ABA —ALL Progressives Congress, APC,
governorship aspirant in Abia State, Sir Friday
Nwosu, has said that with efficient management
of the internally generated revenue, IGR, accruing
to the State, Abia does not need federal
allocations to pay salaries and pensions.
Nwosu noted that Abia is endowed with
abundant human and natural resources and a
huge IGR base and wondered why Governor
Okezie Ikpeazu had found it difficult to pay
salaries and pension despite several bailouts to
the state from the federal government.
Addressing Abia South zonal officers of the party
at his country home, Mgboko Umuoria in
Obingwa council area, the APC chieftain said the
governor has refused to use available resources
to develop the state while the people suffer from
abject poverty and vowed to reverse the trend
when elected governor in 2019.
“I don’t know really if the pockets of Abia state
are torn. Whether the money we make from
federal allocation and IGR are put into torn
pockets to and fro Abuja and Umuahia in a way
that before they get down from Abuja to
Umuahia, the money would have fallen off
unnoticed. Or probably, the IGR also gets lost
before it reaches the treasury. The IGR from Aba
town is enough to run the state. But where does
these funds go to?
“When you look at this state, it’s just like a
place devastated by thunder. Take a good look
at Umuahia, the city has remained a provincial
capital as it was in the first Republic. There’s no
development, no addition, no change. Look at
Owerri, it’s just 15 years older than Umuahia,
but Umuahia today is not like one part of Owerri
in terms of development. Go to Dutse, when
Jigawa was created in 1991, Dutse was like
Itungwa or Omoba, but today, Dutse is
metropolitan. States like Gombe and Kebbi have
transformed.
“Abia is blessed with human and natural
resources and a huge IGR base.”
governorship aspirant in Abia State, Sir Friday
Nwosu, has said that with efficient management
of the internally generated revenue, IGR, accruing
to the State, Abia does not need federal
allocations to pay salaries and pensions.
Nwosu noted that Abia is endowed with
abundant human and natural resources and a
huge IGR base and wondered why Governor
Okezie Ikpeazu had found it difficult to pay
salaries and pension despite several bailouts to
the state from the federal government.
Addressing Abia South zonal officers of the party
at his country home, Mgboko Umuoria in
Obingwa council area, the APC chieftain said the
governor has refused to use available resources
to develop the state while the people suffer from
abject poverty and vowed to reverse the trend
when elected governor in 2019.
“I don’t know really if the pockets of Abia state
are torn. Whether the money we make from
federal allocation and IGR are put into torn
pockets to and fro Abuja and Umuahia in a way
that before they get down from Abuja to
Umuahia, the money would have fallen off
unnoticed. Or probably, the IGR also gets lost
before it reaches the treasury. The IGR from Aba
town is enough to run the state. But where does
these funds go to?
“When you look at this state, it’s just like a
place devastated by thunder. Take a good look
at Umuahia, the city has remained a provincial
capital as it was in the first Republic. There’s no
development, no addition, no change. Look at
Owerri, it’s just 15 years older than Umuahia,
but Umuahia today is not like one part of Owerri
in terms of development. Go to Dutse, when
Jigawa was created in 1991, Dutse was like
Itungwa or Omoba, but today, Dutse is
metropolitan. States like Gombe and Kebbi have
transformed.
“Abia is blessed with human and natural
resources and a huge IGR base.”