A statement issued by Mr. Chike Onwe, the state commissioner for information, at the end of the state executive council meeting held in Abakaliki, the state capital, said Dr. Okorie was relieved of his duties following his failure to adhere to the governor’s instructions on the best approach to keeping the state, particularly Abakaliki neat.
And following the sack, Okorie was ordered to hand-over all government documents and property in his possession to the permanent secretary in the ministry. He was said to have received the news of his sack with uncommon calmness.
Not a few residents of Abakaliki received the news of the commissioner’s disengagement from governor Elechi’s cabinet with shock and disbelief. Mr. Jonathan Madu, a trader in one of the city’s major markets, described Okorie as diligent, humble and accessible. In fact, he said Okorie was one of the best commissioners the state had had since its creation 17 years ago.
The consensus on the streets of Abakaliki is that the city would one more witness the return of heaps of refuse following the following the sack of the commissioner. “He did his best to keep Abakaliki and the rest of the state clean for the short period he worked as commissioner for environment”, said one resident.
He continued: “Dr. Okorie is not one of those commissioners who use their positions to amass wealth, but he is committed to adding value to life without counting what personal gains come his way”.
There is palpable fear that the expected return of refuse heaps in the city and several parts of the state, would inevitably lead to the outbreak of epidemic and attendant loss of lives.
Nevertheless, questions are being asked as to how governor Elechi arrived at the conclusion that Okorie was incompetent in the discharge of his official duties given the widespread public acclaim of his performance? LEADERSHIP gathered that the tag of incompetence on the ex-commissioner is akin to “giving a dog a bad name in other to hang it”.
According to a source close to Government House, Abakaliki, Okorie is a victim of the struggle for the control of political power in the state in 2015, when a new governor will be elected to succeed the incumbent governor.
The state executive council is said to be sharply divided into two factions, with Chief Celestine Nwali, commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters, heading one faction, while Elder Fred Udogu, commissioner for grants and donor agencies, heads the other faction.
The two groups are at daggers drawn – and the bone of contention is: Which group produces the next governor of the state. While Okorie is said to belong to the group led by Nwali, the deputy governor Chief Dave Umahi, is a member of Udogu group.
Both Umahi and Okorie are allegedly aspiring to emerge as the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state for the 2015 general elections. The party has ruled the state since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in 1999.
Also, both Umahi and Okorie, hail from Ohaozara local government area, in Ebonyi South Senatorial District. And while Umahi comes from the less populated Uburu clan, Okorie hails from the relatively largely populated Okposi clan, which also has more electoral wards than Uburu. The configuration of forces on the ground show that Okposi clan would produce more delegates to the party’s governorship primaries, and the expectation is that they would vote for Okorie, who commands enormous respect and popularity among his people.
That’s not all. Okorie is also said to be highly respected and admired across the length and breadth of the state, against the backdrop of his leadership qualities and his knack to excel in every responsibility given to him. The implication is that most delegates from other local government areas would prefer him to the deputy governor to succeed governor Elechi.
It was gathered that the Udogu group launched a campaign of calumny against Okorie to whittle down his influence in the administration and by extension, his popularity rating in the state. The group was said to have ended up influencing Governor Elechi to sack Okorie from his cabinet.
The game plan is to demonize Okorie to the extent that the party in the state, and indeed at the national level, would consider him unfit to run for any elective position in the state.
But the Udogu group seems to have proverbially scorched the snake, without killing it. It would definitely rise up to pose a serious challenge to its adversary. Some political analysts in the state have not ruled out the possibility of Okorie joining the newly registered All Progressives Congress, APC, to do battle with Umahi, or any other candidate of the PDP during the 2015 general elections.
And even if Okorie decides to swim and sink with the PDP, Umahi has another hurdle to cross to gain the support of his kinsmen in his quest to become the next governor of the state.
Umahi and Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, former national chairman of the dissolved All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, and currently leader of APC in Ebonyi state, hail from the same Uburu clan. Dr. Onu’s popularity in Uburu as well Ohaozara local government area is legendary.
It follows therefore that with the presence of Onu in that locality, the PDP may not be favourably disposed to surrendering its gubernatorial ticket to Umahi, whom political watchers in the state say may be incapable of winning his ward, and indeed his local government area for the party.
The exit of Okorie from governor Elechi’s cabinet may likely lead to a flux in the administration as commissioners loyal to the Nwali group may become intensely hostile to the governor.
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