The Forum of Abia State Political Office Holders during the tenure of immediate past Governor Orji Uzor Kalu has described as misleading and false, the statement that no one was taking to any shrine before being offered appointment.
The forum also insisted that the former governor should not take the problem as that between him and his successor, but between him and the entire people of the state, “who were impoverished and sidelined throughout the two terms until a Daniel came in 2007.”
Addressing newsmen in Umuahia, the forum insisted that the sudden denial by the former governor via his newspaper was an attempt to stand truth on its head and deceiving
Nigerians to believing the contrary, according to report from Daily Independent. According to them, majority of those who refused to take the oath were subjected to unspeakable embarrassment and demotion, while those that took the oath were granted access to everything they wanted.
The Chief Of Staff to the Governor Theodore Orji, Cosmos Ndukwe, said he was denied chairmanship of Aba North Local Government Area as well as Commissioner position owing to the fact that he refused to follow them to swear an oath at the shrine.
He explained that while in service, he had received a call which summoned him to join the train heading for a shrine to swear an oath of allegiance, but that he refused to heed the call, wondering why those that called him would not have respect for God.
Ndukwe said it was his stand on the question of oath that prompted him being denied the position of chairmanship of Aba North as well as Commissioner, and the position given to a lesser person who agreed to take the oath. Commissioner of Petroleum Resources, Don Ubani, threw light on the issue, saying he was taken to the shrine to swear an oath before he was given appointment, saying it was so humiliating and barbaric that he would continue to remember that period all his life.
He explained that he chose to give his all to the present administration under Theodore Orji because he brought about the liberation and transformation of the state, which would have remained in a state of comatose but for his action.