By Ada Bosa
‘If I were the governor of Anambra State, I will punish the staff in the liaison office who failed to identify persons claiming to be from Anambra State , and bringing them home if confirmed, provided to got their allocation from the budget , and as governor of Lagos, I would punish those who brought in 14 persons into Onitsha and failed to do a proper handover for any reason, even if one side failed to turn up’ –Senator Ngige
Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District and front line governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige has asked the people of Awka in Anambra State to rejoice in measured steps as the plan for Awka as contained in the Constituency projects for the area is not fully yet realized.
Awka recently got a boost in their electric supply with the injection of six megawatts of electricity into the Agu-Awka sub-station via the Enugu supply line, one of the three major supply lines emplaced into the appropriation bill by the Senate Committee on Power, where Ngige is Vice Chairman.
This development reflected in the tumultuous reception given to Ngige when he arrive Awka at the weekend for the last phase of his third quarter town hall meetings and thank you visit to the federal constituency comprising Awka North and South Local Government Areas
The other two are the new Onitsha industrial supply line from Benin City and the Nnewi supply line through Aba axis.
According to Ngige, ‘It is not yet time for Awka to celebrate as this is only a test-transmission, which at the end will lead to the introduction of 15 megawatts and then 30 in quick succession.
Ngige noted that it is only one step in a long journey to raising Awka from the underdeveloped capital it is now, into a capital city that Ndi Anambra will be proud of, when you have elected me in to the governorship seat from March Next year’.
Ngige spoke at his last of the three third-quarter constituency meetings, which also afforded Nigeria’s busiest and most productive senators the chance to thank the people of the federal constituency for their massive support during the senatorial elections.
Ngige also seized the moment to pooh pooh those who claim that he in not active in the Senate saying that it is either they do not have television sets in their house or they are not in the proper frame of mind to appreciate hard work and results’
He explained that what he is doing in the Senate is complete legislative work , which bother on teamwork and not a scamper to take credit for bills which may not add to the quality of people’s lives adding that ‘that is not enough for anyone to begin to sponsor negative reports in the media to serve his own narrow interests’
According to Ngige, why should those who speared this poison forget our anti-Gay Bill co-sponsored by me? Why did they forget that the Health committee that I belong to sponsored the Bill for the review of the National Health Insurance Scheme and that it even takes the sponsors of the bill and its opposers to give value to the legislative aprt of a senator’s business.’
On a lighter note Ngige added: ‘But assuming without conceding that I was not an active senator, why are the same mischief makers reluctant to support me to return to the governorship position, which they accept I did well?’.
Will they refuse to move forward and refuse to clear the road? Ngige asked in Igbo shortly before the question and answer session.
Although he did not name anyone, observers believed it was a veiled reference to Gov. Peter Obi who has referred to Senator Ngige on three different occasions as an inactive senator.
Ngige took time to explain to the constituents his potion on the repatriation of destitute to Anambra, noting that ‘I went to Lagos in anger because I cannot be in the same party with the Lagos State governor and my people will be maltreated’, but was surprised to be shown documents showing that Lagos State government had been in communication with Anambra State since April 09, 2013, and yet Anambra State government could not work out an adequate response to Lagos’
‘If Anambra State government had any misgivings about the intentions of the Lagos State government, they had ample time to say so’ Ngige said adding that I received the kind of letters Obi received when I was the governor of Anambra State and I did not neglect the people like they did, but took custody and adequate care of them’
Continuing he said that when Lagos now called to remind the liason Officer, and to find out why she was yet to identify the people who claimed to come from Anambra he claimed that they had no funds to run the Alison office in Lagos’
Ngige blamed Anambra State government for gross neglect of duty and also blamed the emissaries from Lagos for dropping the 14 persons they brought home under tight security without signatures, noting that if it was senior offices that were sent, they should have known that they should check into a hotel when their Anambra State counterparts failed to show up to receive them.’
In conclusion Ngige noted that as a governor, I would have punished the Anambra State Liaison Office r in Lagos for neglecting their duty, provided I have released the funds budgeted for the office, and as Lagos State governor, I would punish those people who now deposited person in their care in a government office without handing over to anybody in particular.
He therefore noted that since both sides have their issues, it is better to learn from that and proceed ,noting that inter-governmental relations is not consummated on the pages of newspapers as Anambra State government tried to portray.
