U-Report: “Impeach Governor Theodore Orji”, South-East Human Rights Agenda Urges Abia State House Of Assembly

Governor Theodore Orji

Report By: Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy

South-East Human Rights Agenda, an umbrella body of human rights activist and people’s rights defenders has called on the members of Abia State House of Assembly to commence the process of impeachment of Governor Theodore Orji for what the group described as gross abuse of office and failure to implement the State’s 2012 budget as was passed into law by the House.

According to the group, the Gov. Orji’s failure to implement the State’s budget is the core reason for the continued mass decay of the State infrastructure, a situation that has brought untold hardship to the people of Abia State.

The Governor is also accused of high level of fiscal indiscipline in the management of the State funds. This has led to State owing its workforce a backlog of unpaid salaries, unpaid pensions and gratuities to retired public servants and the sack of teachers in the State’s education sector, a very vital sector in the quest for human capital development, in his insincere bid to down size the State wage bill.

The group furthers accuses Gov. Orji  of heavily padding the State’s security budget, giving  him the leverage to siphon the state resources through the notorious non-accountable monthly security votes.

The massive state of bad roads in the State, especially in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the State was also decried by the group.

“Virtually every part of Aba is in a shameful state of disrepair. One cannot mention any particular road in the city that can be said to be in good state.

“Before now, the roads we could consider as the best in Aba were Faulks, Azikiwe, Mosque and East Street all of which were reconstructed by the government of Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe. Although the previous and present governments did some minor repairs on these roads, but presently, they have deteriorated almost completely and the rest of the roads in the city are just nightmares.”

While not sparing Federal roads in the State which are all death traps, the group stated that other strategic roads in the Aba such as Milverton, Ohanku, Osusu, Omuma, Port Harcourt and Ikot Ekpene roads were completely impassable, stressing that this has adversely affected the economy of the town in particular and the state in general.

“Aba has been cut off from the rest of the country because apart from the pitiable condition of the internal roads, all the other roads leading into the city ; Port Harcourt, Ikot Ekpene and Aba/Owerri roads are all gone.

“It no longer makes much economic sense for people to come into Aba to transact business because of the bad nature of the roads which has doubled the cost of transportation and sky-rocketed the cost of goods thereby causing untold hardship to Abians.

In order to end the menace of bad governance in Abia and restore the State to the pathways of growth and progress, the group calls on the Abia State House of Assembly to commence the immediate process of the impeachment of the Governor or face recall by their respective constituencies who have been denied democracy dividends and are adequately mobilized by economic deprivation to take their destiny in their own hands.

 Signatories To The Impeachment Call Are:

1. Barr. Slyvanus Ibechido

Human Rights lawyer, Umuahia

2. Chinedu Nwukwu

    Save Abia Now (SAN)

3. Concerned Abia Citizens, Lagos State Chapter

4. Chibuike Allison

    Society for Economic Rights & Justice (SERJ)

5. Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor

     Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development(FENRAD)

6. Louisa Eikhomun

     Echoes of Women in Africa Initiative (ECOWA)

7. Bright-Chuks Ogbonna

     Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Abia State

8.  Duru Catherine

      Echoes of Women Africa Initiative (ECOWA)

9.  Chukwudi ozor

      Civil Liberties Organization, Abia State

10. Comrade Godson Umelo Ibekwe

       Center for Popular Participation & Local Initiative (CENPPALIN)

11.  Comrade Emenike Ogba

       State secretary, Campaign for Democracy (CD)

       Abia state chapter

12. Comrade Chuka. P. Okoye

       South East Youths for Development & Good Governance (SEYDGG)

13. Eusebio Substance

       Save Nigeria Group

       Abia State Chapter

14. Comrade Nwafor Ebi Eke

      National Publicity Secretary

      National Youth Alliance for Democracy (NYAD)

15. Comrade Henry Nwaigwe

       Movement for Peace & Development in Niger-Delta (MPDND)

       Abia State Chapter

16. Comrade Onyekachi Uche

       Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC)

17. Onyemachi Oji

       Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Centre

18. Mike Opia

       Centre for Development & Civic Education.

19. Chigozie Ubani

      Abia Indigene & Public Analyst

20. Adindu Chinwuba

      South-East Budget Network, Abia State Chapter