Acho Obioma: lying since 1999 and pocketing Abia money in the process.

By Ikechukwu Iroha

I was still in the joyous mood of the Iriji festival I attended in my home town, Ohafia, when a friend forwarded a copy of so called "honorable" Acho Obioma's response to my private post giving a lie to his Vanguard interview and I couldn't help but laugh at his spirited attempt to cover up the truth through abusiveness, name calling and meaningless playing with words.

First of all, let me say that my response to Acho Obioma’s trash was not, and could not have been Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s reply, since I am not the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor. And the Governor Ikpeazu I know, will never ask his Chief Press Secretary, Enyinnaya Appolos, to waste time on a character like Acho. So face me and leave the Governor out of your wahala.

Unlike Acho Obioma, Governor Ikpeazu has never lived off spurious government contracts and has never hidden his humble background from Abia voters. He is an accomplished teacher and son of a teacher. Everything he has in life came through a dint of decent hard work and that much is known to every Abian.

Attempting to compare him to Iheanacho Obioma the wheeler-dealer Government Contractor will be a great disservice to decency and hard work.

I hereby challenge Mr Iheanacho Obioma to make haste and publicly expose any foreign account, property or investment owned by Governor Ikpeazu. He is also free to expose any act of corruption committed by the Governor and hastily send relevant documents and information to EFCC.

After reading  through Acho's response I never saw where he denied receiving money from previous Abia State governments without executing the relevant contracts. Instead he confirmed my assertion that he has been using courts to frivolously stop the state Government from re-awarding his non performing contracts in order to help long suffering Abians.

I challenge Acho Obioma to tell our people how much he has collected from previous Abia State Governments on that Ariam road. "Honorable" Acho Obioma tell your people how much you were paid and see if they won't stone you for abandoning that road.

Also tell them how many other contracts you collected mobilization money for and abandoned. They need to know how you became "rich" overnight through hanging around any government in power in Abia State.

In January 2015 one Madubuko Hart wrote the following about Acho Obioma:

"I have noted that Obioma is obsessed by many forces unless he repents. He has two construction companies today, a feat that Obioma could not achieve during his stay at the House. Obioma was a man who was always quarreling with his family members when he had no money even to eat, until Governor Orji rehabilitated him and settled a long time feud between him and his brother, hence the emergence of the construction company.

This is the way Obioma owned the company: “The level of crassness is that Chomen abandoned a job he was awarded after he received so much money to the tune of 200 million Naira to complete a road. But just like the rascal he is, he took the payment and ran away. If any is in doubt, check on the Ministry of Works in Abia and the Accountant General’s Office for details of the payments.”

I need not say more.

If Chomen wants to know what the governor has achieved he only needs to go round Abia state and see for himself. In just above 2 years more than 24 roads have been completed and delivered while contractors are active on 61 other project sites across the state. Thankfully non of those road contracts was awarded to Chomen and his other so called construction companies. Otherwise not even one road would have been delivered.

Acho Obioma, it is a fact that you have been involved in road contracts in Abia state since 2003 that you left the federal House of Representatives. Name one road awarded to you by the state government that you have completed and delivered.

Just one will do.

Also tell Abians exactly how much you have been paid for contracts since 2003 by Abia State Government.

That Governor Ikpeazu decided to do away with people like you is the reason we are making progress in Abia state. It is only a matter of time before those in the monkey pox political party you joined find out who you are and why you have not been able to win any election in Abia state since 2003.

Most importantly, vacate all your spurious court injunctions and allow Governor Ikpeazu to reconstruct Ariam Ikwuano ring road for the good people of the area. Also vacate all the other contracts you tied up in court because Governor Ikpeazu is not interested in giving you one kobo of Abia money to waste again in Abuja and Lagos on all sorts of things.

Political jumpologist!

On response to your challenge to publish details of your contracts and money collected, I assure you that I will personally visit the ministry of works to obtain and publish every single kobo you have collected from the state since 2003.

It is hardly useful to debate with a contractor who does not own a single earth moving equipment on what it means for a state government to acquire 6 brand new earth moving equipment for road maintenance. Governor Wike acknowledged how innovative the thinking of the Governor was and told the media he will go back to Rivers State and replicate the policy of equipping state road maintenance agency with brand new earth moving equipment.

Obviously contractor Chomen has never seen or owned a brand new caterpillar and hence not expected to see how novel it is for the state government to acquire 6 of such equipment from the best manufacturers in the world. That might as well have also explained why 6 brand new earth moving equipment looked like 3 in his eyes.

 I will attach the pictures of all 6 equipment and wait for Chomen to publish a single brand new caterpillar equipment ever owned by him or his spurious road construction companies.

Yet I must state that, from information available to me, Governor Wike came to Abia State to commiserate with the wife of the Governor who lost her mum and graciously agreed with his brother Governor to Commission the 6 earth moving equipment that is sure to make contractors like Chomen irrelevant and remove their sucking pipes from Aba treasury.  No wonder Acho Obioma took note, albeit with jaundiced eyes.

It is also to be expected that someone who has never really made anything in his life will expect that in 6 months a foreign company will commence and complete the execution of a $1.5b shoe factory project. Pathetic, to say the least.

Even the Ethiopia shoe factory by the same Chinese took more than 4 years to realize.

Huajian Group has a shoe factory near Addis Ababa employing 600 people, which opened in January 2012, and has committed to jointly invest $2bn (£1.3bn) over the next decade to create a light manufacturing special economic zone in Ethiopia, creating employment for around 100,000 Ethiopians. The company, which employs 25,000 workers in China, expects to be able to provide around 30,000 jobs in Addis Ababa by 2022.

The process for the actualization of that factory started in 2006 and the investors, after indicating interest in investing in Ethiopia, had to obtain necessary funding from China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund), a private equity facility promoting Chinese investment in the continent.

While the government understand that processes will be involved locally and internationally before the $1.5b investment will be realized, it has moved ahead to identify and prepare 30 Abians to travel to China and learn automated shoe making. On return they are expected to provide first line manpower that will help the Chinese investors set up at Aba as well as help train Aba Shoe makers to automate their systems in preparation for global competitiveness.

Mr Chomen, $1.5b international investment is way beyond your league of carrying files for road contracts in Abia state and you will do well to wait and see how a determined Government will ensure that our people win even more.

It is also interesting that Chomen is talking about "bribing judges" and yet cannot name or identify any bribed judge. Mr Obioma, you will be rewarded by the federal government for whistle blowing if you can take any information you have to Abuja and expose the government. Otherwise keep quiet and see how your well known judicial malfeasance in Abia State will unravel before your eyes. Hiding under court injunctions and threats of litigations won't work again in Abia under Governor Ikpeazu.

Prepare to answer to the people of Abia state on all the contracts you collected mobilization and other fees for and abandoned.

Your time and that of others who helped to under develop Abia is up for real.

A new Abia is emerging under the watch of Governor Ikpeazu and there is no room for monkey Pox politicians like Chomen who feasted on our common wealth for years.

Ikechukwu Iroha wrote from Umuahia