A southeast stalwart of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Chima Obiwuru, on Thursday, accused Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of abandoning governance for frequent political jamborees that have no direct positive impact on the economic and infrastructural development of the state.
Obiwuru was baring his mind against the background of the recent overseas and out-of-state trips by the aggrieved five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors fondly called G-5 governors.
The five aggrieved governors on Wednesday met their Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed.
The meeting among the governors was held less than 24 hours after Mohammed’s private discussions with the PDP presidential candidate in Abuja.
The G-5 governors have withdrawn support for Atiku, citing the resignation of Senator Iyioricha Ayu as National Chairman of the party as a condition for peace to reign.
The PDP 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, however, had insisted that Ayu’s resignation was not practical at this point in time, adding that he had moved on from the crisis.
However, Obiwuru, while evaluating the impact of Governor Ikpeazu’s frequent travelling on the development of Abia, in a statement on Thursday, opined that the governor shall be leaving no tangible legacy and frowned on the alleged failure of the Ikpeazu-led administration to address the pitiable condition of Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state.
He asserted that the Abia helmsman has wasted seven years in office as governor of the state.
Obiwuru, a close aide to Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, Abia APC gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 general elections and the immediate past Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, asked Governor Ikpeazu to tender an apology to the people of the state for wasting taxpayers’ money in junketing around the globe with Governor Nyesom Wike.
“Abians should never think of voting PDP again, you can’t continue to make the same mistake and expect a different answer,” he avowed.
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Abia State, Onyebuchi Ememanka has explained the reason behind the recent visit of the G-5 governors to Benue State.
In a statement on Thursday, Ememanka explained that the aggrieved governors of the PDP were in Benue to show solidarity with their colleague, hinting that the visit was part of the plans to strengthen the party at all levels.
According to him: “These Governors cannot continue to wait on the wings of indecision and allow other parties to erode traditional PDP stronghold states. Elections are not won in Abuja but locally at the various units in the state. These governors have absolutely nothing against the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”
