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Abia chapter of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has taken issue with the state government over the alleged use of labour party (LP) ward chairmen in federal government palliative distribution.
On the other hand, the state government has requested that politicians refrain from politicising all matters in the state, describing the allegation as unsubstantiated and lacking credibility.
In a statement signed by nine state chairmen of ten political parties, including APGA, NRM, APM, YPP, APP, NNPP, PRP, SDP, AAC and Accord Party, CUPP said, ‘Whereas other States consulted relevant stakeholders and constituted a committee with a view to ensuring that the PALLIATIVE gets to the targeted poor, the reverse is the case in Abia.’
‘Abia CUPP frowns at the negligence of other political parties by Gov. Alex Otti in distributing the FG Palliative. We, therefore, call on Governor Alex Otti to address Abians on why he used his Party Ward Chairmen and other Political Parties and relevant stakeholders who were not represented in the distribution of the FG palliative.’
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‘We equally call on the DSS, the Police and the Fed. Govt to investigate our claims with a view to correcting the anomaly’.
Countering this accusation, Fr. Christian Uche Anokwuru, the Special Adviser to Gov. Otti on Policies and Special Intervention, and the State Chairman of the Palliatives Sharing Committee, asserted that the distribution of the relief packages involved everyone.
‘I want to plead with the politicians not to politicize everything. Abia state is one of the first states that made public the structure we deployed to share the palliative, even before the press. On that day, we put to perspective that the committee formed by Otti was not only politicians, “myself, Rev’d Fr. Christian Uche Anokwuru, is the chairman of the Abia State palliative Sharing Committee, and then, we have commissioner for youth and sports, commissioner for women affairs, SSA to the gov on the poor and vulnerable, and then we have representatives from NLC, TUC, retirees and the CAN. All of them also addressed the press on that same day’.
According to him, ‘Anybody who is saying that the rice is politicized, that person is overreacting to issues that are not supposed to be politicized. The governor made it clear that the targeted audience for this palliative is the poor and we chose the method of “neighbour, know thyself” and we decided to use the 184 wards in the state to reach all the people who are poor.’
‘The reports we have been getting have been wonderful and we will not rule out of few complaints in a few places. There is no way you can do such sharing that people will not complain, but the majority are very happy that the poor were identified and were given this palliative and we made it clear that no grain will go to any political appointee or his or her families.’
‘Again, the governor will not share the palliative without a structure and the structure he used is very clear and that structure included not only politicians, but also other stakeholders and that is the report we are getting from the communities that the structure is very wonderfu’.
He further explained, ‘This is not a party thing, and the relevant stakeholders were chosen. We just guided the activity and it is not a party thing. At the ward level, that is where it is beautiful. At the ward level, it is the oha-na-eze (everybody) thing. Everybody was involved in that regard.’
‘The allegation by CUPP is very frivolous and unfounded. They just want to make “cheap political gain. Let them pick their community, use it as a specific example to say it was not well shared. It is just mere cheap political propaganda.’
‘Abia State Government is not using any ward chairman for the palliative sharing. It is an inclusive thing. It is not an issue of Labour Party and if we want to do it an LP thing, we will give it to the party chairman so that he will use his structure to share it. But we didn’t do that. We made it free and transparent’.
