Igbo National Council asks Governor Obiano to resign accusing him of negligence and incompetence

GOVERNOR Willie Obiano has been asked to resign by the Igbo National Council (INC) over his alleged arbitrary negligence and gross ineptitude over the recent Onitsha fire disaster that destroyed hundreds of ships and homes.

Early this week, Onitsha, the city that is home to Africa's largest market, was gutted by a devastating fire that left scores dead and damaged millions of naira worth of property. Apparently, the inferno raged for hours as the Anambra State Fire Service had no functioning engines, forcing firemen to standby and watch as the blaze spread.

Started by a fuel tanker explosion that occurred at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, the fire quickly spread, destroying shops and businesses. Incensed about the inability of the Anambra State government to intervene in the matter, the INC has called on Governor Obiano to immediately resign over his alleged arbitrary negligence and gross ineptitude, which it said led to  monumental, colossal and irreparable human, political and economic damage.

INC president, Chilos Godsent, said: “Investigations revealed that the inferno was, as a result of bad spots at upper-Iweka along the Onitsha-Owerri road which caused a petrol tanker carrying fuel to fall, resulting to outburst of fire that destroyed the entire livelihood of over two hundred thousand Nigerians. We note that the said bad spots at Upper Iweka along the Onitsha-Owerri road cannot cost the Anambra State government more than N2m ($5,510) to repair.

“We call on the Anambra State House of Assembly to commence an impeachment process against Governor Willie Obiano if he fails to voluntarily resign before October 23rd, 2019. The INC also call on the Anambra State commissioner of police to immediately arrest and prosecute the Anambra State commissioner for works Engineer Marcel Ejiofor and the commissioner for information and public enlightenment Don Adinuba respectively, for wilful violation of their oath of office, lies, negligence and ineptitude in the discharge of their duties as commissioners.

“The Igbo National Council (INC) join all well-meaning Nigerians to commiserate the victims of the Ochanja – Onitsha fire outbreak that resulted to the loss of over five lives including a woman and her child. It also led to the destruction of over 40 residential houses and over 5,000 shops worth over N2bn ($5.5m) in less than four hours."