The Abia State commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, has assured Abians that no project started by the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu will be abandoned.
This is even as he said that those expecting Ikpeazu to finish all the bad roads in Aba should wake up to reality. According to him, the governor inherited about 482 roads in Aba which some are in deplorable states.
Okiyi stated this in an article he titled; “Abia Roads: We are on it”.
He said; “The notion that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu should have rehabilitated all 482 roads in Aba along with all the bad roads in Abia State within 4 years is the biggest fraud ever propagated by anyone.
Condemning some photos shared on social media which displayed the current state of Aba, the information boss, tabled 8 points Abians should have patience with Ikpeazu’s administration.
He wrote;
1). Most of the roads they are showcasing via social media as bad or terrible are federal roads within Abia territory.
2). The state Government took over some of the federal roads, without asking for refund, and started fixing them. The list includes PH Road, Aba and Aba-Owerri Road, Aba while also executing palliative work on others like Aba-PH Highway and Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road.
3). We certainly do not have the financial resources to attack all the bad roads in Abia State at the same time but we have done at least 76 of them while working on 98 others.
4). Even if we have the financial resources, we do not have the power to decree that rains should stop falling in Aba and Abia State to enable us work on as many roads as possible. Even today it rained heavily in Aba and Umuahia with many of the roads undergoing reconstruction having their drains flooded with storm water.
5). None of the roads fixed by Governor Ikpeazu was in a good state as at when he came on board. Instead, he has had to redo roads done by previous administrations in a manner that guarantees them for many years to come. He introduced Rigid Pavement (Cement) Technology to guarantee that the roads are built to last.
Who was able to use Faulks, MCC, Kamalu, Ehere, Ukaegbu, Umuola, Tonimas, Chima Nwafor, Umuatako, Ovom, East by Ahia Udele, Omni, Samek roads etc before the coming of Governor Ikpeazu? Please come here and raise up your hand, if you were driving through any of them before May 29 2015.
6). Thank God that the yet to be concluded Faulks Road is having some issues, otherwise they would have continued their propaganda that it was not Governor Ikpeazu that is reconstructing the road. It is now fashionable to tell the world it is an Ikpeazu project and we no longer need to put giant billboard to confirm the truth they knew all along.
We will complete Faulks road and hand over a grade A infrastructure to the people of Aba with functional streetlights.
No project started by this administration will be abandoned.
7). Those orchestrating this campaign of recycling old pictures of Aba and Abia roads appear not to know that tribunals rule on point of law, not propaganda or sentiments. Governor Ikpeazu is a second term Governor and will not go for any other election to the office of Abia State Governor. Get that clear but know that he is self motivated to do as much as possible to fix Abia.
He is on it and will keep doing more till May 29 2023.
8). Citizens asking for more are doing the right thing and are welcomed to keep asking for more. Those circulating old pictures to score cheap political points are sponsored agents of deceit.
In conclusion, Kalu said Abians should accept his sincere assurance that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu will do much more than he has already done in four years. He noted that Ikpeazu’s target is to deliver a minimum of 500km of new roads before May 29 2023 and the work starts this last quarter of 2019.
