From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has kicked against the setting up of a shadow government by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying what the party did was a treasonable felony and vowed to deal with it as such.
The Abia chapter of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC), the umbrella body of registered political parties in Nigeria, equally berated the PDP, describing the action as laughable.
Abia PDP had in a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Eric Ikwuagwu, disclosed that the chairman of the party, Abraham Amah, has approved the appointment of some Abians to serve in the Abia State Shadow Government (ABSSHG).
He said setting up of the ABSSHG reflect the commitment of the party to hold the State government accountable to its responsibility to Abia citizens, scrutinise its actions, inactions and policies and offer alternative opinions.
Reacting to the action of the PDP during a meeting with labour leaders in the state, Governor Otti attributed it to ignorance and lack of education in the rudiments of politics.
“There’s nothing like a shadow government, this is presidential democracy. You know the problem people have is ignorance and they don’t want to be educated. If you read about democracy, you will know that shadow government happens in a parliamentary democracy there’s nothing like that in a presidential democracy. So as far as I’m concerned, what they have set up is a government in exile.”
He said since such government is not in the extant law of the land and therefore not practised in Nigeria, he has instructed the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Ikechukwu Uwanna to deal with it as treasonable felony.
He advised politicians to get educated to help them out of acting foolishly as politics is not synonymous with foolishness.
“We are serious-minded people; we’re guided by the law. So, if a faction of the PDP set up a government in exile we’ll treat them as such. Let the law take its course and please advise people to read. When you see them, go and tell them to get educated, politics is not about foolishness. You come out, say anything you want to say, we are not all foolish. But what we have also told ourselves is that we will not get distracted. You know some of those things are set up to cause confusion and you leave the issue and start chasing shadows. In fact, that’s why they called themselves shadow. So, they will be chasing shadows.”
While saying the PDP’s action could be a way of trying to distract his government into chasing shadows, he vowed to remain focused on the mandate given to him by Abia people.
Similarly, earlier in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, Abia State Government said the PDP’s action has gone a long way to show they were yet to come to terms they were defeated in the last election in the state.self-caricature.
“The desperation of agents of the decimated Abia PDP was made manifest few days ago when the visible Abia PDP Chairman who was ‘elected’ to serve the party with other ‘elected’ State party Exco, appointed illusionary shadow Commissioners, Special Adviser, Senior Special Assistants, Director Generals, CSO, CPS, Chief Judge, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, SSG, Chief of Staff and Accountant-General under the yet to be created PDP State. In the same vein, the Abia chapter of IPAC, in a statement by Uluocha Chimex described the
recent shadow cabinet as a futile attempt by a failed political party.
Chimex, who is also the state chairman of Young progressive Party (YPP), said the move is not only a waste of time but also a blatant attempt to deceive the people of Abia.
“The PDP’s over 20-year reign in our state was marked by a glaring lack of meaningful infrastructure development, despite the vast resources at their disposal.”
He questioned the integrity of those appointed.
Investigations revealed that the majority of names on the Shadow Government list are those that have been critical of Otti’s administration, especially in the social media.
