Achieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abia State, Chief Joshua Ogbonna, has scored Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration in the state very low in delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.
The politician, who is of the same party with the governor, also urged the people of the state to go spiritual by “praying” the Ikpeazu administration out of office.
Allowing him to remain on the seat means more doom for the people
Ogbonna stated this in a chat with our correspondent in Umuahia, the state capital, ahead of the May 12 judgment over a suit instituted by Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah against Ikpeazu on the PDP governorship candidate’s ticket in the 2015 general election.
The party chieftain accused Ikpeazu of not serving the interest of the people of the state.
He noted that the spiritual approach by the people of the state had become inevitable to counter what he described as ceaseless efforts by the governor and his foot soldiers to ensure he retained power by all means, not minding the consequences for the state.
He said, “I hope God will hear our prayer and intervene once and for all in this matter to put an end to this ugly development.
We have been patient enough and may not have the capacity to bear it any longer.”
He further alleged that Governor Ikpeazu was imposed on the people by some interest groups in the state that had held it hostage in the past 18 years.
Ogbonna argued that the time to break away from the yoke put on the people of Abia had come in order to save the state from being run aground.
“Since Ikpeazu took over the leadership of the state, the people have been groaning under severe economic conditions.
So, allowing him to remain on the seat means more doom for the people,” he added. Ogbonna, who was one of Ogah’s campaign directors, listed the areas he said Governor Ikpeazu had failed to deliver on his electioneering promises.
He said that the governor had failed to create employment opportunities, develop infrastructure in the state and make prompt payment of salaries of workers.
“If you check the history of the state since its creation in 1991, you will observe that civil servants have never had it so hard.
Yet, this is the very man, who had promised that he would pay them before the 24th of every month,” the PDP chieftain said.
The PDP chieftain further accused the governor of concentrating on “the little progress he is reportedly making in native Ngwa land to the exclusion of the other sections of the state.”
He maintained that his support for Ogah, who was declared the first runner-up in the primaries, was because he was the choice of the majority of the delegates and by extension that of the members of the party at large.
Expressing hope that Ogah would one day become the governor of the state, Ogbonna expressed regret that the party denied him the ticket after he had contributed greatly to its success.
