The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom has expressed disappointment over the recent revelation made by the Debt Management Office on the debt owed by Akwa Ibom State.
In a statement signed by the state publicity secretary of the party, Nkereuwem Enyongekere, it questioned how the governor, Udom manages the state’s resources.
Read the statement below:
“Every week brings a different piece of sad and depressing news about Akwa Ibom State. If it is not huge unemployment figure, it is high HIV/AIDS prevalence or students’ poor performance in WAEC examinations or mass poverty and deprivations. Our state just keeps trending for the wrong reasons under Gov. Udom Emmanuel. We are the butt of jokes in the Nation. Early this week, the Debt Management Office (DMO) revealed that our government owes the Banks a whopping N239.2 billion, the third highest among the States in Nigeria. Over 80% of it was procured by Gov. Udom Emmanuel.
This revelation simply highlights just how badly the governor has managed our finances since he became our chief accounting officer. Akwa Ibom people deserve explanations on what Gov. Udom Emmanuel has done with all the resources his administration has earned. As a political platform that espouses probity, accountability and transparency, APC calls Mr Emmanuel to address the State immediately and give a full account of how he has spent our money. We hereby urge the elders and the people of the state to demand explanations from Gov. Udom Emmanuel on what he did to the N1.6 trillion that has accrued to the State under his watch.
When the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported last month that our unemployment rate is as high as over 46%, the second highest in the country, the governor flew off the handle, struggling to deny the irrefutable fact. It will be interesting to see how this Denier-in-Chief will try to repudiate this humungous debt figure announced by the DMO. This time around, will he accuse the DMO of being biased or partisan?
Ordinarily, debts are used by governments to finance deficits and fund infrastructural development. Lagos State, the highest debtor (N493.3 billion) is building a metro rail from Badagry to Marina. Rivers State, the second highest debtor (N266.9 billion) is undergoing tremendous infrastructural renaissance. Right now, five flyover bridges are being built simultaneously in Port Harcourt. But there is no such investment in Akwa Ibom State. There is just nothing to show for all that we have earned or borrowed. Gov. Udom Emmanuel has not completed a 10-kilometer stretch of dual carriageway any way in our state. The governor talks glibly about a syringe factory located in his Onna LGA; but who owns it? He talks about Ibom Air. Again, what is the ownership structure, and how much did the state invest in it and much revenue is coming into the State’s coffers from it?
As we have said before, this governor is just out of his depth. He indulges in wastes of resources, reckless spending of money and setting wrong and confusing priorities. We are convinced that there are also many cases of corruption at the highest level of government. In December 2018, Gov. Udom Emmanuel was indicted by the EFCC for money laundering, thus becoming the first and only sitting governor to receive such a badge of shame. Just before the 2019 elections, the State government hurriedly borrowed N3.5 billion from Zenith Bank, ostensibly to install security cameras on Uyo streets. Not a single camera has been installed any where in our State. Not even a pin-hole camera. We have since learned that the money went into private pockets, the same way monies withdrawn to finance the abandoned Ekom Iman Flyover Bridge went. Our resources are frittered away through unscrupulous schemes. These are some of the reasons our State continues to be stuck in economic quagmire, while our people are crushed under a huge debt peonage that will, unfortunately, last through future generations. How sad?
Akwa Ibom State Chapter of APC wishes to note that at the right time, we will support the EFCC and other anti graft agencies to recover all sums stolen from our treasury since May 30, 2015. We shall work with the federal authorities to bring justice to our people for the sufferings and criminal neglect they have suffered under this administration”.