From Ikenna Maxwell
Prince Arthur Eze has lately bounced back as the godfather of Anambra politics, and has through his relationship with the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience in addition to his very deep pockets taken over control of the machinery of PDP in the state.
This relationship was achieved with the recent sponsorship of the 4J rally in Anambra which also had in attendance the wife of the president. Prince Eze was reported to have spent far more than a hundred million naira in buying empowerment materials which were distributed to widows in the South East.
Recently, leading politicians of PDP stock who are seeking for elective positions have developed a new strategy of getting the party’s tickets while some less known politicians fancy their chances if they can ride on the influence of the billionaire oil magnet. Political jobbers and scammers now take advantage of their desperation to extort them.
A source told HOMELAND NEWS that an aspirant (name Withheld) who is seeking to vie for the ticket of PDP in the House of Representatives was recently charged N5million before he could be led to Prince Eze. Even for those familiar with the premises, gaining access through the gates of the Ukpo residence of the refurbished king maker can be a daunting task. Total strangers are subjected to all manner of interrogation and search after they have been identified by an insider or cleared by the Eze n’Ukpo himself.
The aspirant sensing it could be a scam decided that he will pay only when he has been led to Eze.
According to our source, the young man accepted to lead to politician after he had dashed into a bank and withdrawn cash N1million which he said he will pass on to him when they have succeeded in meeting Prince Eze.
When the duo got to the gate of Eze’s mansion in Ukpo, the young man could not give a convincing explanation to who he was to the security men at the gate, and when he was told to contact the oil mogul on phone, it turned out that he did not even have his contact and was virtually thrown out by the broad-chested security details.
Our source also said that the “middle man” job had been a lucrative business around the residence of Prince Eze. Some established politicians in Anambra state began their career, running errands and linking prospective beneficiaries of Prince Eze’s benevolence. One whose elder brother was a Special Assistant to former President Obasanjo was in this category of aides as far back as 1989 when Prince Eze was popularly called “Arthur 1000” and lived on Mbanefo street, New Haven, Enugu. Then clients are expected to show appreciation by parting with some money, a little percentage of what “Oga” must have given.
The difference today is that some “smart people” who may not have even seen the king maker on a close range want to take advantage of desperate politicians in a show of their greed and shame.
