A Commissioner for Information during the administration of Mr. Peter Obi in Anambra State, Chief Barr. Joe-Martins Uzodike, has said that the incumbent Willie Obiano administration lied by claiming that it inherited 96 roads from his predecessor when in actual fact he inherited only 52 roads.
Uzodike was reacting to a documentary by the Obiano Administration which was aired on many electronic media as well as published in different newspapers.
He said that the documentary claimed Obiano inherited 96 roads from Obi, out of which 51 had been completed and that he went ahead to award 179 roads himself out of which many have been completed and the remaining ones in various stages of completion. Uzodike said on Friday that the totality of such wild claims which must have culminated in Obiano saying that he had completed over 1,000 kilometres of roads did not concern him as such should be left to the people of the state to judge whether he is telling the truth or lying.
The former commissioner said in a statement that what was of concern to him was the claim of inheriting 96 roads from Obi instead of 52 and wondered the reason why they decided to double the number. “I do not know why they decided to double the number, but my interest is to correct factual details. It is on record, and I have the records, that Obi inherited 13 roads from Ngige which he completed, went on to construct 230 completed roads and left 48 for Obiano, out of which I am aware he has not done up to 5%. Even at that, before he left, Obi paid all the contractors and suppliers for the certificates they generated, which means he did not owe a single contractor,” he said.
Speaking further, Uzodike asked: “If as the Director-General of his campaign in 2013, he could abandon the Nkolifia (Awka-Etiti)-St. Peter Clever-Abada Junction road that passed my house and remained less than 100 metres to complete, which road do you think he completed?”
On the claim that the roads Obiano inherited from Obi are liabilities, Uzodike said: “I have followed the debate on road, where they tried in vain to categorised roads yet to be done as liabilities. I am waiting to see how he will end, because, beyond their lies, Obiano has not completed up to 5% of the roads he inherited from Obi, has not evidently done 10% of the roads he flagged of himself in different towns and will surely not achieve 12% by the time he will hand over. The way it is now, there is hardly a town in the state that does not have a road flagged of without mobilisation or a trip of sand tipped on it.”
Also speaking on the bridges, Uzodike said that most of the bridges mentioned in the documentary where bridges that are still in the stages Obi left them. He gave example with Ebenebe-Amansea Bridge, saying that the documentary claimed Obiano did the bridge when in actual fact the bridge remains as Obi left it.” He said that what happened was that he abandoned all the ongoing bridges and went to his place and constructed three bridges over one river, that led to a wasteland, inhabited by not more than 50 people.
Chief Uzodike advised Obiano to use the remainder of his tenure to correct so many wrongs he had done.
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