Okorocha challenges Obiano to present his scorecard
• Okorocha
The two governors have been locked in a
war of words following Obiano’s attack on Okorocha over his comments on
the likely defection of three Southeast governors to the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
A statement by Okorocha’s Chief Press
Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said: “For the second time in 48 hours,
Governor Obiano has engaged in an unwarranted and unprovoked media
attacks against Governor Okorocha.
“The first attack was when he took on
the Imo State governor over his claim that two governors in the
Southeast would soon join APC. Obiano said the Imo governor was not what
a good leader should be.
“To us in Imo, we saw that statement as
callous, especially when it was from a governor. We had no option than
to react to it, to prove that such careless statement was uncalled for.
We then challenged Obiano to publish his achievements in Anambra State
for four years and let Okorocha publish his in Imo for five years, since
leadership is about service to God and humanity.
“But instead of doing that, Governor
Obiano used the opportunity he would have appropriated to display his
achievements in Anambra, if any, to call Governor Okorocha names; that
is neither here nor there. We still maintain our challenge to Governor
Obiano to publish his achievements as Anambra State governor and let
Okorocha also do the same.”
“Leveraging on his hard-earned
popularity, Okorocha defeated an incumbent governor in 2011 on the
platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which had no
structure before he came on board and with the incumbent then enjoying
massive federal might.
“In 2015, he joined the merger from a
zone that could be regarded as the ‘headquarters’ of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP). He resisted all the storms, including the
federal might that was deployed against him and was elected for second
term. They could only give him the name ‘Alhaji in Douglas House’.”
Comparing the two governors, the
statement said: “Obiano is a governor; Okorocha is also a governor. Let
them begin the contest by publishing their achievements in their states
for Nigerians to see. It is not a noise-making venture or name-calling
enterprise.
“Anambra State has remained as Obiano
met it. Awka, the state capital, has remained as Obiano met it. The
Government House in Awka has remained like that. Let him prove us wrong.
That is what we want to achieve.
“Owerri, the Imo State capital, today
has eight-lane roads, courtesy of Okorocha in his urban renewal
programme. Douglas (Government) House has been remodelled and given a
facelift; two fly-over bridges, three tunnels, 500 kilometres of urban
roads, International Convention Centre (IICC) and remodelling of premier
schools, all in Owerri.
“Okorocha has built new universities,
including Eastern Palm University at Ogboko as well as Aboh
Mbaise/Ngor-Okpala University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine,
Ihitte Uboma College of Education, Imo College of Advanced Studies, 800
kilometres of rural roads, 305 storey-building schools in the 305 wards
across the state and 27 general hospitals.
“Sam Mbakwe Airport is today an
international cargo airport, the free education programme in Imo State
has remained productive, the state has maintained its lead in the Joint
Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) applications and admissions since
2012. The record is there for verification.
“The school enrolment has gone from
280,000 in 2011 to 800,000 in 2015 because of the free education. The
poverty level in the state in 2011 was 57 per cent but in 2015, it came
down to 19 per cent, according to United Nations (UN) report, because
parents now channel the money they would have used to pay fees into
other economic ventures.
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