Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has denied claims that his commissioner for finance, Mr. Ifeatu Onejeme, resigned from the position due to a disagreement between them.
Onejeme announced his resignation on Thursday during the state executive council meeting. He had been praised by the governor for his service over the years, having previously served under former governor Chief Willie Obiano.
Press secretary to the governor, Mr Christian Aburime, who spoke on behalf of the governor, said it was not true that there was a disagreement between the governor and the former commissioner.
Aburime told Kemi Filani News that Onejeme resigned due to family reasons and would be joining his family, which is based in the US, from where the former commissioner came to serve Anambra State over nine years ago.
He said: “He has remained very committed and dedicated to the state government and the Anambra people.
“His resignation is very touching, and Mr Governor commended him because of what he brought to bear in his government, and there is no story of any disagreement as was reported by some local blogs.
“As we speak now, a party is being held in his house by members of the exco, which shows you how much he was appreciated and valued by his colleagues.
“The governor very well valued him, and his resignation is painful to the governor, but again, you know he had good resins to resign, and you see that Mr Governor went out of his way to write him a commendation letter, which is very rare.”
Meanwhile, Kemi Filani learnt that Onejeme’s resignation was based on his family’s yearning for him to return to the US.
“You know that Onejeme is an authority in finance matters. He was poached back home by former Governor Willie Obiano. He was the major pillar of Obiano’s policies on the economy. Soludo retained him, and he was among the respected voices in the exco.
“But you see, he has been in Anambra for nearly ten years now, having served Obiano for eight years and Soludo for one and a half years. We heard his wife was pressuring him to return to the family in the US, with thoughts that he may even have married another wife in Nigeria. These were the reason he resigned,” a source said.
