Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has blasted the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship aspirant in the state, Chief Chikwe Udensi, over his recent media remarks portraying his government in a bad light.
Chikwe Udensi
The APGA chieftain had in a recent media interview , alleged that infrastructure had collapsed in Abia under Orji’s watch, adding that there is nothing to justify the huge resources accruing to the state from the federation accounts.
Orji who described Udensi’s comments as malicious and the ranting of a political neophyte seeking relevance cautioned politicians to be mindful of their utterances.
In a release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ajunwa, the Governor said he was so committed to delivering on his covenant with Abians and transformation agenda that he would not be distracted by the antics of detractors like Udensi and his cohorts.
The release reads in part: “The attention of Abia State Government has been drawn to the ranting of a political lilliput who thinks the only way to achieve popularity is to attack the government in power.
“Political jobbers like Udensi should be reminded that governorship of Abia State is not for rats and cockroaches but for men with vision and character.
“It is unthinkable that an incompetent man who wants to govern a state does not understand the pivotal role of an airport to the socio- economic development of a state . It is only in Nigeria that failures without antecedents of any mean feat or proven record of managerial acumen, intellectual prowess or efficiency in any known trade jostle for political power just because of the little cash with questionable source in their pockets.”
On Udensi’s remarks that he needed a microscope to see Orji’s acclaimed achievements, Orji said “it is only the blind that cannot see the array of legacy projects “posted by his administration.
Orji also debunked Udensi’s claims that the state receives over N5 billion a month from the federation account, saying that statistics about what accrues to any state is published in the media by the Federal Ministry of Finance, and cannot be denied.
He said: “Chikwe Udensi is simply advertising his ignorance about governance because none of the lies he vomited has any semblance of truth; but we are not surprised however because falsehood has been his trade mark.
“Ordinarily, government would not have bothered to dignify his ignorance by responding to his spurious allegations, but for the benefit of doubt and to save the public from feeding on tissues of lies. Abia’s allocation from the federation accounts has always fluctuated between N3 billion and N4.5 billion, and not N5 billion as alleged by the ignorant politician who should have known better considering his self-acclaimed position.”
Orji noted that despite the lean resources available to the state, “civil servants have continued to enjoy the new minimum wage even when other states are yet commence implementation.”
The Governor also lambasted Udensi for alleging that Aba had collapsed under Orji’s watch, arguing that “this administration has committed more funds than any previous government for the infrastructural development of Aba.”
He said infrastructure in the commercial city which had deteriorated before he came on board had significantly revived courtesy of his administration.
Orji further noted that apart from roads, Abia State under him had witnessed transformations in other critical sectors including health, agriculture, education and security more than any previous administration in the state.
“Even my political opponents acknowledged that my administration has excelled in security, health and youth empowerment”, Orji boasted, adding that ” it is only the blind, deaf and dumb ” that will not appreciate his commendable strides in the state .
The Governor, therefore, wondered why any sincere person who aspires to govern the state would so blindly deny identifiable outstanding projects posted by another person.
Orji also faulted Udensi’s bogus claims that he (Udensi) would make education totally free if voted into power, saying that “this is what one of these overzealous political neophytes said in a certain state but when he eventually became governor could not fulfill the promise.
“It is most unfortunate that one who claims to be a security expert does not have an idea of how security vote is deployed. A novice like him once said he would use his security vote to fund free education but today we have all seen how free his so called free education policy is”.
Orji dismissed Udensi as a political jobber and propagandist seeking undue public attention.