Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abia State, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, has tackled Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, over the governor’s claims that there was a deliberate attempt by “some powers that be” to deny Ndigbo the opportunity to rule Nigeria.
Ikpeazu who made the claims while receiving a delegation of Nzuko Umunna in his Obingwa palatial country home, urged Ndigbo to be united in the pursuit of their cause.
But his former Commissioner disagreed with him, dismissing the claims as a subtle move to whip Igbo sentiments having lost an election.
He wondered why Ikpeazu who he accused of being among those that worked against Igbo interest in the just-concluded general election, suddenly decided to champion the Igbo cause.
The former Chief of Staff to a former Governor, accused Ikpeazu of contributing to the failure of Ndigbo in 2023 to produce Nigeria’s President, alleging that the Governor worked against Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
“If truth be told, Ikpeazu contributed to the failure of Ndigbo. There is no hiding place for him. He contributed in pushing Peter Obi out of the PDP.
“During the PDP convention in Abuja Ikpeazu directed Abia delegates to vote for Wike but 11 out of the 17 of us ignored him.”
Ogbonnaya who accused Ikpeazu of abysmal performance, vowed to mobilise Abians to compel the Governor-elect Dr Alex Otti to probe past administrations in the state.
Chief Ogbonnaya who accused the Governor of sidelining other stakeholders of the party and running the party as a personal estate also scored him low in governance.
He insisted that the accounts of the state had to be “looked into” by the in-coming administration, otherwise corruption with impunity might continue in the state.
The former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor said Abians would weep if he revealed what he knew about the goings-on in the state.
“People will shed tears in Abia if we open the can of worms. Not everybody is happy with what is happening here.
“I’m not happy because of the few people making themselves lords, thinking that the poor civil servants should not get their pay.
“I’m not happy because pensioners are not paid while few nonentities are paid N2 million, N1 billion, N5 billion in one swoop in the name of contractors.
“One thing I like about EFCC is that they will invite you when you won’t have access to files.
“So, even though the governor-elect has said he would not probe anybody, we will compel him to probe people. He has to probe them otherwise we will call him names.
“I know Otti as a man of truth and integrity. During one of our discussions I challenged him to bring Julius Berger, and just yesterday the Managing Director of Julius Berger visited Abia.
“So, we won’t agree with him if he says he will not probe anybody. We will march to Government House and sleep there until he constitutes a panel of inquiry.
“If nothing is done and we try to bury these atrocities, it will continue. So, we have to overhaul the system so that people will be afraid.”
The PDP chieftain who said Ikpeazu failed woefully, scored the out-going Governor 5% in terms of performance.
“I give him 5%. He failed totally. When you look at the resources available to him, he was not able to do anything.
“I told his in-law that Ikpeazu won’t be able to win Senate seat because he didn’t perform as Governor. I was close to predicting his result. I’m not a prophet, I’m not a seer but I’m a dreamer; I dreamt where Ikpeazu failed, and he has failed!”
Chief Ogbonnaya said Ikpeazu’s poor performance and bad leadership style caused the PDP victory at the polls.
The former Commissioner who said over 99% of Abians prayed for a change, said he was also happy over the emergence of Otti, who, he said would do things differently.
“I was shouting but nobody listened. I said things would turn out against the PDP because of the attitude of the Governor. I blame Ikpeazu for the fate of PDP in Abia. He is the Leader of the party in the state but unfortunately, he alienated other stakeholders and pocketed the party as his personal estate. He decided where the governorship candidate would come from instead of allowing other stakeholders to give their opinion.”
The former Commissioner also cautioned Otti against including any PDP member in his cabinet, insisting that those who were part of the old order should not be involved in the new Abia.
“If Abians have said that PDP has failed, why should Otti appoint any PDP member into his cabinet?”
Chief Ogbonnaya further predicted an end for the ruling party, saying PDP will only rise again if Otti fails to perform.
“PDP will survive only if Otti fails. But as long as Otti performs, PDP has died a natural death in Abia.”
