The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, on Wednesday accused Peoples Democratic Party governors in the South East of allegedly taking credit for projects embarked upon by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.
He claimed that in most of the states, the governors present such interventions by the Federal Government as coming from their political party.
Ogah made the claims while answering questions from State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting where he briefed members on the town hall meeting he had with stakeholders from the zone after the #EndSARS protests.
The minister said, “If you look at it you will know that the entire South East is governed by the PDP.
‘Most of the Federal Government’s interventions are not communicated to the people, they try to appropriate these interventions; that is what you need to understand.
“But we have tried as much as possible to let them understand that these are the things that the Federal Government has been doing.
“In most of the states, you see the governors converting most of these interventions as their own party’s interventions rather than the Federal Government’s intervention.”
Contrary to the minister’s claim that the entire South-East is governed by the PDP however, the APC is in charge in Imo and Ebonyi states, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance is in charge in Anambra State.
The minister also justified the reported heavy presence of military and police in the South-East geopolitical zone, saying the development had attracted investments.
He said the security men were deployed on the invitation of leaders of the region.
Ogah also faulted claims that the security men were extorting money from the people.
He said they were only busy with “stop and search.”
Credit: Punch