By Chuks Onuoha.
The All Progressive Congress, APC, deputy Minority Whip, in Abia state House of Assembly, Hon. Barr. Emeka Okoroafor has said that the general situation in Abia state is such that requires concerned Abia citizens to unite and rescue Abia from the clutches of those that want it to die a permanent death, now that APC has provided true leadership.
According to him, one looking at Abia today will know that it has become a laughing stock from the committee of states in Nigeria, which he said, that the decay dated back to past administrations and has become worst in the present one.
“There is infrastructural decay, no effort is being made in human development, salaries and pensions are not paid, no improvement in infrastructure, and the ones in the state are all collapsing”.
“The situation in the state is very bad, it is frightening to say the least. The state pay salary based on borrowing, that is how bad it has become, and government has incurred so much debt on behalf of the state, loan facilities have not been used for productive ventures.
Okoroafor was speaking at Nkpa, Bende LGA, during a recent meeting of the party leadership, with Ward Chairmen, Ward Organizing Secretaries, Ward Secretaries, LGA Chairmen and other stakeholders of the party.
It was indeed a gathering of the eagles, as prominent APC members and non-members thronged the venue to witness and identify with the renewed fire that has engulfed the party in the state. The Country home of Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, a prominent APC Chieftain in the zone, who resides in Abuja, could not contain the crowed, which spilled over to the nearby primary school in the area.
“You ‘ve seen the argument on the issue of paris fund, given out by APC Government at the center to off-set salary backlog, and the money grew wings and disappeared, there is this talk about use of consultants to siphon this money. You can see the confession on the state from the former Attorney General of the state, Umeh Kalu, exposing the wroth in Abia state. Abia is on a life support right now. And the oxygen is almost finishing, there is need for a rescue mission”, the Minority Whip stated.
He explained that in the past, APC had a situation where the opposition was not independent, but was being sponsored by the state Government.
But that today, the process of rescuing APC as a party, from the leadership of those who are APC in the day and PDP at night has been successful, “which is the major step that is needed to rescue Abians from the clutches of the PDP Government.
“We are on the second verge of mobilizing and orientating our people on the need for a change on the governance of Abia state. I feel fulfilled that we are on track to do the needful, and thank God we have a man who has integrity, and passion to effect a change in Abia state, Okoroafor assured.
He explained that integrity is always a scarce commodity in politics, you can see now, adding that APC did not only loose the last election because of infiltration by the PDP sponsored self-acclaimed leaders, but because the electoral system was also bad.
“But now, with what happened in Anambra state, we are very hopeful that votes now counts. All we need is good leadership. Why we had problem of infiltration was because of the kind of leadership we had in the party then, but now, by the grace of God the party has changed such leadership and will not give opportunity to people from other parties to come and take up party positions in APC.
“These were people who were sponsored by the Government in power, and they were taking salaries from the same government they claim to be opposing.
“We would not really give such people we know that are APC in the day and PDP in the night chance to to deceive us again in this party. They can no longer take charge of the state, the Honourable member, who is representing Isuikwuato state Constituency in Abia state House of Assembly affirmed.
He expressed fulfillment that APC is on course in their mission to redeem and rescue Abians from the mess they have found themselves and called on those who have true love for the state to rise up, as this battle for the soul of Abia is not for only party members alone. END
