Abaribe: As deputy gov, I was targeted for refusing to bow to Orji Kalu’s mum

By Abdullateef Salau

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representative of Abia-South Senatorial District, has narrated how he survived three impeachment attempts as Deputy Governor of Abia State during the administration of Orji Uzor Kalu.

In his book entitled, “Made in Aba”, which will be launched in Abuja on March 1, 2021, Abaribe said he started having trouble with Orji Kalu when he failed to join the league of “Egusi” peelers that thronged his mother’s abode “for whatever reason”.

He said: “I lasted exactly three years and nine months in office, before I threw in the towel. The bumpy ride ended on 7th March, 2003, when I finally resigned and switched parties.

“The one tenure was characterised by three attempts at impeachment. The one thread that runs through them all is that government can make no error.

“Once the idea stuck in the head of the chief executive, person around him would leave no stone unturned to actualise the desired end.

“The first attempt at impeaching me died on the floor of the House of Assembly, roundly defeated for the baseless shenanigan that it was.

“The second attempt I survived by a hair’s breadth: by just one vote differential. The third, I did not bother to respond to.”

He said during his crisis with Orji Kalu, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, intervened separately, but nothing came out of it.

Both Orji and Abaribe are members of the 9th senate.  (Daily Trust)