By Nathan Ezugwu, PhD.

This is not a work of fiction; it's a true life story and it happened in 2015. It's about how His Excellency Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the immediate past governor of Enugu State, used his position as a governor to stop an Nsukka man from emerging as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015.

Before now, the story in the public domain was that it was the lack of unity amongst the then APC leaders in Nsukka that robbed the Zone of the opportunity to produce a minister in 2015. It's been said that Okey Ezea was at loggerheads with Brig. Gen. JOJ Okoloagu, rtd,, Maj. Gen. Chris Eze, rtd, Mr. Bath Ugwoke, etc, and that due to the internal bickering amongst them, the more cohesive and united Udi then took the advantage of our in-fighting to produce the minister at the time.

Granted, there were internal squabbles amongst the above persons but that wasn't what cost the Zone the ministerial slot. Okey Ezea believed then that it was naturally his right to either take the slot or nominate a candidate, especially given that he was the governorship candidate of the party in the election and, by implication, the automatic leader of the party in the State after the party lost the election.

Conversely, the duo of generals Okoloagu and Eze tried to leverage on their military contacts around Buhari to take the slot. This and many more issues ensured the escalation of the rivalry amongst these party chieftains but this wasn't why none of them became minister. The Udi bloc that eventually produced the minister did not do better either. They had their own internal contradictions. Osita Okechukwu, Emma Eneukwu, etc, were busy killing themselves too, yet Udi eventually had it, though through a dark horse introduced by Abba Kyari. 

Now, let's let the cat out of the bag. On 16th August, 2015, Okey Ezea secured an appointment to see Alhaji Mamman Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari's powerful nephew (who, ironically, is older than Buhari). The meeting took place at 8pm at the official residence of President Buhari, where Mamman Daura also lived at the time. Okey Ezea went for this meeting in the company of his then driver and another close friend whose identity I would shield for some reasons. 

At the meeting, Ezea reeled out his rich résumé to his host and also made a case on his sacrifices for the party in the State, having played a major role in bringing the party to Enugu as a founding member. Mamman Daura was so enthralled by the presentation of his visitor that he invited his personal assistant to the meeting and charged him to follow Ezea to his house to ascertain where he resided, obviously for subsequent engagemens.

After securing a firm commitment from Daura that he was to be the ministerial nominee from Enugu, Ezea made to leave. Mamman Daura was walking his visitor to the car park when Malam Abba Kyari walked in, apparently coming from the office, with files, and pleaded to see Daura. It was on that note that Daura bade his visitor good bye, but this did not end without a further instruction on his PA to remember to go with Ezea to ascertain where he lived. Meanwhile, before then, he had invited Ezea to join him in Daura in the coming week for the wedding of the daughter.

When Okey Ezea arrived his Ona Crescent, Maitama, Abuja, residence in the company of Mamman Daura's personal assistant, there was this feeling of accomplishment that pervaded the air. The PA, apparently knowing his boss not to be someone that was given to flippant promises, congratulated Ezea on his nomination. They sat down, spoke on a range of issues, shared drinks before the PA left. 

Now, let me take you to the big story. While Okey Ezea was meeting with Mamman Daura, one of the persons he went to the Aso Villa with, and who waited for him in the car while this meeting was ongoing, out of excitement, placed a call to a close relative who was Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi's Man Friday to inform him that he was in the Presidential Villa with Okey Ezea who had gone into a meeting with the all-powerful Mamman Daura.

Even though the man who placed this call did not reveal much, especially given that he was not privy to the exact nature of the meeting, the man on the other side of the telephone, however, understood what that meeting meant for Ezea. He quickly picked up his phone to inform Governor Ugwuanyi of what was going on. Ugwuanyi, in turn, called Kyari who was still in the office at the time, to inform him of what was going on at the residence and made a deal with him to scuttle it. 

Does this sound like a conspiracy theory? It's not fiction. Now, how did Ugwuanyi's move leak out? Remember, Mamman Daura had, in the meeting, handed over his personal assistant to Okey Ezea. We will come back to that very shortly. 

Ezea was thereafter dazed to observe that his subsequent efforts to reach Daura on the phone shortly after their warm meeting became problematic. He traveled to Daura for the daughter's wedding, saw him, but there was no closeness created for conversations. 

When he returned to Abuja from Katsina, Ezea decided to place a call to Mamman Daura's personal assistant to understand what the problem was. The PA took the call but promised to see him in Abuja the following day as he was still in Katsina at the time. He declined to give further details on the phone.

When he returned to Abuja, just as he promised, he called Ezea and demanded to know if he was at home. The PA, on arrival at Ezea's residence, inquired to know who informed the governor of Enugu State that the meeting was going on at the residence at that material time. He also inquired about his senatorial district in the State, and when he was told it was Enugu North, he shook his head.

He informed Ezea that Abba Kyari walked into the residence that night with an instruction from the Enugu Governor who had paid to have Ezea, or anyone else from Enugu North Senatorial District, stopped from occupying the position. He told Ezea that Kyari succeeded in poisoning Daura's mind against Ezea and advised him to go and mend fences with his governor if he still hoped to clinch the position.

In the presence of Daura's PA, Ezea placed a call to the man that accompanied him to the Aso Villa who immediately confessed to telling his close relative about the meeting. He wept profusely when informed that his indiscretion had cost his friend ministerial position. 

Having succeeded in knocking off Ezea who was almost having a major backing in the person of Daura, and given the lack of unity amongst the Party leaders in the state, it immediately became very easy for Abba Kyari to introduce his classmate at the University of Warwick, who incidentally was his best man during his wedding. That was how Geoffrey Onyeama was drafted by Abba Kyari and the rest, they say, is history. 

Now, if you think that the above story shocked you, just wait till I publish the full story of how Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi actively worked to ensure that Nsukka man did not become the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2019. In the next episode, you will be hearing, for the first time, the specific roles he played to torpedo that move. 

 ...Dr. Ezugwu, a criminologist and university lecturer, writes from the University of Surrey, Guildford, England.