Former Governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, has said that his removal from office in 2006 was rooted in his refusal to appoint prominent political figure and powerbroker in the state, Chris Uba, as deputy governor.
Senator Ngige, who was Minister of Labour and Employment under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, also said that he is still a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, even though he said he is on sabbatical.
Speaking in an interview in Abuja, Ngige said he never had regrets about his removal, describing the turn of events as divinely orchestrated.
“I know those who were removing me. They showed their hands. They gave me conditions, and I said I won’t do them,” Ngige said.
The former Minister of Labour and Employment recalled a meeting brokered by the late Senator Ibrahim Mantu, who conveyed the condition directly from the power brokers. “Mantu came to me and told me the things I was supposed to do. He said somebody sent him. I said, ‘Tell the person I would not do it.’ He came back and said, ‘Let us go and see the person.’ And the person told me the major condition would be that I should make Chris Uba my deputy governor.”
Ngige said he rejected the offer on two major grounds. “First, if I made him deputy governor, he would have immunity and could walk into my office and shoot me. If he shot me, nothing would happen. Stories would be told that my orderly did it by accident. Second, the people of Anambra would revolt against me. That’s the even more important reason because the Anambra people have seen all those people and they didn’t hide themselves. They came and burnt down the state.
“They down the House of Assembly, burned down the governor’s office, burned down the Anambra Broadcasting Service, burned down the Anambra Education Commission headquarters, and so many things. And the people did not hide themselves.
“They even made a broadcast on AIT and said that I should not enter the state again, that they have taken over. So I said that these people who said they are taking over and burnt the place are not the people who should come and govern you. I said no. You can take my seat. No problem. God is in charge.
Ngige, a devout Catholic, said he believed strongly in predestination and accepted his removal as part of God’s plan for him.
“I’m happy with all that transpired because that is how God willed it. When I was removed from government, somebody came to me crying, saying if it were him, he would commit suicide. I told him, ‘I can go and get a rope for you.’ Because this is what God wants,” he said.
He said another reason he chose not to challenge the court ruling that ousted him was his desire to prevent further violence and bloodshed in the state.
“I wasn’t born a governor. I was born Nwabueze Ngige, son of a carpenter, my father was a foreman of works at PWD,” he said.
He said that he is still a member of the All Progressives Congress but is on sabbatical.