Sources in Enugu Government House disclosed to Sunday Independent at the weekend thatChime left the country on Thursday shortly after the decoration of his Aide De Camp (ADC), Arthur Amobi who was recently elevated by the Nigerian Police from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). Chime decorated his ADC, assisted by the new Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr. Tonye Ebitubituwa.
It was gathered that he left the state for a trip abroad immediately after the decoration ceremony.
Our sources disclosed that it was as a result of the governor’s absence that the Secretary to the State Government, Amechi Okolo received a high powered delegation of Senate Committee investigating the Ezu River floating corpses, on Thursday.
One of the senators on the delegation said that they were told the governor was yet to fully resume work while his Deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi was away from the state.
Efforts to ascertain the latest movement of the governor yielded no fruits at press time as state government officials contacted declined to make comments, even on condition of anonymity.
It could be recalled that Chime was away from the country for four months under controversial circumstances, from mid-September 2012 to first week of February 2013 when he returned to Enugu state.
During the period of his absence, the media were awash with all kinds of speculations about his ill health, causing serious anxiety in the state.
Shortly after his return to the country in early February, Chime opened up on his controversial vacation abroad, saying he stayed about four months and half in London receiving treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer, popularly known as cancer of the nose. He said his medical sojourn to London was very successful as there was no longer a trace of cancer in him.
Describing the barrage of negative media reports on his prolonged absence as “unfortunate”, Chime explained that he decided to speak, may be to clear the air, in the interest of the people because he noticed that that generated a lot of interest, and also attempt to address some of the issues that he felt should be addressed in the sense that some bothered on constitutionality, and others on morality.
Chime revealed that he was diagnosed of the disease sometime between late August and early September last year when he veered off from a trip ofthe Governors Forum to Germany for his medicals in London.
The Enugu first citizen said when he came back to Nigeria within the two weeks, he quickly made arrangements for transition and wrote a letter to the Speaker in accordance with the constitution,to inform him of his decision to proceed on leave and of course sought his cooperation to work with the deputy governor who will Act as governor in his absence.
According to him, within the two weeks, two executive council meetings were held, with the last being held on Tuesday, the week he left, after which he informed his executive council members that he was proceeding on long vacation, because by that time, hedidn’t know how long it would take to treat him and for him to recover from the treatment.
Chime maintained that the information he gave members of his executive council was that he was embarking on long vacation and that they should cooperate with the Acting Governor and thenext day (Wednesday), he left for Abuja where he attended the meeting of the Governors Forum that night.
He, however, said what became worrisome during his absence was the deliberate and sustained attempt to undermine the government of Enugu State whereas for his administration, his absence was an opportunity for them to test the system they have been trying to put in place over the years, knowing that there was no existing system in place when he assumed office as governor as there was none left behind by the previous administration.
He maintained that it was nobody’s business what he chooses to do with his leave, stressing that he was aware of a particular governor in the North who ruled his state from overseas. He said it was his choice to go for the cancer treatment during that period as itwas the only window left for him in the remaining two years he has to stay in power.
“You know we have local government election later this year and I have to be around to help organise things. Also, by next year, we start talking about the primaries and nominations for the general election in 2015. I knew that if I don’t go for the treatment now, I may not have the time to do so again. This is the only window that I have,” Chime said.
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