Governor Sullivan Chime has been flown overseas over ill-health to enable him undergo a chemotherapy section over deteriorating cancer. It is speculated that the governor would be away for at least 90 days .
When contacted on the issue Sunday, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Chukwudi Achife, said that the governor traveled overseas “as part of his routine medical checkup” but dismissed as ‘untrue’ speculations that he would spend up to three months there.
He recalled that the governor had upon his return from a four-month medical trip in February last year told Nigerians that he would be travelling periodically to the United Kingdom (UK) for checkup as directed by his doctors.
He had travelled to London not less than three times since then and on one occasion, he revealed that some of the cells that were destroyed in his body in the course of the chemotherapy treatment he underwent were not growing appreciably as expected.
Although the matter of Chime’s health condition has been kept as a top secret by the his “kitchen cabinet”, sources said that the governor, who is suffering from cancer of the nose, travelled on the morning of February 4, 2014 after his health relapsed the previous night.
Chime had on February 2, 2014 hosted the meeting of the South-East Governors’ Forum with certain government officials at the Governor’s Lodge, Enugu.
It was learnt, however, that he left Enugu after the event on Monday morning for Abuja for the Council of State meeting which held on February 4, 2014 at the State House.
Though he was in Abuja, he was absent from the meeting following ill-health which struck him leading to his being flown to the UK for medical attention.
It was learnt that the urgency of his travel could not allow him prepare a handover note to his deputy.
Section 190 Sub-section 1 of the 1999 Constitution as amended provides: “Whenever the governor is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he shall transmit a written declaration to the Speaker of the House of Assembly to that effect, and until he transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written declaration to the contrary, the deputy governor shall perform the functions of the governor as acting governor.”
Since his return to the state from London in February 2013 where he stayed for over 100 days treating a “nasal cancer”, Chime had regularly returned to the hospital for checkup.
Addressing reporters on his return to Enugu in 2013, he had acknowledged that his long stay was to enable him obtain treatment for the cancer on the nose which he said he was lucky to have detected early enough.
He said that with the level of treatment given to the disease, he was certain that he had been ‘cured’, stressing that he was convinced that there was cure for cancer.
Meanwhile, in the contest for the senatorial seat in Enugu West, Chime has been given a fresh endorsement.
Sunday, the Executive Committee of the Awgu Council of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) passed a resolution endorsing Chime as the candidate of their choice for Enugu West in the 2015 senatorial contest.
The committee members who are also the statutory delegates to the senatorial congress of the party made the endorsement at a meeting in Awgu following a motion to that effect moved by the member representing the Awgu North Constituency at the State House of Assembly, Sunny Udeh-Okoye.
The leaders cited the peace, security and total transformation the governor had brought to the entire state since he assumed office in 2007 as the reason behind the endorsement.
They noted that Awgu had continued to enjoy tremendous benefits from the state administration, including the urbanisation of Awgu, provision of good road networks, securing important appointments for Awgu people as well as the establishment of the largest farm, the San Carlos pineapple farm in the Awgu area.
According to them, “we are endorsing Chime for Senate, because he ensured that Awgu got its fair share of democracy dividends in Enugu … As the reward for good work is more work, we are saying that he should go and represent the Enugu West in the Senate come 2015.”
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