From Okey Sampson, Aba

 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Abia State, Prince Benedict Benjamin Apugo has lambasted members of the National Assembly from the South East for not representing the interest of Ndigbo well.

Apugo raised his voice against the backdrop of the fact that the controversial Lagos/Calabar rail line would run through the coastal states without having a link with the South East.

Speaking in Umuahia, Apugo said: “How can I feel happy? That was why I said we don’t have any senator. What about the South East senators. Were they not there when the budget was presented?”

Taking on the senators specifically from the zone all of who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC BoT member said it was disheartening that such a monumental project which would impact positively on the economy of the South East would elude the zone and those who had  gone to represent the people would not raise any objection.

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“It is heart rending that such project would be tabled before the Senate and the South East was not in the plan, yet those who claim they are representing the people kept quite, it is unheard of.

“How can new rail lines criss-cross the country, from Lagos to Calabar and from Lagos to Kano without any plan of going through the South East and our senators are busy sleeping at the Senate chamber or at best lead others on solidarity to the courts.”

Apugo said he was surprised at the level of docility being exhibited by senators from the South East and urged them to wake up from their slumber.

“These people that have gone to represent us that call themselves senators cannot talk because they have skeleton in their cupboards you can only speak if you are clean. They all have one problem or the other with EFCC.”

Apugo called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take a second look at the controversial rail line project and bring the South East, which he said needed it most going by the entrepreneurial nature of the people, into the picture, stressing that this would give the people a sense of belonging.