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Accusations have arisen from the Abia State government, suggesting that a priest affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of Aba is taking aim at them due to the rejection of three requests made to Governor Alex Otti.
Ferdinand Ekeoma, acting as Otti’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, made this assertion on Saturday as a reaction to the recent communique issued by the Aba Diocese of the Anglican Church during the 3rd Session of its 17th Synod.
In response to a communique issued by the Aba Diocese of the Anglican Church during the 3rd Session of its 17th Synod, Ferdinand Ekeoma, who holds the position of Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Otti, voiced this allegation on Saturday.
Signed by Rt. Rev. Christian Ugwuzo, Bishop of Aba Diocese, and Venerable Innocent Ogbonna, the Clerical Synod Secretary, the communique requested the reinstatement of the terminated staff, despite noting objections to their ‘eleventh-hour’ employment by the past administration.
Moreover, the communique strongly recommended that the state government take immediate action by declaring a state of emergency on several dilapidated roads in Aba, notably Port Harcourt road, Ohanku road, and Obohia road.
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Ekeoma, Otti’s media adviser, pushed back against the communique, contending that certain segments of the message were deliberately constructed to mislead the public.
He contended that a signatory to the communique was driven by personal motives, as Otti had not excluded the priest’s daughter from the list of recently removed civil servants. Additionally, it was mentioned that the priest had previously brought two other proposals to the governor, all of which were rejected prior to the Synod.
The statement partly read, ‘The said signatory had made a request to the Governor to exclude and allow his daughter who was a beneficiary of the March 2023 fake employment carried out by the previous government, after it had lost election, to remain in the civil service.’
‘However, the governor turned down the request on the grounds that it will be unjust to exclude or recall one person out of the several people affected.’
‘The same signatory had also made two other futile requests to the Governor which included; to endorse and confirm a factional Chairman of NULGE in Abia against the will of majority of the union executives and members, and also to support the imposition of a certain traditional ruler as Chairman traditional rulers council.’
‘The governor turned down these requests because they were unhealthy and self serving..’
‘Having rightly expressed their opposition to that unjustifiable last minute employment sham, we are therefore surprised that the Anglican Synod turned around to disagree with the Alex Otti led-government over its decision to invalidate that act of deceit that was obviously a booby trap for the Otti government. This contradiction leaves many questions unanswered
The statement also underlined the Otti-led government’s dedication to establishing legitimate employment avenues for Abia residents in the future, following a comprehensive reform of the state’s civil service. It emphatically stated that Otti had not dismissed any worker who had been genuinely employed.
Ekeoma, in his statement, said that Otti’s administration has a positive and cooperative bond with the Anglican Church.
