Leader of the Obidients Movement and presidential hopeful, Mr Peter Obi, has been called upon to focus his attention on the governance of Abia State instead of dissipating energies on matters relating to the growth of countries like Indonesia, India and Egypt.
All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders, under the aegis of the Abia Interest Association (ABIA), led by Hon. Eze Chikamnayo, at a press conference held in Abuja on Monday, remarked that it behoves Mr Peter Obi to beam his searchlight on the governance of Abia State, which is the only Labour Party (LP)-controlled state in the country.
Obi, while on a five-day visit to Indonesia to understudy the country in comparison with Nigeria, met with high-ranking stakeholders, including former Indonesian Minister Agung Laksono, former Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, and Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Yandri Susanto, where discussions centred on critical areas like security, education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation.
Obi was particularly impressed by Indonesia’s remarkable progress, noting that the country’s per capita income rose from $1,136 in 2004 to approximately $5,000 in 2024, while Nigeria’s remained around $1,000. Indonesia’s Human Development Index (HDI) also improved from medium to high, whereas Nigeria’s remains low.
However, ABIA called on Peter Obi to stop talking about Indonesia, China and others, but dwell on the only Labour Party (LP)-led administration in Abia State, allegedly grounded and stagnant due to the alleged misuse of funds that accrued to the state within the last two years.
According to ABIA: “If we talk about accountability at the federal level and we refuse to talk about it at the state and local government levels, we make ourselves hypocrites, and it undermines the essence of good governance in Nigeria.
“We have a message for Mr Peter Obi. He is gallivanting to Indonesia, going to India, even going to Egypt to look for a model on how he thinks Nigeria should be governed. I say to Mr Peter Obi to stop the hypocrisy. You don’t need to go to Indonesia or anywhere in the world. Mr Peter Obi should go to Abia State. This is the only Labour Party (LP) state in Nigeria.
“He should go there and ask Mr Alex Otti how the N54 billion meant for education has been taken for smart schools and no single school is to be found.”
ABIA contended that the failure to publish the list, location, contractors and pictures of the purported 51 public school projects for which over N54 billion has been spent between the first and fourth quarters of 2024 is also indicative of systemic corruption, impunity, lack of transparency, and accountability in governance by the Governor Alex Otti-led administration in the state.
ABIA claimed that it is shameful that the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, went to Abia State to commission a refurbished hall and less than 20 kilometres of a few streets and one road, despite the over N1.5 trillion that has accrued to Abia State under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu refund programme.
They particularly thanked President Tinubu for refusing to be ridiculed and staying away from what they termed the “embarrassment of coming to Abia to canonise inflated projects and re-asphalted streets.”
