A viral video of comments of former President of the Nigerian Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani, at the reception of Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, held recently at a community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, continues to generate mixed reactions.
In the article below captioned: “Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, The Reception By Awkunanaw Clan And Matters Arising”, apparently in response to a previous piece authored by Reuben Onyishi, written by one KGB Kessington (who claims he is an Nkanu Diaspora Professor) in rebutting the said piece, disagrees with Senator Nnamani who claimed in the video that he caused EFCC to convert the former federal permanent secretary to a witness in the matter they investigated several years ago.
Read excerpts below:
“We have watched the reactions from the camps of some cowards, keypad tigers and social media rodents, merchants of malice, sponsored by disgruntled political neophytes, scared stiff by the rising political profile of Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, as they make puerile efforts to make a mountain out of a molehill. They are twisting the innocuous statement of Distinguished Senator Ken Nnamani on Saturday, 14/08/21, at Akpasha, Akegbe Ugwu, Nkanu West Local Government Area, Enugu state, venue of the reception organised by the Awkunanaw Welfare Association, the umbrella development Union of 21 autonomous communities of Awkunanaw clan in Nkanu West and Enugu South Local Government Areas of Enugu state. On the said day, thousands of Awkunanaw people, suported by Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa’s friends from different parts of the country, including the peace loving governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as special guest of honour, gathered and made it loud and clear that honour or praise is a debt we owe to the virtues of others, and is due to our own from all whom malice has not made mute, or envy struck dumb. They honoured Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, and bestowed on him the chieftaincy title, “Osukwu Odalije, Emere Madu, Emere Maa,” in recognition of his iconic philanthropy to his kinsmen and several other people outside their clan.
“Soeaking on that occasion Senator Ken Nnamani, former President of the Senate, narrated to his kinsmen how he intervened to stop the harassment of his fellow kinsman, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa by EFCC, advising the EFCC to dig deeper in its investigation instead of hounding an ordinary civil servant whose offense is mere execution of the directives given by those on whose table the buck stopped. EFCC heeded the advice and let Senator Ken Nnamani’s kinsman off the hook after a thorough investigation, a probe that lasted several months within which Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was unlawfully detained and removed from office as the Accountant General of Enugu State to allow for unfettered investigations.
“Upon completion of investigation and after a harrowing 3 months of incarceration, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was freed by EFCC with no condition attached. He was found to have committed no crime. Between him and EFCC, there was no plea bargain as to warrant him becoming a prosecution witness; he was, therefore, not made a witness to or against any of the other accused persons in the matter as there was no basis for that.This is what Senator Ken Nnamani, with all due respect, got wrong, probably by a slip of thought when he wrongly claimed that Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was made a witness.
“It is noteworthy that immediately Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was freed by EFCC, the government of His
Excellency, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani in 2007 appointed him the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Enugu State, an appointment, the minimal Constitutional requirement of which (section192 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended) is security clearance from DSS and EFCC, and an appearance before the State House of Assembly for screening, approval and confirmation. Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa got a clean bill on the security reports from all the security agencies prior to the House of Assembly screening as nothing criminal was pending against him. He appeared before the House of Assembly which screened and deemed him a fit and proper person to serve as Commissioner in the government of His Excellency, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. His nomination was confirmed. The pertinent questions remain, at what point was he then a witness against the government of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani or anybody else in that government? Was he a witness against the government in a matter pending in the court at the instance of EFCC and Governor Chimaroke Nnamani went ahead to appoint him the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture in the same government? Can anybody produce any evidence of his court appearances or statement to EFCC portraying him as a prosecution witness? The pendency of the case against those indicted by EFCC in this matter has lasted several years and at no point or adjournment has Sir Chinyeaka ever appeared as a witness. The court records are there.The thought/allegation, bereft of any shred of evidence, that Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was a witness in the EFCC case against Dr Chimaroke Nnamani or anybody in that government is replete with patent illogicalities, and those bandying about the falsehood that Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa has a case to answer with EFCC are numbskulls.
“The granite fact is, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was not, neither would he have been, nor would he ever be a witness against a government that elevated him to the enviable position of Accountant General of Enugu State.
“Hear what he said in his written tribute to Senator
Dr Chimaroke Nnamani on the occasion of the said reception, “I cannot finish this appreciation without expressing my eternal gratitude to His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Dr Chimaroke Nnamani, who appointed me the Accountant General of Enugu State in 1999 at a time I least expected such a favour from the almighty God. Distinguished Senator Dr Chimaroke Nnamani, the progenitor of the Ebeano political family remains one of the few revolutionary intellectuals that bestrode the Nigeria political space since the inception of the present political dispensation”.
“At the end of the regime of Dr Chimaroke Nnamani in 2007, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa transfered his service to the federal Civil Service where he rose to become Director of Finance and Accounts in several ministries, including the ministries of Labour, Transport, Water Resources and Defense. In 2015, the government of President Mohammadu Buhari appointed him to the position of a federal Permanent Secretary, deploying him, first, to Ministry of Sports and Youth Development and, later, to the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, HOSF. Again, he was deployed to the Federal Capital Territory Authority, FCTA. He, finally, retired as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power on 4th February, 2021.
“It is trite that, with the tentacles of President Buhari’s anti graft agencies spread across all the MDAs, thorough background checks through high wire security investigations, resulting in objective security reports/clearance, preceded all the federal appointments made by President Mohammadu Buhari, including the post of Permanent Secretary, which Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa by the grace of God, hard work and dedication, got in the course of his epic sojourn at the federal civil service. To, therefore, state or insinuate that Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa has a case to answer in respect of the EFCC investigations and indictment of some officials of the government of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani after Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa was freed by the EFCC on the same matter, 15 years ago, is utterly frivolous, vexatious and preposterous.
“The rantings and misguided missiles being thrown at Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa in recent time is not unconnected with the fear in some quarters of expired politicians that he might be interested in the Enugu state governorship race in 2023. The fear is all the more heightened as it is increasingly evident that Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa has a massive followership among the ordinary people of Enugu state and a huge network of high networth friends, a network that is easily convertible to heavy war-chest should he decide to have a shot at the governorship race as being currently speculated in Enugu state.” (GMTNews)
