Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia
As the legal tussle for the Abia State governorship seat lingers, the senator representing Abia Central in the National Assembly has called on the people of Ibeku clan of Umuahia North Local Government Area to sustain their support for Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
He made the clarion call yesterday when he received the newly elected members of Ibeku Egwuasa Development Association led by the President General, Mr. Emeka Enyeazu, who came on courtesy visit at his Umuahia home.
Orji, who handed over the reins of power to his successor following the successful implementation of power shift to Abia South zone, reminded his kinsmen that Ikpeazu’s government was a product of the collective mandate of Abia people hence the need to support him to succeed.
He regretted that the governor is the only governor who is still in court fighting to retain his mandate due to the vile politics that some people play in Abia, adding that Ikpeazu should have by this time focused his attention on governance like other governors instead of dissipating energy fending off detractors.
Orji recalled the diatribes that he has been facing from among some of his kinsmen during the period he was Abia governor and which has continued even after he has left office and moved on to the National Assembly, adding that he has done his best to uplift the people of Ibeku.
“What I want people to appreciate is what God has done for them through me,” he said, adding that the level of development seen in Ibeku land (Umuahia capital territory) today was of my own making”.
The former governor said that he has left “visible things” that should make his kinsmen to be proud of him and challenged them to come out from the delusion that because their land hosts the capital city they should therefore be getting things on a platter of gold.
Earlier the president general, Enyeazu, told the Abia Central senator that their visit was to introduce the members of the new executives of Ibeku Development Association and assure him that the people of Ibeku are behind him.
He said that apart from the leadership of the association the chairman of the Ibeku council of traditional rulers has also affirmed that the royal fathers and all the autonomous communities were supportive of the leadership status of Orji in Ibeku land and the quality representation he has been giving his constituents.
Enyeazu said irrespective of the level of distractions from some disgruntled persons the people of Ibeku would remain united behind Senator Orji, adding that the former governor did a lot to develop Ibeku land.
He asked Orji to disregard the antics of ingrates and not use their actions to judge the rest of Ibeku people.
