The Abia State Government has responded to claims made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the recent Local Government Area (LGA) election. Ferdinand Ekeoma, Senior Special Assistant to Abia State Governor on Media and Publicity, described the PDP’s outcry as a desperate attempt to deceive Abians.
Onyebuchi Ememanka, former Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, had accused Governor Alex Otti of “raping” democracy and conducting the “worst” election ever. However, Ekeoma argued that Ememanka’s claims were hypocritical, given the PDP’s history of violence, intimidation, and election rigging in Abia State.
“The outcome was expected,” Ekeoma said. “Many commentators reminded Ememanka that he lied and that his party could not have won any LGA in the just-concluded election. They also reminded him of their past wickedness against the people.”
Ekeoma questioned the basis for Ememanka’s claims, pointing out that the PDP did not campaign in the LGA election and was not prepared to participate. He attributed the party’s loss to its horrible record of financial malfeasance, institutional destruction, and underdevelopment of LGAs.
As Governor Otti noted in a recent speech, “development is about the sequence of steady progress. The most important thing is that we are constantly communicating our position, highlighting achievements and challenges, and defining measures put in place to overcome them and achieve more for the people”.
The Abia State Government has made significant strides in improving infrastructure, paying salaries and pensions, and promoting economic development. Governor Otti’s administration has committed over N200 billion to road construction and rehabilitation projects, and has cleared tonnes of refuse heaps from the streets of Aba and Umuahia.
Ekeoma’s press release reads in part:
“I read a comment made on Punch Online by my friend Onyebuchi Ememanka who was former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s Chief Press Secretary and now Spokesman. I read further posts he made on his wall on the just concluded LGA election and I couldn’t stop laughing.
“From his tone, he was obviously angry, badly bruised and terribly pained by the outcome of the LGA election held on Saturday. I wasn’t surprised, the outcome was expected. However, contrary to his misleading comments and posts, many commentators didn’t just laugh at him, they reminded him that he lied and that his party could not have won any LGA in the just concluded election. They also reminded him of their past wickedness against the people. That’s actually the bitter truth which Ememanka wouldn’t want to accept. At least, it’s interesting that outsiders are now educating him and his allies about our state, and their obvious unpopularity.
“Like Ememanka, his counterpart, the former Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu was also at the venue of their State Congress lamenting about the outcome of the LGA election.
“Kalu, in his usual style had started raising false alarm immediately the state fixed a date for the election, so his bogus mumbo-jumbo about the election is like a King that was destined to be crowned (Eze ama na aga echiechi)
“Ememanka accused Governor Otti of “Raping” democracy and conducting the “worst” election ever. Yes, you heard me clearly, that the once Chief Press Secretary to a Governor who came to power in 2015 through thuggery, violence, intimidation, Ballot Box Snatching, Destructive Clannish Campaign with coffins, invasion of Collation Centres and Declaration of fake result, is the one accusing Alex Otti of conducting the worst election ever. Despicable hypocrisy!
“It was in Ikpeazu’s Obingwa where our LGA Agent was beaten to stupor after the former Governor stormed the LGA Collation Centre in a very desperate bid by his party to smuggle in fake result during the 2023 Governorship election. Ememanka enjoyed these atrocities and mocked the victims because he wanted an Ahiwe that would be imposed to continue from where Ikpeazu’s misgovernance stopped.
“Ememanka couldn’t tell those he wanted to deceive through his comment and posts how Otti conducted the worst election, except his fairytale of result sheets not being available in his LGA. The question is; on what basis would the people of Osisioma have voted for the PDP in the just concluded LG election? Do Ememanka and his Oga think that Abians are foolish, simply because they intimidated them and wrote fake results over the years?
“For the records, PDP did not campaign in the just concluded LG election. They were neither willing nor prepared to take part in the election. They were used to insane violence, ruthless rigging and mindless brigandage, so immediately they lost the platform, the opportunity and the public funds to execute these atrocitius acts of violence and rigging in 2023, we knew that their end had come.
“They knew that Abians would never entrust them with their LGA resources again, given their horrible record of financial malfeasance, institutional destruction, underdevelopment of our LGAs, and radicalisation of our youths for election rigging and Ballot Box Snatching.
“It sounds ridiculous that the Ememanka, Okiyi Kalu and others who usually mocked Otti and his supporters and asked them on many occasions to go to court and stop making noise, are now the ones disturbing the peace of Ndi Abia with lies, instead of going to court to ventilate their anger and manage their frustration. What a hypocrisy!
“The truth is that, the winners of the just concluded election campaigned vigorously to the admittance and admiration of millions of Abians, while the PDP was busy shopping for court orders to stop the election
“We will never associate ourselves with the kind of impunity and atrocities committed by the PDP while they held sway, however, we will continue to ensure, through performance, that the PDP is perpetually confined to the dustbin of history, no matter how far their propagandists may wish to travel with lies.”
