Stop attack on personalities, tackle economic woes, Ex-Ebonyi SSG tells Gov Umahi

Former Secretary to Ebonyi State Government, Professor Benard Ifeanyi Odoh has asked Governor David Nweze Umahi to concentrate on addressing the numerous economic challenges facing the State, instead of attacking personalities.

Prof. Odoh, who had last weekend defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), at a rally in Abakaliki, gave the admonition Friday while reacting to allegations by the state government that he was responsible for the sack of a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Chief Ogodo Ali Nomeh who, equally hails from the same Ezza North Local Government Area of the state.

Umahi had during the swearing-in of Chief Nomeh as Commissioner-designate for a yet-to-be-assigned portfolio in the state on Thursday, in Abakaliki said his decision to sack Nomeh was informed by what the “ex-SSG told me in a private discussion”.

‘If Governor Umahi can shamelessly claim that he sacked his commissioner on the basis of an alleged verbal communication with me, it stands to reason that his judgment is not only questionable but extremely faulty. Otherwise, how could a man with a sound mind entrusted with the fate of over three million people take such a weighty decision hastily, carelessly, and without due consideration.

“His Excellencies are not expected to act without clarity of thoughts and logic. This is the trouble with the present government. All his policies are not only ill-conceived but ill-motivated. The present Governor’s attempt at cover up is both cheap and demeaning of his status”, he said.

Recalled that the ex-state government’s scribe had on April 2nd this year in a rare display of courage, tendered a resignation letter to the government after putting in about 30 months in service.

According to him, “It is only regrettable that whilst this blame-game and buck-passing is daily on, in the state, the people now live on less than $200 as it’s per capital income.

“Investors are rarely attracted to economic environments with this kind of ridiculous ranking,” he said.

His words: “These issues include but not limited to: total collapse of public institutions of State, inoperative bureaucracy with Ministries having no Permanent Secretaries, near closure of the Local Government system in the State and over-centralized control of MDAs.”

He added that public infrastructures are all concentrated in mainly two locations; the Governor’s Uburu hometown and the Abakaliki Capital City with no serious efforts being made to drive developments down to the grassroots.

The Professor of Geophysics further accused the government of deliberately introducing policies of starvation, redundancy and unproductivity in the State’s Civil service, pointing out that pensioners and retirees have long been abandoned to fatalistic resignation.

While further accusing the government of over-taxation, Odoh urged Governor Umahi to address issues.

Quote:
“All his policies are not only ill-conceived but ill-motivated”. – Prof Odoh