Gov. Ortom dumps APC

Okorocha challenges Obiano to present his scorecard

• Okorocha

Imo State Governor Nigeria Rochas Okorocha yesterday challenged his Anambra State counterpart, Willie Obiano, to announce his achievements for the people to judge who has performed better.

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.