PrinceBenjamin Apugo is the Oparaukwu/Ochiagha Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia State and a national caucus and Board of Trustees (BoT) member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has stated that32 years after its creation, Abia has scored zero, adding that a new government has taken over after the mess up by Abia looters over the years.

He said “People messed up Abia, not that the state was not having its subventions or not having its IGR, but the past leaders messed up the place. They stole everything here and never developed one single thing all these years. A new person has come in and I believe the new governor that has come will listen to people like us and do the right thing; he will not follow the bandwagon. I’m optimistic about Alex Otti because I can talk to him and he will listen; if he doesn’t listen, I will continue to talk to him, he must listen.

“Sincerely speaking to you, I am not in government; I’m not part of the government. I have been told that a lot of job is being done in Aba. If that is so, something has happened because it was not like that before. So, we can be looking at that of Aba to assess the 100 days. I have also heard that a lot of ghost workers have been fished out from Abia civil service who were being used to siphon money in the past. I was also informed that workers in Abia now receive their salaries at the end of every month, which was not the case before. I think these are some of the few things I will give Otti’s administration credit.

“The issue there is that I know Abia was looted. I know that many property that belong to the state of you and I, were stolen by individuals purportedly in the name of government when in actual fact, there was nothing that was attached to The government in that stealing. If Otti doesn’t get those things back and they are made public, some Abians will go to court to make sure all those property are revoked as long as findings point out they belong to the state. I won’t want those property after recovering you keep them, saying it is government property, I will want them destroyed so that the man will not see it again in life.

“Look at our market here which TA Orji took and sold. Just like the PWD in Umuahia that was in existence even when I was in school, go there and see the type of private buildings that were built there. Even the roads within the area were all blocked to serve the interest of one or two persons. Go to the cemetery, it is now a private estate, it was sold by the government of T.A Orji. Go to Ministry of Works, and that of Lands, you will see things that will make your heart to bleed. Otti is even slow on that, I don’t know the type of panel he constituted. The panel members were supposed to have finished their job by now. You know it’s only me who can say this and I expect you journalists to also help by reporting the way things are in the state,” he added.(Story adapted from Daily Sun)