Governor of Abia State and frontline businessman, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has urged Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to kindly advise his media aides to leave him out of their disagreements with political leaders and stakeholders in the state.
Kalu, who is in the United States of America , was responding to a series of attacks on his person by a media aide to the governor, in his responses to questions of accountability raised by a former Abia state gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Emeka Kalu. He said it was unbecoming for his aides to always link him to people who are even known to Abians and have the capacity to take positions on issues.
In a statement sent from Beijing by his Special Assistant, Peter Eze, Kalu urged Ikpeazu to caution his media aides and resist distractions that are unnecessary.
He said he has no hand in questions raised by Chief Emeka Kalu and Dr Alex Oti, which called on Ikpeazu to account for the huge sums that had accrued to the state from the federation account since 2015.
Kalu said he knows the two Abia Chieftains the same way Ikpeazu knows them and has never discussed him(Ikpeazu) with them.
He maintained that rather than his media aides attributing to him what did not emanate from his office, they should respond directly to those who asked the questions and leave him out.
He said he has no problem with him(Ikpeazu) and advised him not to subscribe to poor advises and unprofessionalism from his media aide.
Kalu , who left office in 2007, further stated that “government is a continuum” and a relay race. He said he left governance ten years ago and wonders why his media aide think he should be meddling in such issues.
“I left office in 2007 and there has been a governor in between. The last time Dr. Alex Otti raised questions about finances of Abia. Instead of comprehensively responding to him, your media aide said Orji Kalu was behind it.How?
“Now someone else has taken up on similar issues. Again, instead of addressing the issues, they are pointing at me again. Chief Emeka Kalu is a known Abian and has the capacity to air his views. He is not working for me neither is he my spokesman nor my aide.
“The fact that the story was published in the Sun Newspaper does not mean that I know anything about it . The Sun is an independent newspaper and I don’t work there. I buy and read the newspaper just like every other Nigerian does .
“You are the governor and Abians are looking up to you for improvement of lives and development in the state, which are the hallmarks of good leadership.
“Your aides should concentrate their energy on how to help you build the state and not making irresponsible statements in the name of rebuttals” Kalu said in the statement .
