A PDP Chieftain and current Commissioner for Information in Abia State, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, has said that the State will never be surrendered to those he described as “political hatchet men masquerading as opposition politicians in the state”.
Chief Okiyi stated this in Umuahia while responding exclusively to DAILY POST over the recent comments credited to a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state that his party, the APC, will take over the governorship of the state come 2023.
He dismissed the comment as “the empty boasts of a politically drowned element seeking relevance by any means handy including the impossible”.
The commissioner said, “Abians know those who laid bad foundation for the state and made political jobbing popular as a means of livelihood. We will never surrender our state to such political jobbers again as we have turned the corner under the leadership of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who has strongly demonstrated that visionary and purposeful leadership is possible in the state”.
Chief Okiyi who assured that the state government was focused on delivering more dividends of democracy to the people, hence not interested in the politics of 2023 at the moment, called on politicians in the state to avoid overheating the polity and wait for the time of politicking before making provocative statements aimed at distracting the administration from delivering on its mandate.
“The people of Abia State want Governor Ikpeazu to add to the record 97 road projects he has already delivered and not engage in toxic premature politicking, and that is exactly what he is doing.
Abians know those who literally brought the state to its knees through their past and current activities and certainly do not see Governor Ikpeazu in that light. Those running helter skelter, making inflammatory statements now because of 2023 elections are engaged in futile attempts at playing God when they are not sure of where they will be even tomorrow.
“We all saw how the year 2020 was globally disrupted by just one strange disease called COVID-19, yet, people are wasting time on who will win 2023 elections rather than seeking to work for the good of the people of the state and the glory of God.
“When it is time for election, PDP will present our record of service to the people and I am confident that they will not prefer those in the other party that has unleashed hardship and sorrow on the people of Nigeria without apologies.”
On payment of salaries of workers in the state parastatals, Chief Okiyi assured that the government will ensure that the issues are resolved in favor of the workers soonest. According to him, “it is true that those parastatals are permitted by law to make and use their revenues to pay workers but we cannot sit down and watch Abia workers suffer hardship as a result of the inability of the management of those institutions to prioritize workers’ wages and innovate to generate enough revenue to cover their wage bills.