By Ihechinyere Chigemeri-Uwom
Abia Youth for Good Governance, a socio-political group, has cautioned politicians in Abia to desist from heating up the polity by promoting hatred through unfounded allegations against the state government.
The President of the Group, Mr Chinenye Ukaegbu, gave the warning on Monday during a press briefing organised by the group in Umuahia, the state capital.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a group of persons, under the aegis of Abia Youth Interest Group, had alleged that Gov. Alex Otti of Abia is sponsoring the election litigations of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, with state government’s funds.
Ukaegbu said that Otti was not bankrolling Obi’s court cases and described the allegations as false and malicious, capable of destabilising the state.
He said that it was unfortunate that young people would allow themselves to be used to advance an agenda geared towards causing chaos in Abia.
“The group and their sponsors are unreasonable and we feel constrained to disabuse the minds of unsuspecting members of the public,” Ukaegbu said.
He described the governor as an experienced financial expert that would neither mismanage the scarce resources of the state nor use it to fund any venture that would not contribute to the development of Abia.
Ukaegbu said: “The sponsors of the press conference where the allegations were made are the same elements who sponsored a false story a few months ago and alleged that Gov. Otti did not put President Tinubu’s portrait in Government House and that he said he didn’t recognise the president.
“The infantile calculation is that by churning out such despicable and libelous publications, they would incite the Presidency and the president against the governor.
“Unfortunately, those people they want to incite are smarter, more knowledgeable and have better access to information and cannot be deceived.”
Ukaegbu said that Otti, through his rebuilding agenda, had made remarkable achievements in the different sectors of the state’s economy which clearly showed his unrelenting resolve to rebuild Abia.
He said that the emergence of Otti as the governor of Abia was a testament that the people had given him their mandate to transform the state and he remains the best man for the job.
Ukaegbu said that it would be a disservice to the people of Abia to create a situation that would distract Abia government and hinder it from delivering the dividend of democracy to the people.
“We wish to use this opportunity to warn that we would no longer sit idly and watch enemies of the state stoke the embers of hate, violence and destruction geared towards holding us perpetually down.
“We would rise and resist these aggressors and their unprovoked aggression,” he said. (NAN)
