March 21, (THEWILL) – For a long time, the alleged unstable nature of Ebelechukwu, the first lady of Anambra State and wife of the immediate past governor of the state, Willie Obiano, was whispered in hushed tones among indigenes of the state. But on Thursday March 17, at the inauguration of the new Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, the whole world saw Ebelechukwu in her true element. Ebele, as she is fondly called, arrived at the venue of the inauguration while it was underway, long after her husband had arrived and was already seated. Rather than take a seat, observe proceedings and get the respect accorded to outgoing governors and their wives, Ebele ruined it all by losing the last shred of respect she still had. She proceeded to exchange pleasantries with a few people. On sighting Bianca, widow of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, she walked straight to where she was seated to confront the former beauty queen turned diplomat on why she was at the occasion, having vowed in the past never to attend an event hosted by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the party through which Soludo emerged governor.
For context, this is why Ebele questioned Bianca: In the past, Bianca had always used every opportunity she got at various public fora to denigrate Obiano and his leadership qualities as it concerns APGA when he was governor. In 2019, she had called Obiano an ingrate for not showing up in person during her late husband’s posthumous birthday event. Obiano at that time was far away in the United States by Ebele’s side, who went through a surgical procedure for an ailment she was suffering. But Obiano had sent a high powered delegation to represent him at the event. Expectedly, Ebele did not let Bianca’s indiscretion slide. She said Bianca was the one who was an ingrate and not her husband. She accused Bianca of living in her husband’s shadows as her husband (Obiano) built her (Bianca) a house, changed her cars regularly, gave her money freely for her political activities besides the N20 million he gave her monthly for doing nothing other than being Ojukwu’s widow. Ebele wondered if Bianca’s failure to secure APGA senatorial ticket and her husband’s decision to stop payment of N20 million monthly largesse was the cause of her depression. Reacting to Bianca’s claim that Obiano rode on Ojukwu’s shoulder to become governor, Ebele wondered if Bianca suffered from dementia and wondered how her husband could have become governor on Ojukwu’s shoulders when Ojukwu was already dead before her husband became governor and could not have contributed anything from his grave. Ebele wondered if being appointed as an ambassador to Spain had gotten into her head or if emerging the most beautiful girl in Nigeria warranted her looking down on others. She went on to caution Bianca and demanded to be respected for being the first lady and her husband the governor.
But Bianca would not stop denigrating Obiano. In 2021, Bianca accused him yet again of destroying the party with his bad leadership. It was again during the posthumous birthday of her late husband on November 4th, barely 24 hours to the governorship election. Bianca said Obiano should be held responsible if APGA loses the election in the state that it has ruled for the past 16 years. She blamed Obiano’s bad governance for the crisis within the party and the spate of defections taking place on a daily basis to other political parties in their numbers, especially to the All Progressives Congress (APC). She accused him of running the party like a secret cult, thus reducing the once vibrant party to a shadow of its former self. She blamed him for the extreme state of insecurity under his watch which has seen several citizens, including a traditional ruler in his community gunned down in broad daylight. She added that he squandered the massive goodwill the party once enjoyed and for that, she will no longer be attending any event organised by the party. She went on to invoke the spirit of her late husband on Obiano. In his usual manner, Obiano ignored Bianca and her accusations while his wife waited for the perfect moment, or so it seems, to strike.
So while the oath of office was being administered on Soludo, Ebele walked to where Bianca was sitting and asked, “So you are here? I thought you said you would never attend any APGA event again.”
To which Bianca reportedly told her to get lost. But Ebele continued to taunt her, called her a bitch and brushed her face with her palm prompting Bianca to stand up to slap her and thus started the ‘roforofo’ fight between them, which ended even before it began, no thanks to the security operatives at the event. Ironically, Obiano wasn’t even aware of the commotion his wife had caused and by the time Ebele returned to her seat looking ruffled and still raining insults on Bianca, all he could mutter was for her to sit down, but she rebuffed him and the former governor simply ignored her.
However, a few have countered Obiano not being aware of what was going on. This group of people are of the opinion that he knew very much what was amiss, but was too tired of his wife’s shenanigans to interfere.
This may not be far-fetched as Ebele has allegedly been a thorn in the flesh of Obiano in all the years they have been married. Ebele isn’t actually Obiano’s first wife. She was alleged to be his secretary and after Obiano’s wife passed on, she found a way to muscle herself into Obiano’s home and she became his wife. In fact, on the day of their inauguration eight years ago, Ebele appeared with a baby she was nursing on the podium where they were to sit. However, rather than enjoy a happy home, it has allegedly been one hellish experience for Obiano due to his wife’s alleged notoriety. Her alleged unstable behaviour allegedly pushed the former governor to take to the bottles in an attempt to drown his sorrows. APGA party members claim that Bianca has always had a special status within that party but when the Obianos became governor, all that changed. Ebele, they allege, felt intimidated by any powerful woman doing very well in politics and business including Bianca and got her husband to sabotage Bianca’s senatorial ambition including the 20 million naira monthly payment. When Bianca found out, she called them ingrates who used her late husband’s name to climb to power but now working against her.
Born and raised in low scale Shitta, Ayilara, Ojuelegba, Surulere area of Lagos State, Ebele is not your average Igbo woman. She has allegedly always been associated with the streets. She is said to talk down on people, has a penchant for slapping people and once slapped her husband’s deputy some years ago. For someone whose husband took to see Buhari to announce her intention to represent her constituency at the senate, one wonders if the event of Thursday, March 17 will make or mar her ambition. Your guess is as good as mine. And as for Bianca, who threw caution to the wind and behaved nothing like a former beauty queen, will her action strip her of the honour she enjoyed as the widow of Biafra’s warlord? That remains to be seen.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
