In this interview with Benjamin Ifeanyi Apugo popularly known as Okadigbo, issues concerning the visit of Rt. Hon. Engr. Chinedum Orji to Senate Minority Leader, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and the rising tension was discussed. THIS IS A MUST READ:

 

Can you tell us your name?

 

My name is Comrade Benjamin Ifeanyi Apugo,  AKA Okadigbo

 

Can you tell us why you are a comrade?

 

Well, i will say i am a comrade because i always stand by the truth and peace , no matter who is involved, i rather loose anything than not say the truth,that is what everyone know me for, that is also why i am called okadigbo.

 

Recently the speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Engr Chinedum Orji paid a visit to former governor of Abia state, now Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and is as if he has come under attack from some quarters,what do you think about the visit?

 

Well i think the visit is a welcome development and we encourage him to make more of such visit at home. The bible says blessed are the peace makers for they shall see God, so the visit is a good one, those attacking him for such visit are only chasing shadows,they are those who want to reap where they did not sow,they are enemies of peace, and such people will be disgraced completely.

 

To be specific ,he was criticized for calling the former governor to come and take over his rightful position as a leader in Abia and that has not gone down well for some leaders in PDP?

 

Well to be sincere i must tell you i understand the angle some of them are coming from, but where they got it all wrong is that some of them didn’t try to find out from the speaker if he truly made that speech and even  if he did,was it exactly the way it was quoted?

 

Off course Sen. Orji kalu is a leader in Abia and Nigeria at large, a big one at that, so if the speaker had called him what is wrong with it? Asking him to come and take his rightful place in Abia could mean inviting him to join the PDP, and off course what is wrong with the speaker inviting him to join his party? And if the senator obliges him the request,would the senator not take his rightful place in the party?

 

Off course he will definitely do. What happened is that some of the PDP leaders who knows that if Senator Kalu rejoins the party that they will definitely be relegated to the background are afraid and not happy,so thats why they are attacking the speaker.

 

Recently, a message credited to the Deputy Governor Chief of Staff emerged ,Sir Don Ubani asking the speaker to resign for making such a visit?

 

(Laughs) Don ubani has always been known as a controversial person,those who know him can never take his utterances serious, you were here when he exploded on the governor,criticizing some of the governors staffs ,accusing them of enriching themselves ,also he wrote about been denied entry to a banquet in the government house,is that a person you take serious? Please lets talk something else.

 

Ok,lets talk about your family, it seems you belong to different political parties, your father is an APC board of trustees member ,your brother is also a candidate in the last election for Ikwuano Umuahia Federal Constituency in APC, another of your brother is in PDP, one was former general manager,and another presently in the Abia state House of Assembly,how do you manage this relationship while been in different political parties?

 

Well,sincerely it has not been easy at all, i wish we never saw ourselves in this predicament, but unfortunately we are here already and God is helping us, politics they say is a game of interest ,and i believe everyone of them have their own present interest,and trying hard to protect it.

 

In all this, where do you belong? 

 

Well as you are aware i supported my brother in the last election for ikwuano umuahia federal constituency, not because of his political party,but because of him as a person,he is a very good man,so i couldn’t have forgiven myself ever in this life if i didn’t support and work for him,i was very visible in his campaign.I also worked and supported Senator T A orji ,in most of the places and  polling units i went to ,i was begging people to vote for my brother and and Ochendo, i saw it as an opportunity for the Ibeku kingdom to have two federal representative at the national assembly ,it would have been more of a plus to us than a minus,but it didn’t go that way, i got one and lost one,obviously thats how God wants it.

 

What about the second election,did you support your brother who is in the state house of assembly?

 

Well i didn’t work against him.

 

Does that mean you supported him?

 

Well if you didn’t work against someone what does it mean?could i have voted against him? That will mean what our people call Erim na Ofor,so if you voted for someone it means you supported the person ,though i was no where ever in his campaign trail in 2019, but i was in all his  campaign train in 2015,including that of  IKUKU,the present speaker.i think i was his only brother who was visible in his campaign train in 2015.

 

There are rumours of a cold war between him and his Boss ,what do you make of that?

 

Which of his boss?

 

His boss in the house of assembly ,the speaker Engr Chinedum Orji?

 

Hahahaha, how can you say that, is it possible for someone to fight the fingers that fed him?

 

well like you said is still a rumor and so many people feed fat with this type of rumor,just to brew disaffection between parties.My brother cant try such,if he ever thinks of it,that will be the end of his political career, some of us will come out openly to challenge him , why because we know how  he succeeded,the ochendo family made him a house member,in 2003,2007,2011 he tried but failed all through,until he came to the ochendo family, in fact they ochendo and family  had to drop their own relation  Emma Nwabuko who was better favoured at that time to pick my brother, so he cant think of fighting those who went that far for him.Even in 2019 too, so many people where against him, but the ochendo family and IKUKU especially also stood by him,so what on earth  will make him challenge or fight IKUKU, i dont think he will do that, if he does,it will be to his own peril,because he has just few years to leave the house ,so what will become of him after he have left?

 

My brother used to tell us that any one of us who ever thinks of fighting ochendo and family is an ingrate,so how can he now become an ingrate? I dont think he will do that, but only time will tel, and we will be here also to say more deep things.

 

Wow, this is a big one you just said?

 

Yes my brother, sometimes we have to say these things, the world need to hear some things sometimes, and i think i personally  am ready to unleash those things,but we will wait to know and find out  if the governor is behind any of such or not, and then we will explode further.

 

What do you mean by “if the governor is behind it”?

 

Well yes,because sometimes you see that many of the people fighting ikuku are close allies of the governor, so sometimes you get confused, so the best thing you do is keep your fingers crossed and watch as events unfold.

 

What will you say about the governor Dr Okezie Ikpeazu and his development strides in abia?

 

Well i was praying you wont ask me anything relating to the governor, though we have seen the things he is doing in Aba City , and also seen the Ubakala-Aba road in Umuahia he is doing,which is almost completed, but we in umuhia,especially Ibeku wont stop asking for more, we want him to please do more for us, we are Oliver twist,and are permanent partners in the scheme of things ,because the capital and government house is in our land, we want the few traffic lights repaired and back on,we plead with him, and we know he will listen, because there is still time.

 

Recently the governor contracted covid-19,but soon after he was said to have tested negative,what do you say about that?

 

Of course everyone was afraid, because of the political uncertainty that would have occurred if anything had happened to the governor, so we are happy to see a video of him playing fit and playing tennis, so we wish him more quick recovery so as to quickly return to his duty and give abians more,especially those in umuahia more.

 

What do you say about the palliatives shared by the government to people during this pandemic?

 

Well i am not in government, but i saw some been distributed to churches, of course it wont get to everyone,  i also saw the ones shared  by Ocehndo , Ikuku and  Ik Apugo,like wise some few others, i thank them alot for such a wonderful gesture,and may God replenish them.

 

 

To Be Contined In The Next Edition .