If AlexOtti Succeeds PDP will be Dead in Abia State Ikpeazu’s ex-commissioner

Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Abia State, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, cautioned Abia Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, against accommodating any member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in his cabinet.

The PDP chieftain who gave the caution in an exclusive interview ,He said PDP had not done well in the state, and having been roundly rejected by the people in the just-concluded polls, should be kept at arms length.

” If Abians have said that PDP has failed, why should Otti appoint any PDP member into his cabinet?”

Chief Ogbonnaya who blamed Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu for the ruling party’s abysmal performance at the general elections, predicted a bleak future for the party.

” PDP will survive only if Otti fails. But as long as Otti performs, PDP has died a natural death in Abia.”

The former Commissioner for Trade and Investment also knocked Ikpeazu over the Governor’s recent claims that there was a deliberate attempt by “some powers that be” to deny Ndigbo the opportunity to rule Nigeria.

He accused Ikpeazu of contributing to the failure of Ndigbo in 2023 to produce Nigeria’s President, alleging that the Governor worked against Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

” If truth be told, Ikpeazu contributed to the failure of Ndigbo. There is no hiding place for him. He contributed in pushing Peter Obi out of the PDP.

” During the PDP convention in Abuja Ikpeazu directed Abia delegates to vote for Wike but 11 out of the 17 of us ignored him” .

Chief Ogbonnaya who said over 99% of Abians desired and prayed for change, adding that he was also happy over the emergence of Otti, who, he expressed faith, would re-invent the state.

The former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor alleged that there were monumental corruption in the state, and vowed to mobilise Abians to compel Otti to probe past administrations in the state.

He insisted that the accounts of the state had to be “looked into” by the in-coming administration, otherwise corruption with impunity might continue in the state.

The former Commissioner for Trade and Investment said Abians would weep if he revealed what he knew about the goings-on in the state.

” People will shed tears in Abia if we open the can of worms. Not everybody is happy with what is happening here.

” I’m not happy because of the few people making themselves lords, thinking that the poor civil servants should not get their pay.

” I’m not happy because pensioners are not paid while few nonentities are paid N2 million, N1 billion in one swoop in the name of contractors.

” One thing I like about EFCC is that they will invite you when you won’t have access to files.

“So, even though the Governor-elect has said he would not probe anybody, we will compel him to probe people. He has to probe them otherwise we will call him names.

” I know Otti as a man of truth and integrity. During one of our discussions I challenged him to bring Julius Berger, and just yesterday the Managing Director of Julius Berger visited Abia.

” So, we won’t agree with him if he says he will not probe anybody. We will march to Government House and sleep there until he constitutes a panel of inquiry.

” If nothing is done and we try to bury these atrocities, it will continue. So, we have to overhaul the system so that people will be afraid “.

The PDP chieftain who said Ikpeazu failed woefully, scored the out-going Governor 5% in terms of performance.

” I give him 5%. He failed totally. When you look at the resources available to him, he was not able to do anything.

” I told his inlaw that Ikpeazu won’t be able to win Senate seat because he didn’t perform as Governor. I was close to predicting his result. I’m not a prophet, I’m not a seer but I’m a dreamer; I dreamt where Ikpeazu failed, and he has failed!”

Chief Ogbonnaya said Ikpeazu’s poor performance and bad leadership style caused the PDP victory at the polls.

He accused the Governor of pocketing and running the PDP as a private estate.

” I was shouting but nobody listened. I said things would turn out against the PDP because of the attitude of the Governor. I blame Ikpeazu for the fate of PDP in Abia. He is the Leader of the party in the state but unfortunately, he alienated other stakeholders and pocketed the party as his personal estate. He decided where the governorship candidate would come from instead of allowing other stakeholders to give their opinion”.