Former Governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, has alleged that his removal from office in 2006 was largely due to his refusal to appoint prominent political figure Chris Uba as his deputy governor.
Ngige, who also served as Minister of Labour and Employment under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, maintained that he remains a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), although he is currently on sabbatical from active party politics.
In an interview in Abuja, Ngige said he had no regrets about his ousting from office, describing it as part of a divine plan. “I know those who were removing me. They showed their hands. They gave me conditions, and I said I won’t do them,” Ngige said.
He recalled a meeting facilitated by the late Senator Ibrahim Mantu, who allegedly delivered the conditions on behalf of the political powerbrokers.
“Mantu came to me and told me the things I was supposed to do. He said somebody sent him. I said, ‘Tell the person I would not do it.’ He came back and said, ‘Let us go and see the person.’ And the person told me the major condition would be that I should make Chris Uba my deputy governor.”
Ngige said he rejected the demand for two key reasons.
“First, if I made him deputy governor, he would have immunity and could walk into my office and shoot me. If he shot me, nothing would happen. Stories would be told that my orderly did it by accident. Second, the people of Anambra would revolt against me. That’s the even more important reason because the Anambra people have seen all those people and they didn’t hide themselves. They came and burnt down the state.
“They burnt down the House of Assembly, burned down the governor’s office, burned down the Anambra Broadcasting Service, burned down the Anambra Education Commission headquarters, and so many things. And the people did not hide themselves.
“They even made a broadcast on AIT and said that I should not enter the state again, that they have taken over. So I said that these people who said they are taking over and burnt the place are not the people who should come and govern you. I said no. You can take my seat. No problem. God is in charge.”
Ngige, a devout Catholic, said he believes strongly in predestination and accepted his removal as the will of God.
“I’m happy with all that transpired because that is how God willed it. When I was removed from government, somebody came to me crying, saying if it were him, he would commit suicide. I told him, ‘I can go and get a rope for you.’ Because this is what God wants,” he said.
He explained that he chose not to challenge the court ruling that removed him in order to avoid further unrest in the state.
“I wasn’t born a governor. I was born Nwabueze Ngige, son of a carpenter, my father was a foreman of works at PWD,” he said.
Ngige also addressed his decision to employ individuals perceived as “bad boys” during his tenure as governor, noting that it was a deliberate move to tackle insecurity using local resources.
“To secure your place is money, and that is why the originators of budgets did what they call security votes. But many governors and Chief Executive of states and even their deputy think that Security money is pocket money, no.
“I’ll give you a typical example. I took a bill to Anambra State House of Assembly in 2003 as I come for vigilante services in every community, AVS bill, they passed it because before them, me and them have had a brawl over kidnapping me and not kidnapping me and resigning and not resigning but we became friends. We bond together now, we eat together. We eat dinner together two times a month, and we discuss everything about the state. So they passed it.
“So each community in Anambra State then we told them to go and give us men, as a matter of fact, give us those who are bad boys, write out the names of the bad boys separately, and then write out the names of those you want us to employ.
“They wrote them, so we gave employment to all of them and brought the bad boys and said, look, you people are bad boys, look at the list, any false movement, you are dead, but you owe us a duty to show us other bad boys, even those who have committed crime here and run out of the state.
“And they complied, and we paid them handsome amount of money, 30,000 Naira in 2003, 2004, 2005. That 30,000 Naira is the equivalent of about three million now. We paid, we gave them food two times a day. We provided them busses. We provided them recharge card money, so the people were ready to defend their state.
“In fact, when my police were withdrawn, they made their security available for me they did. They secured their state. Sometimes they go on operation to Aba (Abia State) to hotel and we go and catch people who have committed one offense in Anambra before. That is what security fund is all about. But many governors don’t spend security votes. It’s pocket money for them, it’s money for buying property.”
