By Ferdinand Ekeoma

The article with the above caption, written by the Abia State Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu, was yet another ill-timed, ill-motivated and hilarious hogwash from the state government to celebrate the “tribunal victory” of Okezie Ikpeazu.

We would have ignored the numerous official insults and defamatory attacks from the jesters in Government House Umuahia since after the judgment, and considered the content of the said article as another afterthought. Unfortunately, the Ikpeazu  government went overboard with their usual disinformation, distortion and demagogic adumbrations aimed at deceiving the victims of their poor leadership, while trying to destroy the character, and pro-people disposition of Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, with  falsehood.

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The puerile piece started with a biblical quotation, John Chapter 10 verse 10:  “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.

How  does one explain a situation whereby those who have subdued Abia and suffocated the economy of the state turn back to mock their victims with biblical quotation. Anyway, it is a known fact that Satan himself is an expert in quoting the scriptures.

Among the laughable allegations raised by Ikpeazu and his boys in the article include that  Otti wants to punish Abians for refusing to vote for him on two occasions, that Otti is distracting Ikpeazu, that he is disrupting governance in Abia, and that he stopped them from taking a controversial loan of $200 million from AfDB.

The question is, if Abians didn’t vote for Otti, how come they still repose so much hope, confidence and trust in him, while they regard Ikpeazu as a  usurper in Government House? If Ikpeazu can win elections, why would he resort to rigging and falsification of results of both elections with the active connivance of INEC in Umuahia?

How can Otti be distracting Ikpeazu when he himself is distraction personified? Which distraction is worse than assembling sycophants to praise you for doing nothing, and insult and attack your opponents and critics for reminding you about what your job should be? Who distracted him from paying salaries to Abia workers for close to one year now? Who distracted him from paying pensioners for the past 32 months?

Who distracted him from ridding Aba and Umuahia of refuse dumps, such that the horrible pictures we see everyday will be a thing of the past? Did Otti distract him from appointing commissioners, 6  clear months after he rigged elections and pronounced himself winner in collaboration with his heavily compromised accomplices? Is it Otti that stopped him from putting up infrastructure in the state?

Who distracted him from building and modernizing hospitals in Abia. Was it Otti that stopped him from paying attention to government schools in the state while he takes credit for the performance of Abia students in WAEC and NECO which is as a result of self efforts, private and missionary schools?

Ikpeazu is complaining that Otti stopped him from taking $200 million loan from AfDB. Yes,  Otti boldly admits that he took the patriotic step to stop the loan because the loan was tainted. The action was not done in secret like Ikpeazu would want people to believe. Otti organized a well attended press conference and challenged the National Assembly and the former Minister of Finance for approving the loan for Ikpeazu. It is not true that Otti visited anyone to stop the loan. He never went to AfDB and had no need to.

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In fact he had never been to AfDB headquarters as against the claim by Ikpeazu. He simply alleged that the documents presented by Ikpeazu for the approval of the loan were manipulated. The documents were originally prepared by the regime before Ikpeazu’s for a different facility of $100m. Besides, Otti challenged Ikpeazu to show evidence of the State House of Assembly approval, and until now, he has failed to present it. With such weighty disclosures, AfDB had no choice but to refuse to release the fund.

Alex Otti made that very altruistic and people-oriented intervention to save the present Abians and our future generations from suffering the pains of a  questionable debt.

After all, there is no record of the judicious use of the bailout funds and the Paris Club refunds not to talk of the federal allocations, ecology funds and IGR.

Ikpeazu once again tried to misrepresent Otti and his record in the bank but sadly he doesn’t know that the world has gone digital, and that Otti’s record is known, recognised and respected in international financial circles.

Since the headline of the said article is ‘What Does Alex Otti Really Want?’, we are happy to inform Ikpeazu and his partners that what Otti wants is the same thing millions of Abians want; good governance.

Otti wants responsible and people oriented leadership in Abia.

Otti wants Abians, especially the less informed to realise that the issue at stake goes beyond Otti and Ikpeazu as individuals, but borders on governance and welfare of suffering Abia masses, whose expectations of good governance are being drastically reduced on a daily basis.

Gone are the days when it is only the government that tells its story. There are different media for information dissemination. While the government and its hirelings tell us that Aba has been fixed, Faulks Road/Ariaria and Port Harcourt Road have benefitted from “rigid pavement technology” and “caterpillar revolution”, we know that those places are an eyesore and remain impassable with heaps of refuse. So, Otti wants Ikpeazu to stop disrespecting Abia people by lying to them.

He will continue his advocacy in the most civilized and responsible manner, and we hope that Ikpeazu would grow up to listen, reflect, show remorse, and begin the process of repentance, and once he does this, he would be sure of forgiveness and support from Abians.

However, if he chooses to continue in the same path of bitterness, insults, defamation bullying, impunity and manufacturing of his own facts, he will have no reprieve.

*Ekeoma is an Umuahia based public affairs commentator

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