By Eze Nwamadi, Ogbonna Asadu, and Ezema Igwenunu
It was the elements in the Enugu Labour Party, who, when you point to the ills and atrocities of their governorship candidate in the March 18, 2023 election, would tell you to face governance; that the elections were over. They attacked us when we wanted to tell the story of Edeoga’s brand of vile politics, his incapacity, incompetence, lack of character, and pedestrain disposition.
No sooner did the Supreme Court affirm Mbah’s victory than Edeoga began to seek slots in the Mbah Administration. After he had dragged Mbah’s name in the mud of deliberate falsehoods to his utter shame at the courts, Edeoga had the effrontery to ask to be given slots in the Mbah Administration. As what! Of course, that would be pouring new wine in old wineskin, in that Edeoga is clueless. Seeing that he was ignored, Edeoga mobilized his media boys to attack every bit of the Mbah Adminsitration’s policies, programmes, and activities. When that didn’t work as Mbah wounded them with his projects, they now resorted to pitting Mbah against Alex Otti of Abia State.
Incidentally, Alex Otti and Peter Mbah are two of a kind.The two governors are a gift to the South East in particular and Nigeria broadly, given the expertise they both have brought to bear on governance in terms of their development agenda. Mbah and Otti have backgrounds in the private sector where they rose to the apogee of their careers. Both had managed men, money, and material successfully. Otti is a first-class graduate of economics who rose to the level of an executive director in First Bank and the managing director at Diamond Bank. Mbah himself is a Marine Lawyer who distinguished himself in the downstream sector of Nigerian oil and gas economy. Mbah took from the rear the largest market share and revenue in the downstream oil sector, something he did with the magic of Pinnacle Oil.
Since their inauguration as governors on 29th May 2023, both Mbah and Otti had begun to implement their manifestos. Alex Otti had a 42-page manifesto with clear blueprints of his governance proposition to Ndi Abia. Mbah also has a manifesto that clearly fleshed out his value proposition of exponential economic growth via what he called disruptive innovation. Now, it should be recalled that the Enugu State Labour Party candidate in the election could not craft a manifesto. He practically showed that he had nothing to offer. Little wonder Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, publicly endorsed Alex Otti but shunned Chijioke Edeoga for want of competence. As a matter of fact, but for what would appear as ant-party, Obi would have publicly endorsed Mbah. He, however, gave tacit support to Mbah’s cabdidature, seeing his development agenda for Enugu State as shown in his manifesto was inimitably commendable.
So, it follows that Edeoga would instigate unnecessary comparisons between Mbah and Otti in such a way to present Otti as working and Mbah as doing nothing- a way of paying him back for his refusal to give him appointments in his government. What a shame! But the comparison is foolish and otiose. Enugu is not Abia, and both states have different circumstances. While Abia is an oil producing state and gains from the derivatives, Enugu has yet to benefit from this status.
Looking at what the two governors inherited, one finds that Otti is lucky to have inherited from Ikpeazu the sum of &115 million loan from African Development Bank meant for road constructions and erosion control. Otii has currently begun to commit that fund into the purpose for which it was procured. Mbah, on the other hand, inherited no such funds. He, however, is fiscally and financially intelligent. He has been able to creatively raise funding for the New Enugu City, the ongoing construction of 81 roads in the state, the ongoing building of 260 smart schools in the 260 wards of the state, the ongoing construction of 260 primary healthcare centres in the 260 wards of the state, the humongous water project at reticulation stage, and many other projects in agriculture, energy, transportation, ICT, to mention no more.
If comparison must be done, Mbah and Otti have creditably discharged themselves within so short a while. The 2024 budgets of the two states are largely capital project oriented in the ratio of 8 to 2 in favour of Capex. However, while the Abia budget is 80% debt enabled, that of Enugu is 80% self-funded via the mobilization of domestic revenue in the widening of tax base and activation of dormant assets. Nonetheless, whether the budgets are debt-oriented or self-financed, the important thing is that the funds are committed to projects that benefit the people, especially with regard to capital projects.
While Edeoga and his renegade media urchins compare to destroy and breed bad blood, it is significantly important that we state the fact that Mbah and Otti are good friends and hold each other in high esteem, knowing the capacity both of them have got.
Edeoga is childish. Looking at the way he sent his hungry attack dogs to bark endlessly on social media, one can see how weak Edeoga is. He is disgruntled, frustrated, malicious, petty, and infantile. He has no spirit of sportsmanship. For him, as it is for his partner in vile politics, the do-or-die, palliative-rice diverting senator, Okey Ezea, if you can’t get it, then destroy it. But the Mbah Administration is indestructible. The people of Enugu State are basking in the euphoria of good governance, which Mbah has wrought. They could not have asked for anyone else. Edeoga was out of the way, as he was utterly rejected at the polls and shamed at the courts. Governor Mbah’s administration shall fulfil its years, two tenures of 8 years.
We commend Governor Mbah and Governor Otti as they take their states to unexplored heights of economic development and poverty alleviation, which, of course, would rub off on the entire South East. While Edeoga and Co compare to destroy, Mbah and Otti unleash unprecedented developments in Enugu and Abia State, respectively.
