ABIA GOVERNOR SETS FOR A SHOW DOWN WITH GUBER ASPIRANT OVER MEDIA STATEMENT

Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has lashed out on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship aspirant in the state, Chief Chikwe Udensi, over his media remarks that civil servants in the state were owed five months salary arrears.

Orji who described Udensi’s comments as malicious and untenable allegation, cautioned politicians to mind their utterances and stop pull-him down syndrome in the name of politics.

In a release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Ajunwa, the Governor said the allegation was not only mischievous but spurious, and a hatchet job by a political neophyte who thinks the only way to achieve cheap popularity is to attack the government in power.

According to Orji, the allegation which only exists in the imagination of Udensi is only a political propaganda aimed at drawing unnecessary attention.

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.

“The unguarded comments by Chikwe Udensi are simply advertising his ignorance about governance because none of the lies he vomited has any semblance of truth. 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 unsuspecting 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 meager resources available to the state, civil servants have continued to enjoy the new minimum wage even when other states are yet to implement it.

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.

“It is on record today that Aba which had a lot of deteriorated infrastructure even before Orji came on board has significantly transformed under this administration. A number of hitherto failed roads in Aba now wear a new look courtesy of this administration.

“Apart from roads, Abia State under Orji, has witnessed transformations in other critical sectors including health, agriculture, education and security more than any previous administration in the state,” the statement said.

Orji enumerated the new government house, international conference centre, specialist hospitals, Ubani market, industrial market, workers’ secretariat as some of the legacy projects doting the Abia landscape since Orji came on board.

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.”

According to Orji, “APGA is dead in Abia, and Udensi is never close to flying the flag of any reasonable party except those that only exist in the imagination of the brainwashed folks.”