The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Rt. Hon. Wole Oke, has extolled the leadership qualities of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, as a peaceful, humble, focused, hard working and grassroots politician who has concentrated massive development more in the rural areas than in the state capital.
Rt. Hon. Oke who spoke when members of the Ad-hoc Committee on Investigation and Monitoring of Recruitment of Nigerians by MDAs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, paid a courtesy call on the governor at the Government House, Enugu, stated that they were impressed with the level of progress going on in the rural communities of Enugu State.
The parliamentarian also described Gov. Ugwuanyi as “a lawmaker who makes his point without waging war; without humiliating or harassing anybody”, stressing: “that is the style His Excellency bequeathed to us in the parliament”.
Rt. Hon. Oke, who is representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State, added that they were delighted that the governor has deployed the style in the governance of Enugu State, as he has “turned to be an apostle of peace, a politician who bears no grudges against anybody, a politician who nurtures no bitterness or ill will against anybody”.
According to him, “that is why Enugu has remained a peaceful state and has witnessed the level of progress we have seen in the rural areas unlike what we have in other states where a governor will concentrate development in the state capital”.
Speaking further on Gov. Ugwuanyi’s achievements, Rt. Hon. Oke said: “In the case of Enugu State, we see a governor who is grassroots-oriented, a governor who has employed over 5,000 teachers to look after the young ones, our future leaders. We see a governor who employed 1,700 Forest Guards to enhance the security of the state. We see that as an example for other governors to follow.
“One lesson from Enugu State is that we have a governor who has managerial skills, a governor who has a federal exposure, a governor who is a financial engineer, and that is why Enugu is making progress.”
On why they were in Enugu, the public accounts committee chairman, explained that the ad-hoc committee was constituted by the 9th Assembly to investigate petitions and complaints by Nigerians over unemployment in the country caused by “those who are in the civil service and have refused to retire, but doctor their files, change their age and block young ones from coming on board.
“This is what has brought us to the state. So the essence of this is to tell Nigerians that the 9th Assembly is mindful of the trust they have given to us; that we will look after the interest of the electorate who gave us their mandate to represent them in the parliament”.
