LP Extended Meeting: Labour Party Stakeholders Urged to question Gov Otti over alleged N100 billion non-existent projects in Abia | #NwokeukwuMascot

 Opinion 

As Labour Party stakeholders meet, Otti is urged to show them his N6.5 billion recreational facilities and other projects worth N100 billion by Eric Ikwuagwu | #NwokeukwuMascot

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To the stakeholders who are not from Abia but have heard many media sweet-tales about the wonders your man Otti is performing in Abia, this meeting offers the opportunity for the truthful ones among you to properly distinguish reality on the ground from Otti’s government of social media lies and propaganda.

Away from any eyewitness assessments of Otti’s supposed magic—which I can assure you no one will actually see—I understand that you are here to deliberate on the future of your party. Rumors of defections, the sit-tight National Chairman Abure, leadership issues, and other matters will certainly be at the forefront. I wish you all a fruitful deliberation and welcome you to Otti’s Abia—a land of social media infrastructural development.

Dear Labour Party stakeholders, while you are in Umuahia, be mindful of your personal security. The security situation in Abia today has deteriorated to a concerning level. Please, take caution.

I know many of you are well-traveled and have seen much of the world, so I urge you to keep in mind the following, based on both national and international standards:

Otti’s “mega” 6-lane boulevard:

Otti’s 6-lane boulevard is a mockery of all standard 6-lane roads. It’s important to note that Ossah Road is not just an ordinary street but a regular dual carriageway. Otti merely added shoulders on both sides and proclaimed it a “mega” 6-lane road. Roads are graded according to standard size and location, not by the white markings done by Otti’s engineers.

Dear Labour Party delegates, please take note of the narrowness of the road they call “the first-ever 6-lane road in Abia,” or you might pass it unnoticed, like Mazi A. O. Orji. As you enter from Owerri into Express-Tower, observe the tiny road with white markings dividing it into three lanes on either side. Make a mental note of the space between your vehicle and others on the same side, and ask yourself: is there anything “6-lane” about this road as exaggerated by Mr. Otti?

Abia recreational facilities worth N6.5 billion:

Dear Labour Party stakeholders, I know that your meeting will be mentally and physically exhausting. It will test your patience and emotions, and I anticipate tempers will flare at some point. Naturally, you will need a cozy place to unwind afterward. I recommend that you insist on relaxing at Otti’s latest addition to Abia’s infrastructural stock—the N6.5 billion newly built recreational facilities. With so much money allegedly spent on these facilities, which nobody has seen, I’m certain they must be state-of-the-art.

ICT infrastructure worth N3 billion:

Given that technical glitches (largely ICT-dependent) were blamed for your presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi not winning the 2023 election, your party should have a vested interest in ICT development. Otti, your only Labour Party Governor, claims he has built a state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure. I am sure Labour Party stakeholders will want to tour this well-equipped facility, despite the fact that nobody has seen it. Perhaps Otti will use this opportunity to commission these “mega” projects, especially since no Labour Party leader came to Abia for his 100 days in office to commission the mere asphalted roads. After all, even Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos didn’t show up.

Agricultural seedlings worth N4.2 billion:

Mr. Peter Obi has always championed a production economy, rejecting the consumption economy. Can Mr. Otti kindly show you the location of the mega farm that supposedly consumed N4.2 billion worth of seedlings? Also, let Otti explain how he spent N58.7 million daily over nine months to run his office in Nvosi, his private residence. Furthermore, he should explain why the security situation in Abia continues to worsen, despite taking billions of taxpayers’ money for security votes. If Mr. Obi is against consumption, why did Otti spend N99.9 million daily on feeding his government house over nine months?

Labour Party stakeholders should demand to see the locations of the following projects, collectively worth about N100 billion. Stakeholders should verify their existence:

1. Construction & rehabilitation of public schools - N11.94bn

2. Construction & rehabilitation of office buildings - N4.8bn

3. Construction of infrastructure - N3bn

4. Research & development - N7.28bn

5. Capacity building - N3bn

6. Erosion control - N1bn

7. Construction of recreational facilities - N6.5bn

8. Construction/rehabilitation of various completely failed roads - N10bn

9. Construction of agricultural facilities - N1.6bn

10. Construction/rehabilitation of law courts - N2.14bn

11. Construction of hospitals - N3bn

12. Improvement of agricultural seedlings - N4bn

13. Water projects - N770m

14. Construction of ICT infrastructure - N2.46bn

15. Water pollution prevention & control - N805m

16. Capacity building - N3bn

17. Security vote - N14bn

Bragging rights:

Labour Party is contesting the Edo governorship election. Therefore, stakeholders should feel confident in campaigning for another Labour Party candidate to become the second Labour Party Governor—if Otti can show where this infrastructure, totaling N100 billion, is located.

Public servants:

Abia’s public servants are the most impoverished. The workers themselves would like to know what they did wrong to deserve such ill treatment from a supposedly labour-friendly government that is anything but worker-friendly. Pensioners were tricked into forfeiting their entitlements, over 20,000 poor workers have been sacked, and salaries remain unpaid—even under the pre-2019 salary structure. The N70K minimum wage seems to be a low priority for Otti, just as youth employment isn’t.

Labour Party stakeholders should ask Otti to show them any project he has started and completed. If he has none, they should caution him to stop the needless exaggerated praises on social media, which are funded with millions of Abia taxpayers’ money.

Many pertinent questions remain—including the surprising, rapid rise of signature projects within one year.

Labour Party stakeholders: please, go and verify! Keeping it honest @Oracle

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