The member of the House of Representatives, who represented Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency of Abia State in the 8th and 9th National Assembly, Hon. Uko Nkole, has said that President Bola Tinubu has failed so far to deliver on his campaign promises.
Hon Nkole in this chat speaks on what he termed the misrepresentation of facts on project performance by the Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, and lack of transparency in the governance of the state, performance of PDP as opposition, among other issues. Excerpts:
In your latest interview on ABN TV you said that governor Alex Otti should stop chasing shadows and focus on governance; what informed your position given that he is touted as one of the performing governors?
It was my submission on the political perspective of an insight the interviewer raised on issues particularly the novel shadow government that was instituted by the new state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Amah Abraham. We’re in opposition and the job of an opposition, as I’ve always said, is not to clap for the government in power. The job of opposition is enshrined in the constitution. Yes, in the constitution you may not see the word opposition, but the constitution refers to the opposition as a minority. In Abia State, what the party chairman has done was also defining his own mode of keeping to the constitutional minority role by saying ‘I’m forming a shadow government’. That kind of government is a mindset because they don’t have any office, they don’t have any building and they don’t have any place they have sat down and said this is our office. They haven’t built any other government building etcetera and someone will say that they’ve gone beyond their brief. Opposition in this context is to shadow whatever the governor is doing, give him insight and point to better alternatives in their opinion on how the government should be run. Take for instance, Governor Otti claimed he spent N6.5 billion on recreational facilities across the state and the shadow commissioner for tourism is asking for the locations of the recreational centres, where did you build them, let us go and see them, let us go and verify them. People came back for Christmas in Abia State and the question is, where can they locate the recreational centres including taking their children to enjoy the facilities. There is a false narration here being created and countering such is the role of the minority under the auspices of a shadow government. I’m in Abia and I want to see where the recreational facility is located in my local government, and I want to know the location, if any; that is what the shadow government is asking for. Where is the location of the recreation centre you spent N6.5 billion to build? N6.5 billion is not your personal money; it is money that I and every responsible Abian contributed in terms of taxes and all that, and someone is sitting somewhere to say he spent N6.5 billion on a non-existent project, white elephant project. That is what the shadow government is asking for.
Governor Otti flagged off the reconstruction of the Ohafia-Arochukwu Federal Road, a highway so much in bad state for a long time under your constituency; how do you feel about that?
him for this development and he has my total support for this, including the Section 1 of the road. Overall, as at June 2023 when I left office, the budget and construction performance reached 10 per cent which has seen the total reconstruction work from the Old Soldier through the frontage of Federal Government College Ohafia that was impassable up to the spur before Nmuri River hilI and the new Nmuri River Bridge already completed. I also commend Governor Otti for the Nde Okereke-Abam to Arochukwu Road. This road is about 30 kilometres and yes the PDP administration started it and delivered the 26 meter Okoboo Bridge under the administration of Okezie Ikpeazu. I also commend him on the ongoing palliative rehabilitation of Umuahia-Bende-Ozuakoli Ohafia Road. However, the road needs a total reconstruction having been constructed over 25 years ago as I want the Abia State Government to borrow a leaf from our legacy left behind at both the Ohafia -Arochukwu highway Sections 1 and 11 from Mmuri where the roads built 20 years ago are giving way to new roads.
Let’s go back to your word on shadow government as a form of opposition, how do you react to the fact that your party, PDP, is not doing well as the main opposition party at the centre?
companies are leaving the country in droves and SMEs closing down because of fake promises. They have failed in everything they promised Nigerians that made Nigerians abandon PDP. You will agree with me that there is no basis for comparison of Nigeria in 2014 and Nigeria from May 29, 2015, down the line. For me, I want to see progress where all Nigerians should be happy. If APC is serious about governance, they should first take naira back to where they met it if they won’t improve on it. They met naira at less than N200 per dollar. Even if they can’t make it N1 per dollar which was their campaign promise, they should take it to N100. They met petroleum at less than N100 pump price, they should take it back there.
There is a story about four PDP governors and Alex Otti, planning to dump their parties for the APC; don’t you think it will be a huge blow to the main opposition party if it happens?
Well, the story about governors you said that are planning to leave PDP is still a rumour and there is no evidence to that effect. I don’t really dwell on rumours. Also the one in my state is not from my party so I won’t have to dwell on that.
for Mess8rs Hartland to mobilise back to site from the Nmuri Area where the reconstruction was stalled in June 2023 when I left office and this is a big boost to most of the projects I initiated and it would have been lying fallow which would have been very bad for the people of Arochukwu-Ohafia. So, I want Ibe Okwara to do quite better. There is also the Amuvi -Ututu Road, Ikot Okpora Road I facilitated that has been stalled since 2023 June; Arochukwu – Itu Highway, which are lacking attention right now. Also the maintenance I brought on the F107 (Umuahia-Bende-Ozu Abam-Ohafia) saw FERMA on the road for effective maintenance and unfortunately. Before my election to the House of Representatives in 2015, nothing serious was happening in Arochukwu /Ohafia route F107 in Abia State.
Credit: The Sun