Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has berated the All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in the State, Sonni Ogbuorji, over what he described as careless statements typical of one who has lost touch with reality.
Reacting to the statement credited to the embattled governorship candidate of the APC that the distribution of 70 vehicles by the state government to security agencies was a bribe, Umahi said it had further vindicated his stance that Ogbuorji is not in tune with reality and what good governance entails.
The Governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, noted that it was embarrassing for a man seeking public trust to become governor to descend so low to question the donation of vehicles to security agencies to safeguard the lives and property of the public, adding that the careless statement shows that he lacks knowledge of responsibility in governance.
Uzo said: “We saw the statement credited to Senator Ogbuorji campaign Organization describing the distribution of vehicles to security agencies in the state as bribe as not only embarrassing but smacks of a people who have lost touch of reality and those who have been clinically defeated by their won idiosyncrasies.
“The primary aim of every well meaning government should be security and when somebody who is seeking your mandate has shown apathy on security of lives and property as portrayed by Ogbuorji, then, there is serious problem.
“Every security conscious government knows that for effective security, there should be a synergy between the federal government and state as represented by the security agencies. In the area of the synergy, governments often times give as helping hands, logistics which includes but not limited to vehicles and other things to security agencies to enhance their operational proficiency. That is what Ogbuorji is questioning.”
Uzor further disclosed that Ogbuorji kicked against the distribution of the vehicles to security agencies because he saw that he has lost the election and has lost his contact within the police headquarters where he boasted of removing every Police Commissioner posted to the state who is not ready to work with him and his party to rig the governorship election.
He fired back on the statement from the same APC camp accusing Umahi of double standard as regards the Operation Python Dance III, adding that they lack information about the workings of government and therefore are always caught in their own web of trying to misinform the public.
He said Governor Umahi, who officially and personally flagged off the Operation Python Dance III at the Military Cantonment, Nkwagu, couldn’t have been said to be against the exercise.
Rather, the Governor as the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum warned the Army to be professional in their engagements.
He charged the APC gubernatorial candidate and his allies to face reality and desist from campaigns of calumny and blind criticism of well-intended government policies and programmes, which they are beneficiaries of.
Recall that Umahi had on Tuesday distributed 70 utility vehicles to aide security agencies in their task of ensuring safety of lives and property in the State.
In a swift reaction to the gesture, Ogbuorji, through his Campaign Organisation, had criticized the governor’s action, describing it as a bribe.