The defeated governorship aspirant in the just concluded governorship election in Abia state and his e-rats under the platform of APC are still nursing their heartbreaking defeat which has led their common sense not to be functional. In their resent article, one of the hired e-rats made a false claim of what APC has done in Abia State, inciting hate speech but forgetting that Abians are wiser now and can tell the colour of a chameleon. They also forgot that the works of the present administration are in public domain and well documented. Right now, APC in Abia State are bereft of ideas on the vibrant strategy to run their party in the state, the resort to cheap propaganda so as to buy the sympathy of Abians for their loss at the polls.
For instance, one of the claims was that Faulks Road in Aba was built by the Bihari-led APC Federal Government. And I ask; is Faulks Road a federal road? Why would the Federal Government construct a state road when the federal roads we have in the state, the likes of Port Harcourt and Ikot-Ekpene Roads, are totally impassable? It is on record that Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, flagged off the reconstruction of 4.7 km Faulks Road with a contract sum of #6.8 billion, saying that a permanent solution has been found for the problematic road which has defied efforts by previous government due to the flood menace. Right now, the story of that road is different.
His inability to study has made him hit his own legs when he mentioned that APC government is funding Port Harcourt Road. The same road they used to campaign against Gov. Ikpeazu and Abia PDP. For clarity, PH road Aba is fully funded by Abia State Government. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is on the speed lane of recovering our federal roads such as Ikot-Ekpene and Port Harcourt Roads, even right now, the governor has provided alternative an route to Akwa Ibom State. These roads are alternative link to our neighbouring states of Akwa-Ibom and Rivers state, which has been abandoned by previous and current federal government, if not for the intervention of the Ikpeazu-led government.
The completion of these federal roads will bring many benefits, namely: improved accessibility to social infrastructure, increased access to education and health facilities and improved social interaction and mobility. It will also have a good impact on the social and economic development of the state, improve access to markets through the reduction of transport cost and improvement of the marketability of Made-in-Aba products and services through timely and cheaper transportation.
For the Enyimba Economic City, this project is a brain child of Governor Ikpeazu and Abia State Government. Kudos to federal government for supporting the project. During the meeting at Aso Rock for the final signing of the definitive agreement for the Enyimba Economic City and FTZ, President Buhari applauded Governor Ikpeazu for conceiving and pursuing the project up to that point, and for his partnership with private sector promoters. He said such initiatives were exactly what his administration was desperately looking for to create employment for the populace and boost the national economy. Tell me, how can someone with common sense say that this project belongs to the APC-led federal government?
In education, the governor is driving two concepts in the state: the concept of physical infrastructure which deals with upgrading and renovating our school structures, and the stomach infrastructure which is a free meal programme for pupils. The programme which was targeted at public schools in the state, where children of indigent parents attend, is an initiative of Abia State Government, before federal government flagged off the same programme across the country. It is noteworthy that Abia state government started feeding school children in primary schools before the federal government came to feed primary one to three. Abia moved a step further to feed primary four to six in all the state government owned schools and this has helped to increase school enrollment and drastically reduced the rate of primary school dropout.
Finally, the APC in Abia state should be guided well enough to stop false rumours and lies against the performing government of Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu. APC has no solid root in the state and Abians will forever reject anything related to APC.
Kingsley Maduforo writes from Aba.
