Soludo sworn in as Anambra governor, retains Obiano’s SSG

There was a mild drama in the Government House, Awka, on Thursday, as Prof. Chukwuma Soludo took his oath of office as the sixth governor of Anambra State.

The fight between the wife of the immediate past governor, Ebelechukwu Obiano and the wife of the former leader of Biafra, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Bianca, took the shine off the inauguration of the new governor, which started around 9.5am.

It was a low key ceremony as only a few guests, including a former governor of the state; Peter Obi, an economist; Prof. Pat Utomi and a former Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance; Victor Umeh, were among the dignitaries at the event.

Just as Soludo was about to take his oath of office, the fracas between Ebelechukwu and Franca disrupted the proceedings for a few minutes before normalcy was finally returned.

The commotion started when Ebelechukwu engaged in a fight with Bianca.

The former governor’s wife, who arrived at the venue late, approached Bianca where she was seated and was muttering some words, which apparently angered the latter.

Guests who sat close to Bianca, said Ebelechukwu uttered some words in Igbo language which roughly translated to “So, Bianca, you are here. I thought you said our government would fail and that we won’t serve eight years. Now we have served eight years. You also said you won’t attend any APGA event again, so why are you here?

It was gathered that Ebelechukwu repeatedly muttered the words as she approached Bianca, she was seated on the front row with the former governor, Willie Obiano, an action which angered the ex-beauty queen, who landed a slap on the face of the former governor’s wife.

The immediate past first lady of the state then grabbed Bianca’s hair and pulled it, before security operatives separated both women.

The commotion that followed caused a momentary disruption of the event, after which Ebelechukwu was whisked away from the venue by security operatives, while her husband, Willie, left immediately after Soludo was sworn in.

Earlier, Ebelechukwu had been stopped at the gate, when her envoy attempted to use the main gate.

She came late for the event, while her husband arrived much earlier and had already inspected the guard of honour.

A barricade was put on the expressway leading into the Government House, while Ebelechukwu was asked by security men to drive down to a far away junction.

While the former governor drove out of the venue in a convoy, his wife had to trek out.

As soon as the event restarted, Soludo took the oath of office and effectively became the governor of the state.

In a apology letter signed by his media aide, Joe Anatune, the governor said the breach of protocol was caused by an improper communication, which arose from a personal issue between Ebelechukwu and Bianca.

“Steps are being taken to resolve the misunderstanding and restore the parties to their previous relationship”.

Meanwhile, Soludo has announced the appointment of prof. Solo Chukwulobelu as the Secretary of the State Government, Dr. Chukwudi Okoli as the Accountant General, and Mr. Chinedu Nwoye as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor/State Chief of Protocol.

According to the Anambra Broadcasting Service News, the appointment takes immediate effect.

Chukwulobelu who served in the same capacity in the last administration was retained by Soludo.