Gov Chime Talks to Vanguard: 'I'm Alive, Will be Back' !!!


I'm alive, will be back – Chime, Enugu gov
On January 23, 2013
VANGUARD


By EMMANUEL AZIKEN, CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & TONY EDIKE
LAGOS — FOR the first time since he left the country 135 days ago, Governor
Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, yesterday, opened up on his condition, saying he
is in good health and will soon return to the country.

The governor spoke exclusively to Vanguard while receiving three governors, who
visited him in London, United Kingdom where he is recovering after an illness.

Enugu State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime flanked by some members of the
Governor's forum; Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue state, Governor Godswill
Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state (left) and Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State in
London, Tuesday.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers
State; Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Gabriel Suswam
of Benue State who constituted the delegation, separately attested to Chime's
state of well being in telephone interviews with Vanguard. They said Chime was,
yesterday, moving about, eating and in good health.

The visit of the governors followed unprecedented speculations on the state of
Chime's health.

I'm very great— Chime

Governor Chime's declaration came as the Speaker of the Enugu State House of
Assembly, Eugene Odo, rejected a call by prominent citizens of the state under
the aegis of Save Enugu Group (SEG) for the House to invoke the Doctrine of
Necessity to enthrone the deputy governor of the state, Sunday Onyebuchi as
acting governor.

Speaking to Vanguard, yesterday, Chime said: "I am alive and well, I will be
back very, very soon."

Asked how he felt, the governor in a very strong, cheerful voice said: "I am
great, very, very great. Tell Nigerians to discountenance all the rumours about
my health."

Chime is in good shape – Amaechi

Speaking on Chime's health, Amaechi said: "We saw him in an atmosphere of
recovery. We were able to go out with him, he is in good shape and is getting
ready to come back home very soon. We thank God for what He has done, how He has
helped him to recover."

He has recovered fully – Suswam

Also speaking, Suswam said: "Chime has been discharged from the hospital. He
has recovered fully and is physically okay. I was impressed with what I saw. We
walked around together, ate together and he is going about on his own."

We must desist from wishing our leaders evil – Akpabio

Also speaking on their encounter with Chime, Akpabio said: "He has recovered
tremendously, I am very happy and I give glory to God. This our visit to him and
the fact that he was able to speak with Vanguard has put paid to all the
rumours. Nigerians should learn how to pray for their leaders instead of ganging
up through NGOs and groups and wishing them evil. We are all human beings. As
humans, we can break down anytime which means we should be sympathetic with our
leaders when they face challenges whether health wise or security wise. We
should pray for them instead of wishing them bad."

Speaker berates Chime's critics

Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odo, yesterday, faulted the
position of the Save Enugu Group (SEG) on Governor Sullivan Chime's prolonged
absence from the state, saying the lawmakers did not in any way violate the
Nigerian constitution in their handling of the issue.

Odo, who spoke on the floor of the House at the resumption of debates on the
state's 2013 budget proposal, said by not invoking the Doctrine of Necessity to
dislodge Chime on account of his leave, the House had not done anything wrong to
warrant any attack as witnessed in the recent past.

The Chief Maxi Okwu-led SEG had in a letter to the Speaker on Monday asked the
lawmakers to use the Doctrine of Necessity to empower the acting governor of
Enugu state, Sunday Onyebuchi, citing the case of late President Umaru Musa
Yar'Adua.

Gov's absence is in order – Odo

Countering, Odo said: "We believe that those demanding that do not actually
know what the Doctrine of Necessity is all about. Perhaps, people equate
Doctrine of Necessity with a mere jamboree phenomenon."

Insisting that Governor Chime's absence was in order and should not be compared
with that of late President Yar'Adua, the Speaker restated that the governor
transmitted a letter to the House before travelling, and "in the letter he
empowered his deputy as the acting governor.

"And under the 1999 Constitution, section 190, whenever a governor is travelling
and he intends to stay for more than 21 days, he should transmit a letter to the
House of Assembly, in which case the deputy governor now becomes the acting
governor, which Sullivan Chime had done.

"It beats my imagination when some people started to say that the House of
Assembly should empower the deputy governor to act. Under our constitution, the
power to act has been vested on the deputy governor and the constitution does
not provide for double acting capacity as some people are clamouring for."

Odo explained that the Doctrine of Necessity was applied by the National
Assembly in the case of late President Yar'Adua when the president traveled
without handing over to the vice president.

He also dismissed the request that certain individuals be empowered to to go and
see how the governor was faring overseas.

"That is a mere moral issue. The constitution of Nigeria in Section 189 made it
specifically clear that even when the governor is not feeling fine, the only
statutory body that can generate a resolution to the House of Assembly is the
State Executive Council and even in the House of Assembly, the Speaker has a
duty to nominate five medical practitioners including the governor's doctor for
that purpose. In other words, those listed by the group did not meet the
constitutional requirements; none of them is a medical practitioner," he argued.

The SEG had in its letter to the speaker dated January 21, 2013, demanded an
explanation regarding the letter purportedly sent to the lawmakers notifying
them of his intention to embark on leave in September last year, stressing that
the said letter, if any, ought to have been made public since it was not meant
for the speaker's private perusal.

"We demand to know from you if the said letter was tabled and read at an open
session of the House? If so, may we be obliged with or referred to a copy of the
Hansard where this is reflected. We are also interested to know the ground on
which the Governor was departing. Was it for a `vacation' or the second arm
which is `for inability to discharge the functions of his office'? It cannot be
for both we humbly submit, as we believe that the `or' makes the clause
disjunctive and with different consequences.

"We would wish to inquire from you, if you did write formally to the Deputy
Governor intimating him of the said letter and attaching a copy of the letter to
enable him immediately begin to function as Acting Governor? This would be the
prescribed procedure since we have been advised by constitutional lawyers that a
swearing in is not mandatory in this particular circumstance.

"Mr. Speaker Sir, our worry here is that there is more to it than meets the eye
in the `acting governorship' of Mr. Onyebuchi. We believe that without a formal
communication from your office to him, no one in his shoes can take over a state
administration on mere hearsay," the SEG stated in the letter to the speaker
signed by its Convener, Okwu.

How the controversies started

On September 19, 2012, exactly 135 days ago, Governor Chime travelled out of the
country after transmitting a letter to the House of Assembly that he was
proceeding on leave and handing over the reins of authority to his deputy,
Onyebuchi.

The governor's failure to return to office after six weeks sparked controversy,
leading to speculations of ill-health and varied allegations of incapacity.
Enugu Commissioner for Information Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, however, repeatedly
asserted that due process was followed by the governor in proceeding on what he
described as "accumulated vacation."

Wasn't this the same way Muslim imams and some pastors supposedly met with and prayed for Yaradua
Didn't he play ball with his grandchildren on aso field
A cousin told us how he drank Lipton tea and played ludo with Yaradua and Yaradua shouted siky one
Biko Show me a live dated clip with him saying happy 2013
If alive he ought to resign and take care of himself.He mustn't be the governor or die trying
If he truly loves Enugu state the desire for good governance and continuity should supersede what he is currently putting the state through.
Greedy and selfish people

Mr Speaker is technically right on his assertion and his defence of the state house of assembly.

The constitution is indeed silent on how long an acting elected public officer should be absent before his deputy can be sworn in.

In a country like Nigeria, it means a Governor can win elections and after a few weeks, hand over to his deputy in order to go for vacation and return in 4 years time to present himself for another election.

Danbaba Suntai's case is a dead end with no body raising any alarm and Liyel Imoke's is assuming similar dimension.

They are only exploiting the loop holes in a flawed constitution handed over to us by the military, for their personal gain.

The painful part of it is that, they have as collaborators, people (house of assembly members) who are ordinarily meant to fight against and defend the interest of the common man!

So the governor has been sick contrary to the 'Accumulated leave' claim by his handlers. At least the statements of the visiting governors have comfirmed it

Goodnews to the people of Enugu state.

like president umaru yar adua was also saying amen when bishop oyedepo and co were praying when the clerics visited him when he was sick in aso rock. http://allafrica.com/stories/201004060146.html?maneref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fm%3Fq%3Dbishop%2Boyedapo%2Bvisited%2Byaradua%26client%3Dms-opera-mini%26channel%3Dnew&mstac=0

But they told us he went for vacation to spend his accumulated leave.

Another group said he went to the US to attend some Ndigbo cultural association owambe

^ But Sawawa Reporters told us he was critically ill in a London Heart hospital only a few days ago abi?. Now I know where they stole their face saving picture from. Everybody follow dey blow lie!

wesley8: ^ But Sawawa Reporters told us he was critically ill in a London Heart hospital only a few days ago abi?. Now I know where they stole their face saving picture from. Everybody follow dey blow lie!

Are you not ashamed of yourself?
135 days?
It can only happen in iboland

Bet some people wish they had a tunde bakare now

wesley8: ^ But Sawawa Reporters told us he was critically ill in a London Heart hospital only a few days ago abi?. Now I know where they stole their face saving picture from. Everybody follow dey blow lie!

So whats the lie in what they told us?

Didnt the govt source tell us he went for his accumulated vacation?

Obviously we know who is telling the truth

It makes no difference to me if it happened in Iboland or Kukuanaland. My own na say Sawawa Reporters were caught in the act once again.

babyosisi: Wasn't this the same way Muslim imams and some pastors supposedly met with and prayed for Yaradua
Didn't he play ball with his grandchildren on aso field
A cousin told us how he drank Lipton tea and played ludo with Yaradua and Yaradua shouted siky one
Biko Show me a live dated clip with him saying happy 2013
If alive he ought to resign and take care of himself.He mustn't be the governor or die trying
If he truly loves Enugu state the desire for good governance and continuity should supersede what he is currently putting the state through.
Greedy and selfish people

A picture they said speaks a thousand words, how about a moving piture(video), I guess it speaks 100 times more!

He abandon is people , to receive a 1st klass treatment, since he knows dat he did absolutely rubbish wit d government hospital. GOD WILL FIRE ALL THE BAD LEADER

Sullivan, u shall not die, but live to see ur children's children! Iseeeeeee!