Challenge the PDP government to subject their popularity in the state to a litmus test by conducting Local Government Elections . Comrade Sam Obinna Igwe , Leader of World Ibeku Congress (WIC) ; Leader of Agenda For Abia Advancement (AAA) has described the one year anniversary of the Governor of Abia State as waste of time and resources.
Igwe in this exclusive interview speaks on other pressing issues in the state and declares that Dr Ikpeazu will be kicked out of office on or before 2019 . He wonders why the former Governor has not returned to kirikiri maximum prison from where he became Governor after the expiration of his immunity
on May 29th 2015 .
Abia State Government Celebrated one year in office few days ago , what’s your assessment of the Government
Yes such celebration can only be organised by a Government without conscience. No sane Government celebrates Looting of public funds, infrastructural decay ; none payment of workers and teachers salaries , None payment of pensioners entitlements the abject poverty of their people . There is nothing to celebrate in Abia . So what the Government did as one year anniversary is a Mockery of the people and shame to themselves.
But the Government insist they have made tremendous Achievements in the last 365 days
Yes they made achievement on the pages of newspapers, on the Internet & on our billboards. Yes they spent Millions of Abia money on one year in office on the Media . Now
Lets critically review the activities of the Ikpeazu led administration
Today marks exactly one year that we became re-enslaved in our Land .
Abia witnessed the highest level of electoral fraud in Africa’s history that saw to the emergence of Dr Ikpeazu as Governor of Abia State. The Dr Ikpeazu’s led Government arrived as a Stillbirth on 29/5/2015.
On assumption office , the government of Dr Ikpeazu pointed out
5 cardinal areas they intend to pay great attention . These includes Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Commerce, Industry and Education.
AGRICULTURE
This sector employs 70% of the state workforce, being the second economic sector of Abia. This sector was abandoned by the state Government in the last one year .
EDUCATION
The Dr Ikpeazu led Government promised a year ago that they will feed all pupils in our schools at least 3 times in a week. Today NOT even a single Abia child has been fed in our schools yet the governor, without shame and integrity Celebrated Children’s day with this children .
Friends of Abia School Adoption Initiative (FASAI); was also another fraudulent initiative aimed at siphoning money Government Money. The Government
played host to a team from Australia who came to Abia State to train 7 teachers each from the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia, this initiative is a waste of Abia money and a Scam as the said Government should have directed that money to the payment of teachers salaries ( 5 months unpaid salaries ; 8 years unpaid leave allowance ).
The last time teachers and workers in Abia State received salaries as at when due in Abia was during the Government of Dr Orji Uzor Kalu . As a matter of fact before December, workers / teachers smile to the banks to celebrate Christmas in a lovely happy mood with their family . However since the era of Chief TA ORJI and his godson the incumbent Governor, teachers celebrates Christmas and Easter with about 4 to 5 months unpaid wages . The records are there . You can verify this by confirming from teachers themselves The ikpeazu government , also initiated the Education for Employment (E4E) Programme without any impact on the educational sector .
INDUSTRY
The Dr Ikpeazu led administration claimed it took artisans to Turkey, arranged fair financing packages , engaged in unprecedented publicity for Made-in-Abia products, Travelled to the United States of America to bring in investors ; Today WHERE are the investors? Important industries like International Glass Industry, Aba , Golden Guinea Umuahia remained abandoned .
COMMERCE
The constituted Abia State Markets Development Committee and the Aba Urban Renewal Agency are now tools used by the Government to destroy the houses / buildings of the People perceived to have voted against the PDP without genuine arrangement for compensation and the intentions of the government to forcefully takeaway Properties and shops belonging to People who are not PDP MUST be resisted by the people .
ROAD CONSTRUCTION
The Ikpeazu led administration claimed to have flagged off over 60 roads in the three Senatorial Zones of Abia State and completed 30 of those roads which have all been commissioned and opened for use and that the roads built will last for a minimum of 30 years before they require rehabilitation. All the roads listed to have been constructed in Aba are already death traps . While the OHAFIA bridge also claimed to have been reconstructed is a sham. See the list below: Governments Completed roads are : Kamalu Street, Ukaegbu Road, Umuola Road, Ehere Road, Umuocham Road, MCC/Umuojima Road, Oomne Drive, Owerri Road, Echefu Street, ENUC Road, Hospital Road, Jubilee Road, St. Michaels Road, Azikiwe Road, East Road, Park Road, School Road, Pond Road, Okwunka Road, Cameroun Road, Queens Road Owerrinta Road, Kaduna Street, Abam Road, Awolowo Street, Umuwaya Road, Road II, Federal Low-Cost Housing Estate, Niger Road, Uwalaka Street, Spur to Factory Road, Reconstruction of Okon-Aku Main Bridge in Ohafia, Reconstruction of Imo-NdiNkpa Bridge, Umunneochi LGA.
STREET LIGHTING PROJECT
The Ikpeazu led government said they spent millions of Abia money on street lights . The question is: What are the duties / Functions of the LGAs in Abia State ? What kind of projects do they execute if the State Government spent millions of our money on streetlights ? Another Fraud !
HEALTH
This sector is the worst hit . Abandoned by the government . This became more evident when Clinical Students were seen few months ago in Aba Protesting the collapse of infrastructure in ABSUTH and Nonpayment of salaries to their lecturers
JOB CREATION
The Ikpeazu government failed woefully in this area. For 1year , there is nothing to show despite the Campaign promise to create 50,000 Jobs yearly for Ndi Abia .
SECURITY
This area recorded massive failure . Ndi Abia sleep with their eyes open . Kidnapping business became commercialised . The hoodlums hired to rig elections for the PDP in Abia State became jobless after the elections and needed to feed from the system that abandoned them .
Kidnapping became so alarming that Senator Akpabio had to accuse the State Governor of Abia for Commercialising Kidnaping in Nigeria .
Now you can see there is nothing to celebrate in the last 365days in Abia.
You Mean Nothing has changed in the State?
The only thing that has changed is that the Governor withdrew his children from Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike and sent them Abroad to study. The only thing that has changed is that since Dr IKpeazu became governor of Abia he stated living above his means . All his cloths now bears his initials on his right arm . Check it , you will see it . What has changed is his face and that of his appointees while the people they owe salaries look malnourished . The only thing that has changed is that a Governor who has never travelled to the United States & UK prior to becoming Governor, now waste Abia scarce resources travelling to those countries as if he is going to Aba . Can you show me one investor that has come to invest in Abia after all he has been galavanting ? I have lived & visited industrialised cities of the world . I am also an investor myself,No business man invests in a slum . No business man invests in an environment of kidnappers ; No investor invests in a place where thugs who work for Government as revenue collectors come around to threaten your workers daily on all manners of fake Levies.
The Government just appointed LGA Transition Committee Chairman and their Deputies to Oversee the 17 LGAs in the State . Are you comfortable with that ?
Of course not . You see I have told Ndi Igbo that we are our own worst enemies. The little power we have, we deny our own people the right to choose ; we deny our own people the benefits of democracy. Can you imagine that in the last decade Abia State Government has failed to conduct Local Government Elections as mandated by the constitution of Nigeria ? Do you know that the last Governor to conduct LGA elections in Abia was Dr Orji Uzor Kalu ? Since the Era of the Dictator called Chief TA Orji Abia people were so badly enslaved that we were denied our rights. Section 7 of The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gave recognition to only democratically elected Persons to head the councils . The people will not accept that charade of appointment. The Governor by virtue of this interview should as a matter of good conscience commence the process of conducting Elections into the LGAs within 90days . Failure to return our councils to democratic practice then we would have no option than to commence legal action against the state & urge the Federal Government to stop further allocation to Abia since our LGA allocations in the Past years are unaccounted for.
We call on the Governor to respect the Devine rights of Men to choose their leaders themselves. Abia people are not slaves in the hands of the PDP . Abia people are strong supporters of APGA . The charade and criminality that characterised the last elections in 2015 that saw to the imposition of this present government on the people of Abia , by the PDP and the immediate past Governor can never happen again . The PDP had used their federal might to rig elections at the time . Never again will that Nonsense happen . APC is now in charge so We challenge the PDP led Abia State Government of Dr Ikpeazu to subject their popularity to a litmus test by conducting elections into the LGAs . Failure to do this will be resisted by the people .
What areas has the Governor done well in the last 365 days ?
Which Governor are you taking about ?
Governor Ikpeazu ?
Unfortunately he is not in charge of Abia State . It takes a Governor who is in charge of a state to do well in office . The TA Orji Family alone controls the POWER house of the State :
1, They Control the Governor
2, Leader House of Assembly Chinedu Orji ( Son of TA Orji )
3, Clark of the House of Assembly Is his cousin from Ugba Ibeku
4, The Most politically strategic and Most financed Commissioner/ Ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs headed by his cousin in Ugba Ibeku
5, PDP State Chairman is his cousin from Ugba Ibeku
And many others heading other Ministries and Parastatals. I am a Prominent son of Ibeku and I challenge any Ibeku son or Ngwa Son who claims that their Son is in charge of Abia State t to deny these facts . What about the appointment of LGA TC chairmen? You should know who appointed them too .
Dr Ikpeazu has to be his own Man if he intends to make progress but I don’t see this happening .
What’s your opinion on the state of the Nation especially on the anti corruption crusade of President Buhari?
As an Abian , I will answer this question as it relates to the suffering people of Abia. I recall the pain ,agony , intimidation and harassment Ndi Abia went through under the tyrannic era of the Past and present Government. I remember how the former Governor locked out PMB and the APC team out of the stadium and prevented them from using that venue for Campaign in Abia State in 2015; A state were the Governors son had so much Powers that he
Mandated traditional rulers council chairman Eze Eberechi Dick to revoke the title of Ogbuagu of Igbo land bestowed on President Buhari by Eze Ikonne?
Ndi Abia went through hell under the past Government and are presently into another 365days of hell
As I speak to you, there are lots of petitions written against the Past Government of Abia State headed by Chief TA Orji who is now retired in the Senate. Prior to his becoming Governor of Abia he had also an existing case with the EFCC , as a matter of fact he was only granted bail in 2007. Ndi expected that he would have returned to kirikiri maximum prison from where he became Governor in 2007 after the expiration of his immunity
on May 29th 2015 . As a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria he has no immunity from public prosecution why is he still free ?Former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State and Jones Udeogu (Former Director of finance Government House )whom they were all charged before he became Governor have been re-arraigned in court but Chief TA Orji is not mentioned at all. Abia People wonders why President Buharis anti-corruption war is yet to be seen in Abia . It will amount to a mockery to the People of Abia if Former Governor TA Orji is not arraigned in court despite all the petitions on the table of the EFCC or is the EFCC telling the impoverished and looted People of Abia that the 2007 file and Recent petitions against Chief TA Orji have gone missing ?
