Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State on Monday warned his predecessor, Orji Uzor Kalu, against persecuting his administration through the use of his newspaper.
He said Kalu should “stop running down his administration, using his ( Kalu’s ) paper as a conveyor belt.”
Orji, who took exceptions to a media report (not The PUNCH), credited to Anambra State-born billionaire politician, Arthur Eze, alleging that “Abia stinks.”
He accused Kalu of using his medium to “twist the truth and propagate falsehood.”
Briefing journalists on Monday in Umuhaia, the state Commissioner for Information, Eze Chikamnayo, said that Eze was wittingly quoted out of context by Kalu’s paper in his bid to further rubbish the efforts of Orji to reposition the state.
According to Orji, the Anambra State billionaire, who spoke during the Abia @ 23 Celebration, was only expressing his dissatisfaction with the deplorable condition of the Enugu- Port Harcourt expressway. He said he did not refer to Abia internal roads, as misrepresented by the said report.
“From what Arthur Eze said, it was obvious he was voicing his concern on the state of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway since he drove in through Enugu and passed through the Okigwe section of the highway, which is in a very terrible state,” Orji said.
Orji noted that even the Abia State House of Assembly had recently passed a motion calling on the Federal Government to speed up the repair of the highway.
He added that he had also been positively engaging the Federal Government on key developmental projects in the state.
He said it was unpatriotic of “the former Governor to use his paper to turn Arthur Eze’s candid remarks to mean that Abia stinks,” a comment he said Eze had denied when contacted.
Orji contended that his administration had made remarkable success in infrastructural development as well as improving the standard of living of Abia residents.
He said Kalu ought to be a shining example of patriotism, warning him to desist from “his campaigns of calumny against the state government.”
He added, “Or we will be forced to use every legal means to caution him.”
“It is only obvious that Kalu is intimidated by the towering achievements recorded by the present administration in Abia, a feat which could not be achieved in his eight years of maladministration.” Punch
“It is only obvious that Kalu is intimidated by the towering achievements recorded by the present administration in Abia, a feat which could not be achieved in his eight years of maladministration.” Punch
Really, then, we must be observing Abia from different inertial frame of reference to that of the honourable commissioner.
From whatI can see on social media and past experience, there is nothing towering in Abia state.
There was a collective agreement that the submission of Arthur Eze captured the state of Abia state. And indeed, Abia govt stints to high heaven, not the people.
And the most shameful aspect is someone trying to educate the masses on what they can see and endure on daily basis. Shame to you commissioner.