A former political ally of Governor Alex Otti, Professor Moses A. Orji, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to honour an invitation by the Abia State Governor to visit the South-East state.
Tinubu is scheduled to visit Abia State on 23 May to, among other things, commission the 6.5-kilometre Port Harcourt Road in Aba, which was rebuilt by the administration of Governor Otti.
Speaking with journalists, Professor Orji claimed that there are no remarkable feats or landmark projects to be showcased by the Abia State Governor to warrant the presence of President Tinubu. He also called on Governor Otti to restore order within the fractured Labour Party.
He said: “It could even be in the personal interest of Governor Otti that the President doesn’t come now. Perhaps Otti needs time to put his house in order.”
According to Orji, it is not enough to be dragging the President of the Federal Republic around simply because the governor’s cousin is a Federal Minister and “one of those who has the ears of Mr President”.
“In which state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the President gone to commission just a single completed project, and nothing more?
“Why would Mr President go to Enugu State to inaugurate seven key projects completed by a fellow first-termer like Otti, and then feel the same sense of duty to be called upon to inaugurate just one in Abia?
“Why would the President go to commission the dazzling wonderland called Funcity, built by Governor Soludo of Anambra State, and not ask us questions about the whereabouts of Abia’s ‘Recreational Facilities’, which were completed last year at the cost of over N7 billion but are nowhere to be found? Or do we think the Presidency is not aware?
“Why would we want to drag the President into our numerous cases of ‘flag-offs’ when work has not commenced on any of the previously flagged-off projects?
“What about our flagged-off seaport, fertiliser plants, refineries, etc., at the proposed Owazza Integrated Industrial Park? Has anybody seen the feasibility study report or the Environmental Impact Assessment Report of any of them? Yet they have all been flagged-off.
“What about the pensioners who are proposing to come out in their numbers to make their case before the President? What are we going to tell Mr President? That we are the only state in the South-East still owing pensioners their arrears? What would be our governor’s excuse for wanting Abia pensioners to forfeit their earned pensions when our monthly inflows have quadrupled?”
While accusing the Alex Otti-led administration of employing propaganda and brinkmanship, Prof. Orji recalled that Governor Otti, about a year ago, nearly pulled off a similar stunt when he tried to invite Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to Abia.
“Our governor wanted his colleague from Lagos State to come and commission a 200-metre track road (Yellow Avenue) on the outskirts of Aba — a street leading to the private residence of one of his business associates. Of course, his intended guest caught wind of it and refused to show up.
“I am therefore of the opinion that this make-believe approach to scoring dubious political points by an administration that is grossly underperforming should be exposed and discouraged.
“For example, what if the President decides to have a breather at the Government House, Umuahia, which has a Presidential Lounge? Would Mr Otti tell the President to follow him to his private residence at Isiala Ngwa? Remember, the President is not coming on a social visit. Or would our governor tell his august guest that tortoise, vulture and other animals were used to lay the foundation of our Government House?
“Again, the Abia ‘Medical City’ at Owerrinta is within the precincts of our Owerrinta Rice Complex.
“What if the President decides to have a glimpse of the Owerrinta Rice Mill? The proximity of the two projects could tempt the President to kill two birds with one stone.”
Professor Orji admonished the governor to borrow a leaf from his counterparts in Enugu and Anambra, who have transformed their states.
“Yet we may not have learnt our lessons, as our governor continues to fire broadsides at his predecessors and continues to blame the rate of the dollar to the naira for the inflated value of his contracts.”