From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A former banker and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Alex Otti has expressed worry over the response of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu concerning the Osisioma Flyover his administration began about six ago.
Ikpeazu was quoted to have during a local radio programme in Aba earlier in the week, responded to a caller who requested to know when the Flyover would be completed, thus: “Does the Flyover concern you people? Were you people the ones that asked me to build the Flyover? Was I not the one that took the decision to build it? It has now moved from Center Table to Flyover.
“I was the one that woke up, designed my thing, brought White people and asked them to build the Flyover for me, and I have been paying them according to my income and they have been doing it. You can see that it’s stretching, and it’s at stone base level, and you people keep asking me about Flyover. Some of the people that are asking me about the Flyover don’t even have cars. Are they going to climb the Flyover on foot? What concerns them with Flyover?”
In a statement titled: Gov Okezie Ikpeazu: Flyover Gbasara Anyi (Flyover concerns us) by Ferdinand Ekeoma, Otti’s media adviser, the ex-banker said he listened with shock and disappointment the governor’s responses to some of the questions posed to him during the programme.
Otti said the responses particularly as they concern the Faulks Road and Osisioma Flyover “has added to numerous miscalculated media gaffes that are making Abia the most hilarious comedy skit on social media”.
Otti observed that during the interview, the governor admitted releasing extra N2.5 billion to the contractors handling Faulks Road.
He said if this sum is added to the N6.8 billion which the government previously claimed was spent on the construction of the road, it would add up to N9.3bn he claimed was spent on the construction of a road of less than 6 kilometers.
On the Osisioma Flyover, Otti said the Governor’s response could be anything but uncouth and disrespectful to Abians, adding that Ikpeazu gave the impression that Abia is his personal estate that can be administered as it pleases him without any objection from any corner.
“You forgot that the resources being used to execute the Flyover project belong to Abians, hence their right to ask questions and demand answers.
“You gave the impression that the outrageously costly Flyover project which has been going at a snail speed for over six years is your personal project being constructed by your personal resources which no one should question. But we know that is not the case”.
Otti advised that as the present administration has began to wind down, every efforts should be geared towards ensuring that every project it is executing, is of the highest quality so that the next administration wouldn’t have to redo the jobs.