Abia PDP Media Support Group (AMSG) has accused the Abia state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of sponsoring the widely rejected RUGA programme of the federal government of Nigeria in the South East geo-political zone.
In a press statement, signed by Chief Emmanuel Nwaeze and Ichie Livinus Nwokeocha, the Chairman and Secretary of the group, they called on the people of Aba North/South federal constituency to reject the candidate of the party as a vote for him is a vote for RUGA as confirmed by the Leader of the party in the state; Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.
“We do not expect any Abian to support any candidate sponsored by our former Governor who publicly confirmed that he introduced RUGA in the south East region and continually boasts of his affinity with killer herdsmen that are killing, kidnapping and destroying our farmlands.”
AMSG also condemned the claim by the Chief Whip of the Senate that all the ongoing projects in Aba is by the FG.
“In the past 24 hours, a video was circulated online of a campaign engagement by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu in Igwebuike Ward 4 in Aba where he had in his usual characteristic self gone to confuse rather than convince the people to vote for yet another of his younger brothers to represent the patient, hospitable and accommodating people of Aba North/South Federal Constituency who had to endure his other brother, Nnanna Orji Uzor Kalu for 8 years, a period that was described by Aba residents as the era of “deaf and dumb representation” in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly.
“Among other things, OUK Falsely claimed that he attracted NDDC to fix Milverton Avenue in Aba and also got the federal government to fund the ongoing massive reconstruction on and watershed management project in Ndiegoro area of Aba using the World Bank. He also claimed that the current work going on along Ngwa Road, Obohia and Ohanku were started by his administration and supported by him while in the senate.
“Sincerely, nothing could be as demeaning to the office of a former Governor of a state as the above barefaced lies told by Senator Kalu,” part of the statement reads.
Below is the complete statement:
Writing a response to the many lies of APC poster child in Abia State is probably one of those things we never believed we would have to do again in our state after the liberation of our people from the ritual centered and mediocre administration of Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) in 2009.
We have also noted the uncommon focus with which the Ikpeazu led administration from inception decided to look forward with regard to the task of rebuilding Abia State instead of allowing past maladministration in the state to paralyze or distract it from the onerous task of delivering a new Abia to the people of the state.
Yet, there comes a time when a noisy drum must be reminded of the materials used to make it especially when the drum reverts to its old ways of producing evil music from the pit of hell.
In the past 24 hours, a video was circulated online of a campaign engagement by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu in Igwebuike Ward 4 in Aba where he had in his usual characteristic self gone to confuse rather than convince the people to vote for yet another of his younger brothers to represent the patient, hospitable and accommodating people of Aba North/South Federal Constituency who had to endure his other brother, Nnanna Orji Uzor Kalu for 8 years, a period that was described by Aba residents as the era of “deaf and dumb representation” in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly.
Among other things, OUK Falsely claimed that he attracted NDDC to fix Milverton Avenue in Aba and also got the federal government to fund the ongoing massive reconstruction on and watershed management project in Ndiegoro area of Aba using the World Bank. He also claimed that the current work going on along Ngwa Road, Obohia and Ohanku were started by his administration and supported by him while in the senate.
Sincerely, nothing could be as demeaning to the office of a former Governor of a state as the above barefaced lies told by Senator Kalu.
For starters, we are aware that Senator Kalu was in jail in far away Kuje in Abuja when the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu awarded Milverton, Eziukwu and Ojike Lane road projects for reconstruction by SANNAN JADOON INTERNATIONAL LTD. How he could have attracted NDDC to do the projects that Abia State Government paid for with her tax payers’ money can only be imagined by his fellow “gamji” politicians and believed by the gullible that have congregated with brooms freshly processed in the coven of witches to sweep Abia into fresh destitution. But we thank God Aba people are not in anyway gullible and will demand from OUK and his associates the full refund of any money he took from NDDC in the guise of fixing Milverton Avenue or any other road in Aba. We are aware of several purported NDDC contracts awarded to his company and proxies that were never done but money collected and in due course he will vomit all of them.
Maybe OUK’s second false claim on World Bank and Ndiegoro can be forgiven on the basis of his limited formal education since he may not understand the process of obtaining funds from foremost global institutions like the World Bank for develoment purposes.
Interestingly, OUK was not in the senate when the National Assembly aided the State in the processing of the N27.4bn project fund from the World Bank by approving it as required by Law.
Let it be stated clearly that the processes leading to the approval of the facility commenced in the first term of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu which started in 2015, long before OUK even dreamt of manipulating himself to the Senate.
For those who unfortunately find themselves under OUK’s primitive political enchantment, let us state that there are at least four sources available in the constitution for a state as revenue sources for the execution of development projects including accessing funds from donor agencies and financial institutions such as the World Bank and that the procedure is that you must meet a threshold of transparency and fiscal responsibility which OUK couldn’t have met during the reign of his ill fated administration in the state; then you pay counterpart fund and then accept the offer that includes well defined repayment plan.
The Federal Government did not contribute one kobo to the World Bank facility and will not repay the fund. Instead, it is Abia State Government and the good people of Abia State that contributed the counterpart fund, entered into relevant agreements and will repay the facility through a clearly defined sources of funds.
How a supposedly literate adult will publicly claim that Ndiegoro flood mediation and road reconstruction projects are federal government projects is a direct testimony to the paucity of leadership skills at the topmost echelon of the governance of then infant Abia between 1999 and 2007.
Abia was begging for leadership in 1999 to lay the right foundation for the state but, unfortunately, circumstances contrived to give us what we got at a time neighboring states had lettered men envisioning and setting development agenda for the future of her people.
The result is that pervasive mediocrity of humongous proportion was enthroned across board leading to the destruction of every aspect of life in the state.
From the destruction of the then budding civil service through the mismanagement of pensions and even calling pensioners “dead woods” when they demanded for dozens of months in unpaid entitlements, the state bled even while someone claimed on record that he removed a whopping N7.6bn from state coffers to import second hand clothes (okirika) that nobody ever saw not to talk of wear in Abia State.
As at the time the infamous administration left office, more than 2 years salary was owed LGA workers and many months wages owed teachers thereby laying the miry foundation and bequeathing a burdensome legacy of salary logjam to subsequent administrations which have been trying to evolve ways of paying off the arrears while also transforming revenue and pursuing other sources for funds to execute development projects.
Not even healthcare in the state was spared of the regime of mediocrity superintended by OUK in the state.
The so called free Medicare his administration promoted is the worst healthcare abuse in Africa to date.
In fact, in better climes those who superintended over that infamy should have been arrested and tried for what happened then.
Just imagine sending some nurses in an ambulance to visit market squares and share drugs to unsuspecting citizens in the name of free healthcare? What kind of diagnosis did they do? What medical records did they keep and what kind of follow up was possible in such a dubious circumstance? So, if one runs temperature and they suspect malaria and administer anti malarial drugs, what if it persists and proper diagnosis reveals typhoid, wouldn’t one have abused the anti malarial?
When you hear OUK talk about free education, the question is who received the free education? There was simply no free education because he chased our children into private schools where parents paid exorbitant fees to educate their children with his retrogressive policies.
It is on record that public school enrollment at that time was far below 100,000 students and pupils but today, under Governor Ikpeazu, we have enrollment of more than 650,000 students and pupils in our public schools with our primary school pupils enjoying free tuition courtesy of Universal Basic Education scheme started by a PDP federal government.
Our school children from primary one to six receive free school meals and the Ikpeazu administration has constructed more than 500 new classroom blocks and done 4 model schools across the state.
No need restating the fact that under Ikpeazu, for 5 years back to back, Abia State came first in performance ranking in the West Africa School Certificate Examinations (WASCE) in Nigeria.
Sincerely, we feel ashamed having to compare the locust years of OUK with the current high performing administration led by Dr Ikpeazu because doing so elevates what was obviously a shambolic administration to a level that can even be seen as, in any form or manner, comparable to the acclaimed best ever administration to date in the state.
If not that some persons are trying to convince themselves that representation at the National Assembly is now only sexually transmitted and does not require any pedigree or some known achievements in learning and service, we wouldn’t have bothered.
To worsen the situation, we have otherwise decent men and women we hitherto respected in our dear state now kowtowing to same man they previously and rightly attributed the past woes of the state to in their moment of sobriety.
What exactly made some of these supposedly lettered, previously self respecting and respectable men and women subject themselves to flocking, with such an ignoble subservience, with the type of character they taught their children never to become or associate with, because of political desperation?
It is shocking that a man who plundered and raped Abia and left Aba for dead with audio road projects popularly called “Dubai roads” will have the temerity to make the type of claims we heard in that inglorious campaign video of mischief, half-truths and outright falsehood.
Sincerely, there are individuals in his RUGA supporting party that we hitherto would have vowed will be ashamed to associate with his political dynasty built upon lies and gamji, yet, right before our eyes, they are clapping like infants being given their first set of toys while the same man has returned to Aba and Abia State to attempt to confuse, blindfold and delete the memories of five million Abians.
We make bold to state that the federal government has no involvement in the confirmed 106 completed and 53 ongoing road projects of the Ikpeazu administration and we challenge anyone with contrary information to publicly provide proof to that effect.
As far as the Abia North/South Federal Constituency election is concerned, we are waiting to hear how the other candidates will vote on crucial issues of RUGA, open grazing, true federalism and federal character if elected to represent the good people of the constituency.
Our people are now wise enough to know that the job of a legislator is to make laws in support of good governance and welfare of his constituents and want to know where every candidate stand on critical issues that require legislation as it affects the people before they vote on the 27th or March.
We do not expect any Abian to support any candidate sponsored by our former Governor who publicly confirmed that he introduced RUGA in the south East region and continually boasts of his affinity with killer herdsmen that are killing, kidnapping and destroying our farmlands.
One of our past leaders, Dr M. I. Okpara, told us that “first fool is not a fool but second fool is the proper foolish man”. Our people will not be fooled a second time by the Orji Uzor Kalu family to mortgage an important seat like Aba North/South Federal Constituency to them again.
Signed:
Chief Emmanuel Nwaeze – Chairman
Ichie Livinus Nwokocha – Secretary
Mr Paul Onyeukwu – Publicity Secretary
For and on behalf of:
Abia PDP Media Support Group (AMSG)
