An alleged bid by former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji to grab a juicy ministerial position in the incoming Federal Executive Council (FEC) has been scuttled by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State.
It was reliably gathered that Nnaji who belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), last Saturday met with the local chapter of APC at his Umuode country home in Nkanu East local government area of the State and later met with youth leaders of the party at the same venue on Sunday.
The two meetings were said to have been packaged by a faction which felt that the national leadership frowns at their mismanagement of campaign funds, to soften the ground for Nnaji to appear at the State Secretariat of APC in Enugu to announce his entrance into the party during the State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting on Monday.
Nnaji did not show up at the SEC meeting as widely expected, but when the issue of his defection came up, most members of the party raised serious objection to it, calling him all manner of unprintable names and regrettably dubbing him an opportunist who wants to reap where he did not sow.
The vice chairman of the APC Enugu East Zone, where Professor Nnaji comes from, Chief Anike Nwoga said: “Professor Nnaji is not serious; the Presidential Campaign Council Enugu State dispatched Mr. Osita Okechukwu, our leader, to lobby him to cross over or even support General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB). He said no; that GMB cannot win.
“At that time it was only Chief Onyemuche Nnamani who was funding the presidential campaign team, we were broke. For good three times Okechukwu was in his village, at one time he assembled people like Professor Obiora Ike who were there when Nnaji denounced GMB. He is an opportunist and food is ready politician, I am disappointed” Nwoga said.
The APC chieftain further reprimanded one of the failed APC House of Assembly Aspirants, Mr. Hyacinth Ngwu for leading those who went to Nnaji’s country home on a purported membership drive, saying that nobody gave them the mandate to do so.
“The National Chairman of our party, His Excellency, John Oyegun told PDP members to stay and form a strong opposition in their party. And the president-elect also told PDP members that they should stay behind in their party to build strong opposition.
“We were in opposition before we took over. As I am talking to you, I have been in opposition for 16 good years. 16 years I was in opposition. From APP to ANPP, I was National Youth Leader of ANPP and from ANPP to CPC as former State Chairmanof CPC. And now, I am Vice Chairman of APC Enugu State. I6 good years I was in opposition. “Why cannot these people stay in their party? Today, again, they raised up matter of paying courtesy visit to Jim Nwobodo. Jim Nwobodo is a prominent son of this state and this country. He was a Governor of old Anambra State when I was Youth Leader of NPP in that Second Republic. He was a Senator of Federal Republic. He is not a member of APC. Why should APC members pay him a courtesy call? We have won election as the party in power in the centre. What will he do for us now? We don’t need them” Nwoga said.
Another chieftain of APC, Humphrey Aniago, said he was totally flabbergasted that Professor Nnaji, who did not trust any of them to represent him in the bidding for Enugu Electric Distribution Company and Afam Power Station, wants to represent them again.
“God forbid! None of us, his kinsmen was qualified to become a millionaire is only Professor and his wife?” Aniago said.
However, when contacted by our correspondent on phone, Nnaji said he still remains in PDP. “I receive everybody in my house. I receive PDP. I receive APC. Yes, I received APC people in my home, but that doesn’t mean I want to defect to the party. I still remain in PDP” Nnaji said.
It could be recalled that Professor Nnaji, erstwhile minister of power, resigned on 29th August, 2012 in controversial circumstance, hovering on breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, which states that, ‘A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.
It was reported then that President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have been very disappointed that his power minister, who should have known better, had gone ahead to bid for Enugu Distribution Company, despite the Code of Ethics of the privatisation process which bars staff of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and members of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) from buying shares in companies being privatised.
“The president had made up his mind by this morning, so if Nnaji had not resigned, he would have been sacked,” explained sources in the presidency.
‘Participation by two companies linked to Nnaji in the power privatisation process had compelled the NCP to cancel the technical bid evaluation process conducted for Afam and Enugu Disco last week.’
When the National Council on Privatization was informed of Nnaji’s direct and indirect interest in two companies being privatized, the council decided to cancel the technical evaluation that had been conducted for Afam and disbanded the evaluation team.
Professor Nnaji at the time said the NCP’s decision to re-evaluate the bids submitted by potential investors for Afam and Enugu Discos was necessary considering that justice should not only be done but also seen to have been done by all and sundry.