco) meeting on September 18, where he announced that he was proceeding on his annual leave. He handed over to his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, who is today the Acting Governor”.

    Ugwuoke said Chime also attended a meeting of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in Abuja on September 19 and travelled abroad the next day for his vacation.

    He added: “All these facts are verifiable.”

    The commissioner noted that it was uncharitable for the “same reporter to falsely claim that the Acting Governor was limited in the discharge of his responsibilities”.

    Ugwuoke wondered why a reporter would publish what he called outright falsehood about the governor’s health.

    He said: “We want to reaffirm that the Sullivan Iheanacho Chime administration will continue to promote freedom of expression while also maintaining its cherished reputation of civility and accommodation of all shades of opinion, including constructive criticisms from the media and other quarters.”

  • Proposed N13.6b secretariat: Opposition flays Chime

    Proposed N13.6b secretariat: Opposition flays Chime

     •I’m unperturbed, says governor 

     

    Opposition parties have condemned the plan by the Enugu State Government to build a new secretariat for N13.6 billion.

    Nine opposition parties, under the aegis of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), in a statement, frowned at the proposal.

    They said it was not necessary now.

    The parties have formed a coalition to present a common candidate to run against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 governorship election.

    The Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) is heading to court to stop the rebuilding of the secretariat.

    The party said: “We will not fold our arms and allow this government destroy the existing secretariat and bequeath a legacy of huge debt to the people of Enugu State.”

    Governor Sullivan Chime said he is unperturbed by the opposition’s attacks.

    In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Inter-Party Affairs, Mr. Chris Asadu, said those attacking the government have not given any substantial reason for their criticisms.

    Asadu, who is a CNPP chieftain, said only nine of the over 37 opposition parties were behind the attacks.

    He said those criticising the government were “merely exercising their right to freedom of expression to seek relevance, rather than pursuing any discernible cause”.

    Asadu said the governor should not be worried by the opposition’s “tantrums”.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Chukwudi Achife, said: “The credibility of the opposition’s criticism has been undermined by their claim in the media that they decided to attack Chime because he had become inaccessible after they supposedly helped him to win the 2011 election.”

    He said the governor is running an all-inclusive government, with some opposition figures occupying public positions in his administration.

    Achife said Chime has maintained a “broad-minded and non-partisan policy” in the implementation of his transformation agenda.

    He said: “We understand these attacks as a mere exercise of the freedom of expression, not that there is any real substance to them. These things happen now and then. Democracy permits it and, as such, the governor is not perturbed.

    “He will remain focused on the job he has been elected to do, which objective minds have acknowledged he has been doing excellently well”.

    Achife said the governor is willing to listen to constructive criticisms and suggestions that would improve the state.