The candidate of the Labour Party (LP)
candidate in the Saturday governorship
election, Chief Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah, has
accused the incumbent Governor of the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Peter
Obi, of a last minute diversion of the state’s
funds, using the supplementary budget.
Also, Ubah has denied the story making the
rounds that he impersonated the Igwe of
Agulu, His Most Royal Majesty, Innocent
Obodoakor, and that he was endorsed by a
fraudulent Igwe, a development that allegedly
made the Igwe place a curse on him.
However, on the alleged planned looting, Ubah
in a statement issued by his campaign group
said the timing of the supplementary budget
which Obi presented last Friday was suspect.
“The first is that there is something called
decent timing and there is indecent timing too.
Even the Bible acknowledges that there is a
time and a season for everything under the
sun,” he said, adding that “With the election in
which Obi’s party is taking part to produce the
next governor of Anambra State just a week
away, the general feeling out there is that Obi
wants to raid the treasury to fund the rest of
the campaign.”
While strongly condemning Obi’s last minute
submission of a supplementary budget
proposal to the state House of Assembly, he
called on the state legislators to keep the
interest of the state in mind and do the right
thing for Anambrarians, irrespective of party
affiliations.
“This is a time when party affiliation should
not take precedence over Anambra’s well-
being and the concept of good governance –
something that has been in short supply since
the very day Obi was sworn into office.
“For eight years, Obi has run the slowest of
slow-motion governments Nigeria has ever
seen. He refused to fill the gaping vacancies
even in the educational sector as well as in the
civil service. The refrain then was that he was
saving money for the state even as he refused
to pay the nationally agreed minimum wage to
the civil servants,” he said.
Ubah contended that rather than grant Obi his
wish, the lawmakers should ask how Obi
implemented the 2013 budget and other
supplementary budgets they have passed.
“Was each of the expenditures on each project
as captured in the budget proposal? Was there
any un-proposed and so unapproved transfer
of funds from one project to another?”
According to him, this question has become
pertinent because after Obi got this year’s
budget passed by March, he was by June cap-
in-hand, asking for a supplementary budget,
which he got. With this supplementary budget,
it is the third time in one year that Obi would
be seeking for the legislators’ approval to
another budget proposal.
“It is unfortunate that barely three months
after the 2013 budget was approved for Obi, he
went back to the Assembly members for a
supplementary budget to be approved for him
without giving them the breakdown of how he
spent the money earlier approved for him.
“They must reject this supplementary budget
proposal. They must reject it for the good of
their family names because the word out there
is that Obi has promised them some N20
million each for their support of his
supplementary budget request. They should
side with the public this time and check Obi’s
maladministration.
“They should note Obi’s recklessness with the
state’s treasury and vow ‘Never Again’ and
reject Willie ‘Boy’ Obiano, the APGA candidate,
in the November 16 election. Obiano has
sworn to continue in Obi’s terrible footsteps –
and that should be an abomination to
Anambrarians.
“His candidature should be energetically
rejected or Obi’s accursed legacy of last-
minute supplementary budgets, raids on the
treasury really, will know no end. If not, one
day a Governor will present a supplementary
budget to enable him prepare for his exit from
government and to fund his trip home; but
then, that is almost what Obi is doing with this
supplementary budget proposal – a proposal
that should not be allowed to see the light of
day but should be killed on arrival,” Ubah
added.
On the story about royal curse, Ubah through
his Director, Media and Publicity, Mr. Afam
Ilounoh, said the report lacked truth and was
without basis.
Speaking against the backdrop of claims that
the Igwe spelt out in deep sorrow and pain on
the abuse of the pride of Agulu people and the
toiling with their culture and tradition as a
result of his impersonation by Ubah, who was
alleged to have insulted and mocked the Igbo
tradition, the governorship hopeful however
queried the rationale behind the insinuation.
“The Igwe spelt out in deep sorrow and pain
on the abuse of the pride of Agulu people and
the toiling with their culture and tradition,
mean? Does it convey any meaning at all?
"So is the story claiming that Ubah
impersonated the Igwe. If he did pretend to be
the Igwe, then how could this have been
possible? To quote from the story: (the
fraudulent Igwe then purportedly endorsed
Ubah on behalf of Agulu people). So who
endorsed whom? Or did Ubah endorse himself?
"The baseless report merits no reply at all. It
was so badly written that the discordant
hogwash with neither rhyme nor reason to
recommend it to any serious-minded person
did not bother Ubah at all. Ubah is replying it
though out of respect for the Igwe and the
town’s names it invoked –because Igwe
Innocent Obodoakor and his town of Agulu are
both dear to him," he said.
Meanwhile, Ubah received a major boost in his
support base as a mammoth crowd in Aniocha
has declared support for his ambition. Ubah
who was treated to a rousing welcome by
supporters who trooped out in their thousands
at Neni- Aniocha LGA, Ekwulobia – Aguata
LGA and Ajalli – Orumba North LGA also gave
the people his electoral promises.
The town openly stated that the support given
to Obi has "expired" and handed over a
proverbial key to state Government House to
Ubah.
Traditional ruler of Neni, His Royal Majesty,
Igwe Damien Onwuameze Ezeani (Ezeani
Ugonabu), said Nnewi is a town that has
always produced leaders who have left
indelible marks in the sands of time and
charged Ubah not to forget the people that
would vote for him, but to use his youthful
strength to restore hope to the people.
Responding, Ubah assured the people that he
would not fail them. “It is the state of decay in
our state and the hopelessness that stare our
people in the face daily despite the rich
natural, material and human resources the
state is endowed with that made me come out
to help and try to restore hope to the people.
"If voted into power come November 16 2013,
first, I will ensure steady power supply by
putting in place two power plants in the state
that will take care of our electric power supply,
then we’ll create employment opportunities in
the state through building of industries that
will keep our youths engaged and the issue of
crime will be taken care of," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment