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Chief of Protocol to ex-governor Obiano, Uzuegbunam Okagbue
BY SUNNY A. DAVID
The Chief of Protocol to former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, Mr. Uzuegbunam Okagbue has come in defense of his former Boss, insisting that Chief Obiano he knew can never steal.
This is coming as Chief Obiano battles with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which arrested and detained him for six days few hours after handing over power to the new Governor of the State, Prof. Chukwuman Soludo.
In an interview in Awka, Mr. Okabgue, who is aspiring to represent Anambra Central in the Senate in 2023, also dismissed the insinuation that the Ex- governor acquired a house at the high brow Ngozika Estate in Awka, arguing that Chief Obiano is not someone interested in primitive acquisition of wealth and property because they meant nothing to him.
He said: “I worked with Chief Willie Obiano for eight years and I can confidently say that nobody can prove that he is a thief. He is somebody who does not like to associate with thieves.
“While we worked together and people brought certain things for him to sign for them, he would shout, aah, these thieves have come. He would challenge them and ask how they expected government to pat with money just like that.
“No matter how anybody would try to smear his image, nobody can prove that he stole anything and I know that he did not steal. He has no interest in primitive acquisition. It was therefore laughable that people were locking up houses in Awka and claiming that they belong to Chief Obiano.
“This is Willie that hardly spent time in the Governor’s Lodge in Awka as he predominantly preferred to spend more time at his country home at Aguleri which is a house he built before becoming the Governor of Anambra State. So, what does he want a house in Ngoika Estate for?
“What some people were saying about him showed that they did not even understand the man Chief Willie Obiano. Let me say that if they trace any house in Awka to him, let them take it.
“He lived at Chevron Drive in Lagos before he was elected Governor and that is where he still lives. I know that as a Governor, his perks can get him a house in any location in the couyntry, but he didn’t do that because he is not interested
“He was an investment banker and he made money legitimately before he retired as an Executive Director at Fidelity Bank. He occupied that position for nine years and earned money that could sustain him for life. He was not a poor man by any standard and he was living a very peaceful life.
“He still lives in the same location in Houston, Texas, USA where he lived before becoming the Governor. The man Willie does not have businesses to expand and does not want to build empires unlike many people who occupied public offices”.
Mr. Okagbue also spoke on the video that circulated in the social media where Obiano was caught on camera with him in the EFCC facility, saying that the videos did not mean anything to the Governor and himself.
He added, “The Governor was properly dressed in a night wear. Perhaps they chose to portray that he was in a room where they kept him and those who shot the video knew their purpose. The Governor has a right to his privacy, but unfortunately we are in a clime where people don’t understand that public institutions should propagate civility.
“I was the person with him in that video and he was properly dressed in a T-shirt and knickers . He was not wearing boxers as some people were saying in the social media. Perhaps someone wanted to satisfy someone that they really had Obiano.
“Nobody is above the law and what he passed through does not make him a lesser person. Anybody could be detained and that detention does not make one guilty until proved.”
