The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Ebonyi state chapter Thursday berated the state government for the alleged planned sell of the state liaison offices across the country.
In a statement by the state chairman of the party, Mr. Okorafor Tochukwu Okorie, he said the party viewed seriously what it termed the nefarious plot by the governor and his cronies to fritter away the common patrimony of Ebonyi people without the slightest element of due process.
Okorie further stated that “insinuations in some quarters has that Umahi plans to acquire these properties using proxies is worrisome and called on the State House of Assembly not to be a willing accomplice in any plot to short-change Ebonyi people.
“Umahi’s penchant for primitive acquisition must be checked if the state will have any assets left by the time he is done in 2023”, Okorie said.
Decrying what he referred to as the deep level of poverty in the state, Okorie wondered what has put Umahi under such intense financial pressure to necessitate the sale of state assets in such a shoddy manner and promised that the People’s Democratic Party will do whatever it takes within the ambits of the law to ensure that the right thing is done.
In his statement, Okorie said, “We will not stand idly by and watch an inept and patently corrupt government eviscerate the state while more and more citizens slip into abject poverty on daily basis. We know how Umahi has boasted to the world that he has not borrowed any money for infrastructure.
Meanwhile the stock of Ebonyi’s foreign debt rose by 39.6 percent from 47.2 million dollars in December 2015 to 65.9 million dollars in December 2020. Is Umahi’s planned sale of state-owned facilities to enable him service the huge foreign and domestic debt he has accumulated?” he queried.
Okorie also described as irresponsible and totally reprehensible the planned sale noting that “no government in Ebonyi in the last 22 years of this democratic dispensation had received as much money in federal allocation and Internally Generated Revenue as the present government and yet none of them attempted such depredation.”
While calling on the governor to halt the process forthwith, the PDP chairman also revealed that PDP will not hesitate to challenge the process in court should the governor remain obstinate. Okorie concluded saying, “As a responsible political organization, the PDP has a duty to protect the collective and individual interests of the masses of Ebonyi people. This duty we intend to carry out without compromise.”
