ABUJA—Ohanaeze Ndigbo Caretaker Committee, yesterday, told the
President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, that President Jonathan lied
to the Igbo nation about awarding contract for the construction of
Second Niger bridge and major federal roads in the South East.
Listing
Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway and Enugu-Umuahia-Aba Expressway, the
committee said that up till now, work was yet to start at the sites.
It
added that no financial commitment had been made by the Federal
Government to commence the construction of the Second Niger Bridge,
saying that those were deceptive campaign messages to Ndigbo.
The committee made the revelation during its congratulatory visit to Buhari at the Defence House in Abuja.
The leader of the delegation, Chief Ralph
,
who spoke on behalf of the Committee, however, told the President-elect
that the South-east was a silent supporter of his presidential
ambition.
He also stated that the region would fully support the incoming government to succeed, urging him to reconstruct Nigeria.
Revisitation
of the report of Oputa Panel and the issue of abandoned property in the
country were also other matters the committee presented before Buhari.
He
said: “This is a delegation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Caretaker Committee, who
proudly took side with you, convinced that what Nigeria needs today is
the leadership that you will provide to rebuild our battered and
pulverised nation.
“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Caretaker Committee is
fully aware of the difficult and daunting work that has befallen on your
shoulders. And we are here to offer our commitment that Ndigbo will
stand shoulder to shoulder with you on this mission to reconstruct our
nation.
“We are also aware that our cry of marginalization is not
unique to our region, but ours stands out as an SOS case as a region
criminally neglected and abandoned by the outgoing administration.
“During
your campaign tours, you saw things for yourself and needless reminding
Your Excellency that South-east is an emergency case. You drove through
the badly neglected and impassable Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway and
the Enugu-Umuahia-Aba Expressway, needless to mention the Oba-Okigwe
Highway.
“Contrary to the election claims by the outgoing
administration, no appreciable work is going on these roads, information
has shown that no financial arrangement has been firmed up for the
Second Nigeria Bridge. The Oputa Panel report has been gathering dust
and Ndigbo have pleaded for the revisitation of the so-called abandoned
property in Nigeria and its collateral reparation demand.
“One common
denominator is that unknown to a vast majority of Nigerians, Ndigbo
were the silent majority supporters of General Muhammadu Buhari, GMB,
but a twist of “what is wrong with Nigerian” electoral result cannot
prove it.
Obioha also made a case for the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, to be ceded to the South-east.
“This
body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Caretaker Committee, is a baby conceived by Chris
Ngige and delivered by Chief Mbazulike Ameachi and handed over to
Ndigbo to check excesses of the people who were just agents of a
pre-determined agenda.
“Your Excellency, you were aware that the
South-east was targeted by the PDP rigging machine which produced an
election result that denied the zone of even a single senator and only
three non-ranking House of Representatives members.
“Ndigbo request
that you adopt the principle of necessity to give the zone the position
of Secretary to the Government of the Federation which is your
prerogative and in addition, a position of one Presiding Officer in the
House of Representatives,” he stated.
According to the leader, Buhari assured them of equity.
“He gave us assurance that he is going to treat the entire nation as his constituency for all and we believe him,” he said
Also
speaking, a member of the delegation, Senator Chris Ngige said that
though the party was yet to make a categorical statement on the issue of
SGF, he was optimistic that it would eventually consider the South-
east.
“Well, I was in the first delegation that came the last
time, but we cannot say for now that our party has zoned the position of
SGF to the South-east because we have a Senate committee that is still
working on distribution of party offices, executive and that of
legislature which is where we have the Senate President, Deputy Senate
President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker of the House of the Representative as
presiding officers.
Source: VanguardNigeria
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