INDICATIONS have emerged on how the over five-year-old administration of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State is being run, especially since September 19, 2012 when the governor reportedly went for an accumulated leave, but which some people disputed.
Indeed, several sources have noted that the governor is suffering from an undisclosed ailment and is hospitalised in India.
Chime allegedly handed over the reins of power to his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, in acting capacity, during an executive council meeting before he travelled out of the country. But sources within the Government House, Enugu, denied the claim.
The apparently knowledgeable sources noted that whatever was said to have been transmitted to the Deputy Governor to act came by proxy and was allegedly done when the governor was out of the country.
This is as officials of the government Saturday claimed ignorance of the purported return of the governor to the state on Monday, as published in an online medium on Friday.
Three of the state's lawmakers, who said they had not been put on notice about the development, called The Guardian yesterday to confirm whether what they read online was true.
However, a Government House source confirmed that Chime is expected back in the state from the second week of January.
It would be recalled that the news of Chime's return had been flung overtime in the state, yet, to no avail.
In the interim, sources alleged that the absence of the governor from the state has given rise to the overlordship of a kitchen cabinet, headed by the Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo.
Other members believed to belong to the political leader's unofficial advisers' camp are the Accountant General of the state, Mrs. Eunice Ugwu; the Special Adviser, Investment, Mr. Victor Atuonwu, said to be the only confidant attending to the governor at a hospital in India; and the governor's brother, Jide and sister, May Oji.
The sources explained that these persons were the only few in the state that could give a detailed account of the governor's whereabouts, stating that they (kitchen cabinet) "have also worked assiduously hard to ensure that the state is kept in the dark over Chime's whereabouts."
One of the sources, a male, revealed that while Atuonwu "has been quarantined with Chime" at an undisclosed hospital in India, the wife, Clara Chime, who is in Enugu, has been kept in the dark over her husband's alleged ailment, apparently based on family decision.
The source alleged that since Chime's absence, his files and mails, among others, are being treated by the Chief of Staff, who also "gives orders on what to do in the state in the guise that the approval came from the governor."
He added that since the Chief of Staff was the only official that always had direct access to Chime even before his reported predicament, it was easier to get the governor's nod on any issue concerning the state.
According to the source, "those who say that the Enugu State Government sacked three officials recently did not know the true story."
"The Chief of Staff made the recommendation to the governor and got the Secretary to the State Government to sign their letters. The acting governor knew nothing about it and heard it only on air."
The state's internally generated revenue is managed by the members of the kitchen cabinet and their proxies, the source said, stressing that, "our acting governor does not know how much Enugu generates in the month, and till date, the security votes of the governor is still being managed by Chime."
The source added that all political appointees of the governor, including commissioners, special advisers and assistants as well as elected Council chairmen "take orders from the Chief of Staff, irrespective of herself being a political appointee."
Another source, a female, disclosed that the fear of letting information out on the governor was responsible for the stalling of the proposed tour of some lawmakers in the state, who had been scheduled to visit the "ailing governor" last week.
The proposed tour had reached its advanced stage when the affected lawmakers were told that the state lacked the necessary finances to sponsor their journey.
