Ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan’s scheduled visit to Imo State on Friday, the Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decried the level at which the State government has continuously denied the presence of Federal Government in terms of projects, infrastructure and programmes in Imo state.
At the party secretariat in Owerri the Imo State capital, a chieftain of the party in the state and member of the Federal Executive Council, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Professor Viola Onwuliri alleged that the state government, under the All progressive Congress (APC), in recent times had continued to criticise the Federal Government without any cause.
She said the claim by the state government that there was no federal presence in the state was untrue and a campaign of calumny. She insisted that the Federal Government, through the NDDC, Sure-P, UBEC, Foreign grants and Federal Allocation and many other avenues had done a lot in the state in terms of job creation, construction of quality roads, building of schools, hospitals and many empowerment programmes which were all under the transformation agenda of the Jonathan Led administration which is aimed at touching the lives of Imo people and the entire south east.
The foreign minister further said that the State governor, after 2 years in office, had not fulfilled his campaign promises.
“He has not made any positive change in the lives of Imo people,” Professor Onwuliri said.
She cautioned the State government to stop playing politics of bitterness and stay focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to Imo people.
Reacting to the allegations, the Imo State Commissioner for Information, Mr Theodore Ekechi, insisted that the Federal Government had continued to marginalise the state in terms of projects and presence in the state since the state Governor was of the opposition party.
He added that since governor Rochas Okorocha assumed office , visible landmark achievements had been recorded and that claims by the people’s Democratic Party were that of a sinking party being threatened by the achievements of the Okorocha led administration in just two years of office.
He added that what Governo Okorocha had achieved in two years of office, the 12 years of PDP administration in the state never achieved it.
He called on the people of the state to disregard any false claims by the PDP as the State government was resolute in changing the lives of Imo people.
