ANAMBRA oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze, has described the call by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, for the banishment of 12 monarchs that accompanied him to Abuja as inconsequential.

Ngige had on Saturday asked the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, to banish the monarchs for travelling outside the state without government’s authorisation.

The minister also suggested that Eze be punished accordingly for sabotage.

But a statement on Sunday by Eze’s Head, Media Directorate, Okpala Okechukwu, read, “The attention of the media directorate to the foremost philanthropist, industrialist business mogul and oil merchant, Prince Engr Arthur Eze, has been drawn to a call by Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngigie of Alor town.

“One would have thought that anybody occupying such a respectable office like Nwabueze Ngige should be a person with sound mind, articulate, well educated and with broad knowledge of contemporary issues in the country’s orbit of partisan politics.

“One wonders how a minister and a former governor can wake up overnight and start calling on a state governor to banish traditional rulers whose only offence is that they took a trip to Abuja to commend the President for the magnificent jobs he is doing for the people of their geo- political zone.

He said Ngige did not take time to study the underground colourations given to the trip for political reasons by the state government, adding “No section of the Nigerian Constitution empowers a state governor to banish or trample on the fundamental human rights of any Nigerian citizen.