Ebonyi commissioner, Oge Ali to restore electricity in Afikpo, blames lawmaker of attempt to hijack fund

By, Uchenna Okeh, Abakaliki

The commissioner for power and Energy, Peter Oge Ali has vowed to do everything within his reach to ensure that electricity is restored fully in Afikpo community and the entire Ebonyi south zone soonest.

Oge Ali who briefed newsmen in Abakaliki shorty after the inspection of the level of work done in Afikpo electricity power plant, however blamed the lawmaker, Ukie Ezeali representing Afikpo North East Constituency of attempt to hijack the contract and fund meant for the restoration of electricity in Afikpo.

He equally blamed the lawmaker for executing the installation of street lights along Ndibe Beach Road in Afikpo North LGA with substandard materials, and revealed the preparedness of the ministry to always award contracts to professionals who will do good jobs and not unprofessionals.

According to him: “However smart those desperate overtures with rather ulterior motives may have seemed, it is only wise to state that Ukie Ezeali as a pretentious “lover of Ehugbo community” was not only being clever by half but may perhaps also be on a vendetta voyage.

“We strongly believe he merely wanted to paint the Ministry black before his people and position himself as having done more than other stakeholders because there is nothing about the release of funds and the project’s feedback that he is not fully aware of.

“This is to the extent that as a Legislator, though not a member of the House Committee on Power, Ukie Ezeali as the people’s representative had the exclusive privilege of being invited to be a part of the Committee when it visited the Ministry on oversight to make enquiries on the said Power project. And the committee was reasonably satisfied with the way and manner the project had been dutifully executed.

“Therefore, when a supposed leader in his class and caliber speaks about issues pertaining to government and governance as though it is a mere Beer parlour affair,his people should be worried and wary that there could have been a lot of devils in the details he has been furnishing the public with since the resurgence of his people’s rage. 

“Otherwise, apart from the distinctive roles of the Executive and legislative arms of government, he knows that all the key people handling the project are from his hometown and Afikpo Local Government Area. Even more so is the fact that the Governor had directed the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency, Princess Patricia Obila to supervise and ensure diligent execution of the project upon the said release of funds to the ministry.

“It is trite therefore to inform the world that we.know Ukie’s deep-seated grouse with the project and that is the fact that he desperately wanted to execute it as the sole contractor and perhaps supervisor. But he was denied because the Ministry wanted and eventually got someone with a superior knowledge and expertise in the Power field to handle the project to a superb finish and that it exactly got.

“Knowing his own personal antics for the meeting and also being abreast that the key figures handling the project are mainly his Afikpo town’s men, why didn’t Ukie Ezeali request the contractors and the Ministry staff who are from his Afikpo hometown to also be present in the meeting to at least clear the air on the roles of the Ministry regarding the baseless allegations he heaped on it on the said released fund? 

“This is even when it has been proven that he saw some of them in Afikpo just a few days before the general assembly meeting. To this end therefore, it is obvious and can reasonably be concluded that he is only attempting to fight back. But before that, Afikpo people should first of all ask him what is wrong with the street lights the government contracted him to install along Ndibe Beach Road in Afikpo?

In a swift reaction, the lawmaker, Ukie Ezeali said:  The governor, Francis Nwifuru released the funds to the Ministry of Power and energy to handle the rehabilitation of about 15 transformers within Afikpo Urban and with 2 at Unwana Community. 

“I had personally engaged the ministry of power to accelerate the completion of the rehabilitation of the 15 transformers as approved. The good news is that the  governor, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has stepped into the matter and braced all the bottlenecks to conquer them” he stated