Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Greg Ibe, in this interview with Ikengaonline, spoke on how he has been battling unseen forces after declaring his intention to govern the state. He equally spoke on the certificate forgery allegation against him, Abia Charter of Equity, and his vision for the state among others.
There are claims by your opponents that you are not medically fit to govern the state. Is that true?
There is no iota of truth in that at all. It’s unfortunate that Abia politics has left the main issues to become something else. People said I had amputated leg but you can see my legs are intact.
When they make all these insinuations my strategy is to ignore them and face the big project which is how to become the Governor in May. I’m focused on that, and have refused to be distracted.
The truth is that I’m healthy and medically fit and ready to take over as the next Abia Governor. I’m not incapacitated. I don’t even have ordinary headache. My blood pressure and sugar level are okay. I don’t have heart issues. I have even asked my medical doctor to disclose my medical report for all to see and stop doubting.
What I’m battling with are principalities and powers that don’t want Abia to witness progress. They fight every good thing coming to the state. They have fought me but God shall disappoint them. We shall prevail over them.
There is this serious allegation that you forged your West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate. How would you respond to that?
I didn’t forge any WAEC certificate because that is needless. What happened was that when I left the PDP and joined APGA, some persons who thought APGA is their hometown and private estate became uncomfortable. They even approached me and asked me to forget governorship and go for the Senate. But when they discovered I was not going to cow in they became furious and started to plant all sorts of bombs against me.
They have resorted to malicious scandal claiming I forged the WAEC certificate of one Joseph Ibe. But that’s not true. I asked them, how can I do such a thing when I have my own certificate? I had my WAEC certificate in 1983 at Boys High School Ihube Okigwe. I even had my A level also. This is not my WAEC certificate with examination number: 11510034.
So, when I released my result, the three men fighting me said: so, you have this result? Why did you allow us to be fooling ourselves? But I’m not bothered since the matter is now in court.
Three of the aspirants who contested the governorship ticket with me connived to pull Abia State down by maliciously linking me with certificate forgery. They have taken me to court but they will be disappointed.
The strategy is to allow your enemy make a fool of himself. They have been making defamatory remarks against me but since they have taken me to court, I will go there and answer them. WAEC will come with confirmation of my certificate including my A level results. Then after the court judgement my lawyers will handle them accordingly.
It was said that you dumped the PDP for APGA because PDP violated zoning arrangement based on Abia Charter of Equity which favours power shift to Abia North in 2023. Do you think Abia Chatter of Equity will be respected in the forthcoming poll?
Ngwa elders in 2019 came here to meet with Abia North elders. The Ngwa in Umunneato should ask their elders what happened. There was an agreement that power should return to Abia North in 2023. What happened here during the meeting was so unique. We gave them kola-nut and they brought their own kola-nut, ogirishi and akilu, prayed, broke it and we ate together.
Who is who in Abia North politics was there – Okpara Osonwa (may his soul rest in peace), Chief Ukpai Agwu (also late), and the late Ndidi Okereke was the secretary. We all agreed that Ikpeazu should be allowed to go for a second term and then, in 2023, Ngwa will support power shift to Abia North.
I was the last to speak and I told them that this was a serious oath that nobody should joke with. I told them that they should remember this oath and not sell Abia North in 2023. Elder Solomon Adelu led the Ngwa delegation. Justice Amuta and Senator Adolphus Wabara were all part of it.
They left and went straight to Gov Ikpeazu and told him they had a successful trip. But the moment Ikpeazu won his second tenure, we started getting signals that things were not going to be as agreed. And shorty before the PDP governorship primary, it was very obvious what their intention was. That was why I dumped the PDP.
I want to make it clear to all that it is injustice to deny Isuikwuato Division power in 2023. Isuikwuato is not part of Old Bende. Isuikwuato and Umunneochi were part of Otanchara/Otanzu political bloc in Okigwe. Our ancestors did not tell us we were part of Old Bende. So, nobody should be grouping us with Old Bende.
Anybody who reads the Abia Charter of Equity will see where it was written by our founding fathers that after power has gone to the three blocs of Afikpo, Bende and Aba Division, that their brother ‘I’ representing Isuikwuato Division should be allowed to take power.
Therefore, anyone trying to change the narrative now to mean that power should rotate between Old Bende and Aba Division is only being mischievous. What then happens to the ‘I’ in Abia acronym? These people are not even remembering the Ukwa nation which is the only oil producing area in Abia but without any development. Their communities are not even accessible.
Why do you think you should be the next Governor of the state?
I don’t think any other candidate has the preparedness that I have done for the transformation of Abia. Who among them has invested in Abia? I can say without bragging that I have touched lives in all the 17 Local Government Areas in the state both the high and the low.
I’m a reformist. I have worked with many Presidents including President Olusegun Obasanjo. I was the brain behind the Public Service reforms by Obasanjo. I consult with ECOWAS countries.
I came from a very poor background and I started on time to plan and work hard to succeed in life. I learnt different vocations. When I started getting money, I wrote 42 manuals for 42 skills.
I want to bring to Abia, a load of experience. I’m the only investor in the state who can make things work. Some of my foreign partners told me: ‘If you can make one state in Nigeria start behaving well like the states in America where leaders don’t loot public funds, they will move Americans to support me and salvage this place.” They are waiting to see a state where development affects everybody.
I’m not coming to steal public funds but to develop the state. I have said it many times: whatever the investment I have at Gregory University Uturu, I will use it as a collateral for Abia State in serving them so that if I fail them they will know where to grab me.
I’m committed because I have nothing to worry about. God has blessed me. I’m not coming to steal to train my children or build a new house. To the glory of God, my son is a Professor of Medicine in the US; my second son is a Cardiologist with double Fellow. He handles heart attack very efficiently. My third son works with New York Stock Exchange; and my last daughter is an Accountant and ICT guru in US. So, I’m coming to work and not to steal. I have personally touched lives across the state.
I have my university here which has created employment for over 1000 people. My 1000-bed hospital now in Imo would have been located in Abia but for Government opposition because it doesn’t want comparison of development. My Innovation hub, the first in Africa would equally have been located in Abia but for the same reason.
The things I built are solid. I built Abia State University and when you get there, you will see the ambience of a university. I built the Imo Airport. Has the runway failed? But the Enugu Airport has failed three times and the Federal Government re-awarded it three times. The Imo Airport is still intact because I spent time with my Israeli workers to ensure we compact it to Israeli standard. Everything my hands have ever touched has stood the test of time.
I’m ready to develop Abia. There is nobody that has our pedigree in comparison. We are consulting for the 15 countries in ECOWAS. We have worked with the UN. We have a compendium of development agenda. This is contained in my manifesto, and what I will do in every LGA is contained in it.
Our mantra is that nobody will be left behind, no community will be left behind unlike the previous practice where if you are Governor, you just face your area. This type of mentality deters development and progress. I will ensure even development of the state.
You have just awarded university scholarship to 100 students. Does this gesture have anything to do with your gubernatorial ambition?
The scholarship did not start today. Over 500 students have so far benefited from it. It has nothing to do with my political ambition. I have helped to train Uturu boys as Pilots in the US, and today they are flying around the world.
If I become Governor, we will build airport in Abia and more pilots will be trained. In my university I decided to run programmes in medical science, law, engineering, pharmacy and those other critical areas for the good of Ndigbo. I discovered most of our public universities don’t have programmes in these critical areas of need. It’s sad to note that in the South-East, only Enugu State University of Science and Technology runs a programme in Insurance. Insurance is the future of the world. So, we will also be there.
So, my dream is to train our youths in these critical areas of need. Since two years ago we started offering courses on Radiography, Optometry Medical Laboratory Science, Public Health and others. My intention when I become Governor is to build 17 General hospitals one, in each of the LGAs. We need manpower to work in the hospitals. So, we will absorb some of the youths we are training. After the NYSC service year, they will be sent to their LGAs to go and work in the General hospitals.
It is also rumored that a former Governor is sponsoring you. But many Abians believe they should go for somebody who is standing alone. Your take on that?
Nobody is sponsoring me. I came out on my own. It’s still part of their campaign to stop me. I challenge anybody bankrolling me to step forward with evidence.
