The minority leader of Abia State House of Assembly and member representing Bende North State Constituency, Hon. Chijioke Chukwu has said it was not true that the federal government was impeding the development of Abia in the area of infrastructure.
Hon Chukwu insisted that no state in the Southeast has benefitted more from the Federal Government interventionist projects and programmes than Abia and therefore urged Gov Okezie Ikpeazu to apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Governor Ikpeazu had while speaking in Aba on Wednesday said Federal Government was yet to pay any money to Abia State Government on works it carried out on federal roads in the state.
“Port Harcourt Road in Aba is a federal road, we are building it and others in the state, but the Federal Government is yet to refund us any money for the federal roads we are building in the state.
“It appears there is a deliberate attempt seize us by the jugular and strangulate us to death on the Osisoma Depot Road”.
In a swift reaction, Hon Chukwu said the statement credited to the state Governor that the federal government is not supportive of its developmental agenda is meant to divert attention and an indication of failure on the part of the PDP-led Government in the state.
“I make bold to say that the governor is out of touch with what the federal government has done for Abia.
“For over six years of PDP government in Abia, there is no home-made welfarist intervention to Abians except that made by the federal government.
“In the past six years, the federal government has either constructed or renovated 80 percent of Abia primary and junior secondary schools through ASUBEB intervention”.
Continuing, the Abia minority leader said, “75 percent of funds used for either the construction of these schools or renovation comes from the federal government. State government only paid 25 percent counterpart fund”.
Hon Chukwu said the school feeding programme of primary and junior secondary schools, is totally an intervention of the Federal Government, insisting that state government was not contributing one kobo to it.
On federal roads refund, Chukwu said there was no way the state will rebuild federal roads to the minimum standard and the federal government will refuse to refund such.
He cited some PDP states including Rivers State that did well on federal roads and were refunded and said that of Abia would not be different.
Credit: Daily Sun