Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
The ruling All Progressives Congress APC Ebonyi State has questioned the status of Ifeanychukwu Odii, 2023 PDP guber candidate in Ebonyi, to say that the upgraded airport runway commissioned by the wife of Nigeria’s president last Friday, was a waste of funds.
The party described Odii as a myopic human being who does not see beyond his nose, stressing that the upgraded runway was the best in Nigeria, as described by the First Lady.
Recall PDP through a statement signed by Moses Idika, the head of media of the 2023 governorship candidate of the party, Chukwuma Odii, accused the government of wasting Ebonyi resources on the Airport by spending about N20bn to rehabilitate its runway.
But Stanley Okoro-Emegha, APC state chairman, while reacting to the statement, noted that the visit of the first lady would attract development to the state and never be a waste of funds.
Emegha boasted that Anyichuks till tomorrow can’t win an election in the PDP and urged him and the PDP to join hands with the state governor, Francis Nwifuru, to develop the state by investing in Ebonyi and not to bring distraction to the government.
“We are not surprised; Anyi Chuks cannot say that the wife of the president’s visit to Ebonyi is a waste of funds. He is somebody who does not look beyond his nose. What is being at the centre of politics? Don’t you know that it is a plus if the president or the wife of the president visits a state? There is no way it will not attract a positive development.
“Talking about our airport, if he is not myopic, he should have known that in the aviation industry, cement technology runway does not go because the smoothness of cement technology can never be the same with asphalting and that is what the governor has done.
“The wife of the president landed there and said this is the best and the highest in the whole country. Who is Anyi Chuks to say it is a waste of funds? Since he feels he is a big man, he has a private jet and flies to other states, so why can’t he fly to our airport? Well, the Ebonyians want it and the governor knows the development it is going to bring to the state.
“People from some parts of Abia are going to use that airport. People from some areas of Cross River are going to use that airport. People from some parts of Okigwe in Imo State are going to be using that airport, and Ebonyians will stop losing their lives trying to go to the airport in Enugu. He also said that the governor buying aircraft is a waste of funds. I don’t join issues. He is a failed entity.
” Since he lost elections, he has not come to his senses. I have not seen the media report. When we see it, we will respond accordingly. He should leave the state alone. He should go and wait after 14 years if he can contest again. Let him go and solve the problem in PDP and not talk about rubbish things.
In the part where the statement said that there is poor sanitation in Ebonyi, the APC boss said, “When did Anyichuks visit Ebonyi last? I challenge him to snap the environment where he sees this debris and forward it to us. When did the governor start extending hands of fellowship to him? Is it not for him to help build the state? Didn’t you see what Biden did in the White House, did he not receive Trump? Doesn’t he visit outside? Why can’t he come back to the state?
“The governor, after winning you, I was among the people that followed the governor to Lagos to extend hands of fellowship. Which governor’s programme has he for one day attended? Have you not seen Egwu; has he not seen others? Come and give your friend advice on how to make the state better. We are talking about building the state, we are not talking about building your business. So why can’t you come and join us? Must it be you? Have they not seen more hotels springing up? Has the governor not commissioned two private radio stations, Legacy FM and Glorious FM?
“The governor and his deputy attended the commissioning. So, if he said there is no enabling environment for businesses to strive, are you not seeing the two private stations, Legacy FM and Glorious FM, selling? Why can’t he bring his own business down here? Let him come and open a snatch water company so that he can create employment that the government cannot accommodate. There is no time you expect the governor to give everybody a job. Go and watch those of their clique, you cannot see any of them coming to establish anything here.
“I will only appeal to them to let them know that the state belongs to all of us. You cannot leave the development of the state in the hands of the government. The government will do her beat; why do you do your own? We can attest that where there is security, there is an obvious tendency for development. Businesses are springing up, more hotels are coming. People are bringing their seminars down here. People have turned Ebonyi into a tourist destination. Nobody can say there is no development.
“They did not see two kilometres of roads per autonomous community that are ongoing. They cannot see all these lengthy roads the man is doing. They cannot see the running of pipe-borne water and the revival of the pipe production companies. They won’t see that EBBC is swearing a good look.
” They are not seeing the houses springing at Camp David. It shows there is a circulation of money. They are not seeing the appointment of supervisors, management committee members, or reduction of robbery. This has reduced restiveness and robbery in the state. If he is giving employment, why is there a mass exodus in PDP? Till tomorrow, he cannot win the election in Ebonyi State.
“Who is the leader of PDP in Ebonyi State? Is it not Sam Ominyi Egwu? Is there no function he doesn’t attend? These are people who have the passion to develop Ebonyi State. And not someone self-centred; Ebonyi has grown beyond that.”
