ABUJA—Governor Theodore of Abia State has said that his government was beyond blackmail following what he described as politically motivated criticisms by the opposition, which finds it difficult to believe the pace of development in the state.

In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, by his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Mr. Ben Onyechere, said: “We will remain resolute and undaunted in our determination to uplift the status of the state by changing the land marks of underdevelopment for which it was hitherto known.

“This habitual peddlers of falsehood have lost touch with reality based on their previous assumption that Abia political space was their private estate. There is no need to continually engage in sing songs over the achievements of the Governor Orji’s administration because we owe this sworn enemies of Abia State no apologies or explanation.

“The contraction by one detractor that his village is not developed by government is the dream of failure on behalf of his sponsor, who reigned for eight years in Abia.

“The sponsors of this hired funeral criers, whose major grouse is the loss of political power to the people of Abia, have refused to understand why the majority of Abia people have continued to embrace and support the trend of fortune that is currently bequeathed to the state by  the Orji’s administration.

“This mischief is nothing but an attempt to divert the attention of economic crime agencies over the squander and conversion of Abia funds for their private enterprises in the past.”