Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has called on the incumbent governor of the state, Chief Theodore Orji to re-direct his energy towards the
Kalu, who spoke with aviation correspondents in Lagos said it had become so important for him to speak up on the poor governance and the degenerating state of infrastructure in Abia State given recent attacks on his person by the incumbent government which tended to create the impression or perception to the public that he was responsible for all the noticeable flaws or crisis in the state and hence should not barred from functioning effectively in the affairs of the PDP in Abia State.
According to Kalu, available data showed that monthly revenue allocation from the federation account and other internally generated revenue had increased tremendously in the last seven years and he estimates the total earnings for the incumbent government at over N1trillion, enough money to have transformed the economy of the state with positive impacts on the state of infrastructure and the lives of its citizens.
“I am not the problem of Abia State,” Kalu said.
“And I cannot be a problem for the same people that I love so much. The only question I am asking the governor of Abia State and which I have not stopped asking him is that he should rule our people in Abia with his conscience.
“What the governor has collected so far in the last seven years is over N1trillion Naira from the Federal and Allocation Accounts Committee. We have the data of how much the state gets from federal allocation. When I was governor between 1999 to 2007, we got about N108billion (one hundred and eight billion Naira) for that eight years .
“But the current governor in seven years has collected over one trillion Naira from the federation account So when he goes and builds a house and paint it and tell the whole world how much he has spent he does know that we have the data . The entire project he has embarked upon so far is not up to N6 billion. Not what he is showing to the people in the papers. And we will provide this data at the appropriate time. He cannot go free by toiling with the lives and process of democracy in Abia State.
Why must you focus all your attention and energy on one man, instead of developing the state? Why? I am not the issue in Abia State. But the governor thinks so.
“The governor has excuses for everything. I have to speak up. I think the whole mediocrity should stop, proper governance should take place. This I not how to govern a state and its people,” Kalu stated.
The former Abia State governor said he was ready to subject his eight years administration to an audit by any reputable global audit firm to end all allegations bothering on how he administered the state during his tenure.
“I am ready to also pay the bills for a financial audit of my administration, so that the public would understand what the issues are in Abia state and be able to evaluate the two administrations properly,” said Kalu.
“In fact, I am ready to pay fifty per cent of the cost of such an audit, and let the state government pay the remaining fifty percent so that we can carry out a thorough audit on the finances and expenditure of the state.
“Abia State has become a gutter. The evidence is there. That would buttress my point. So I don’t particularly see any reason why anyone who does not have the right facts should decided to lie against another person.
“We will invite reputable audit firms including Ernst & Young, KPMG, Akintola Dellloite & Touch, PriceWaterHouse Copper, just any reputable audit firm to carry out the audit so that the truth would be straightened . I think that is how a civilized society works if it seeks to know the truth. Not throwing mud at people who have served their people meritoriously like I did,” he added.
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