More details came to the fore at the weekend, why Governor Hope Uzodimma weilded the big stick, sacking 20 Commissioners, in his first major overhaul of his cabinet, 17 months after he was declared Governor by the Supreme Court.
Some of the Governor’s trusted allies, such as C.O.C Akaolisa, Lady Love Ineh, Fabian Ihekweme and Enyinnaya Onuegbu, were among those shockingly affected by the cabinet rejig.
This newspaper gathered that reports of “unholy romance” by some of the appointees with the opposition, murmurings and complaints, were some of the factors which made the
Governor to lose his cool.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said some of the Commissioners were complaining of “not seeing anything since they were appointed”
“Aside salaries and the brand new official vehicles, most of them had nothing to work with, and this led to murmurings and complains from some of them.
“I can tell you, there were no funds for most of them to work with, aside those whose Ministries were self sustaining.
“It was that bad, and they have continued to wait endlessly for things to change which was not forthcoming.
“The Governor had always pleaded with them for more time to enable him work for the people of the State, considering the circumstances that brought him to power, which put enormous pressure on him to prove to Imolites, that he has come to work.
“The Governor felt more indebted to the people and wants to deliver at all cost. And to achieve such feat, he had to cut down waste and cost.
“Some of them did not take the excuses lightly after waiting for a long period, as they had to contend with pressure from family, friends, loyalists, political allies and associates as public office holders.
The source continued “During the era of Rochas Okorocha and Hon.Emeka Ihedioha administrations, Commissioners and appointees had funds to work it aside their salaries.
“There were subventions and logistics to work with, but the case is completely different now. Such things are scarce in this administration.
“Only few, if any at all in this government were benefiting from the system
“As bad as Okorocha’s government was, his aides and Commissioners were to some extent happy. They really felt the benefits of being appointees of government.
“During the period of Ihedioha, they had the freedom and access and they had funds to work with
“But I can tell you for free that the reverse is the case in this dispensation. Some of them may have lost their patience and somehow the Governor got knowledge of it. And the latter was infuriated on the grounds that his appointees are earning more than their counterparts across the South East States.
“Weeks before he sacked the Commissioners, Uzodimma had said there were moles in his government, accusing some of them of being in government just to embezzle money” the source stated
Governor Uzodimma had come under criticisms for running “a tight fisted government”, which was a departure from his usual spend thrift before he became governor.
Media reports had quoted him saying that as Governor, he has the obligation to manage judiciously State funds because, such funds belong to the people and not to him.
