How Ikpeazu Frustrated Construction Of N6bn Federal Secretariat In Umuahia, Rep Onuigbo Alleges

Member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Rep Sam Onuigbo has accused the state Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu of frustrating the building of a Federal Secretariat valued at N6 billion in the State capital Umuahia.

Hon. Onuigbo said he facilitated the project in 2019 through intensive follow up with the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola upon discovering that Abia was missing from list of states that are scheduled for construction of a federal secretariat.

According to the lawmaker, the state government was reluctant to allocate a land for the construction one year later.

However, when a land was eventually allocated, the relevant documents were not provided due to failure of the state government to pay a compensation of N25m to the indigenous owners.

He expressed displeasure that his efforts to make the project a reality is about being thwarted due to lackluster attitude of Abia government, even when younger states created after Abia have their federal secretariats.

He said, “Well, it will interest you to know that so far I have gone ahead to facilitate a Federal Secretariat for Abia State. And I followed it up with the Governor but I am shocked and roundly disappointed that because of the compensation of N25 million the State has proven itself unable, incapable of allowing the Federal Government to execute a project that is in the region of N6 billion.

“I facilitated that and I started it way back in 2019 and pursued it through. So, I don’t look back at whether Okeke or Nwakoroafor appreciates what I am doing as long as I am convinced that what I am doing is in the interest of God, and in the interest of those who have used the power of their thumbs to elevate me, I don’t look back. I instead want to do much more because I pledged to work on the acronym of ‘EAR’, Effectiveness, Accessibility and Responsiveness, and, of course, I added that I will attempt to redefine representation”. 

He added, “we saw that provisions were made for the building or construction of Federal Secretariats in some other States. And as I ran through the list, I checked to see if I would see Abia State because I am aware that Abia does not have a Federal Secretariat. So, when it was question time, I now asked the Minister to explain why Abia, the number one state in alphabetical order; a State that is older than the other last six states that were created, was not included in the budget.

“The Minister explained that he was aware that the State once provided a piece of land for the building of a Federal Secretariat but then that the land was encroached upon. He then challenged me to work with my Governor, to be able to provide land so that Abia can have a Federal Secretariat.

“From there, I did a letter on October 23, that same day and that letter got to the Governor on October 25. I handed it over to him personally and after reading my letter, he appeared impressed and interested and he then did his own letter, telling the Minister that, okay, he would like to provide land or would have the intention to provide land whenever the Federal Ministry of Works was ready and that letter was delivered to the Minister two weeks after, in fact, to be precise, on November 6. But, then, the Minister said the Governor should not talk about intention rather he should provide the land and I came back to the Governor.

“It was from there that the Governor called Suleiman Ukandu who was the then Commissioner for Lands and I took over from there calling Suleiman all through.

“It took over a year for them to find seven hectares of land and like I said, this encounter started on October 23, 2019. It was not only until September, 2020 that they were able to allocate it and that was nearly a year after I started the process. Then I followed up to know if everything was written to ensure that this was included in the Appropriation Bill. And when I went to the Minister, the Minister said and I quote: “Your State was still unable to provide the title documents to enable the Ministry take possession because you need the title documents–a Survey Plan, Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), to prove that the property is not encumbered in anyway”.

” So, I wrote a letter based on my meeting with the Minister on March 11, 2021. I wrote that letter to the Governor on March 12, 2021, appealing to him to ensure that this was done.

“Subsequently, I met the Governor at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, and I raised the issue again, and he said he had given marching orders to the SSG and his other staff to ensure that this was done. I later found out that even the traditional ruler of the area where the land is located, Eze Nwokonna had written a letter, saying that instead of paying the N35 million that was originally calculated as compensation, that the community was prepared to take N25 million to ensure that the project commences.

“I am surprised that a 31-year old State which does not have a Federal Secretariat saw an opportunity to actualize this, and the State Government still has not done the needful. And you know I raised this, in one of my interviews and they came attacking me, until we now asked that they should provide evidence that they have handed over the title documents to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, and they could not do it.

“So, from 2019 up until now, this State government has not deemed it fit to pay that tiny compensation of N25 million and then issue the relevant title documents to enable the Federal Government to come in, build and equip the Secretariat. Remember, they will build and equip the Federal Secretariat at no cost to the State Government.

“In fact I have written three letters to the Governor in respect of this. I wrote the first letter on the October 23, 2019, and then I wrote a second letter when I found out that they had not provided the title documents, on March 12, 2021. And, of course, I did the third letter on February 27, 2022, all on this matter.

“If you build a Federal Secretariat now, it is for the good of the people of Abia State. One there would be automatic employment for people living within the state, at least from levels 1-6. You also talk of the money that would be spent in carrying out such a gigantic project and how the building process will provide contractual opportunities for Abia artisans. Then you talk of how that is going to save the State government the plots of lands that they are allocating to different Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies for them to establish offices.

“If you have a Federal Secretariat, then every Federal Agency would try and squeeze in there as against allocating plots of land to each of them. So, when you put all this together you discover that Abia stands to benefit from this, and therefore there should be no need to deny Abians something good because of party affiliations. Except of course your drive is to hurt Abians.. So, I don’t think it makes any sense for anybody to react based on the fact that I am now in APC and because of that you want to deny the people what is due to them.

“I feel very disappointed, very sad because it’s not coming to my compound, it’s just for the good and growth and development of the State. 31 or so years after its creation we still don’t have a Federal Secretariat and you have the opportunity to get one free of charge and you are busy frustrating it and telling different stories.

“In fact, we have a Federal Director here, his name is Victor George, and he is the Federal Director of Housing. He has been going to the SSG and different Departments and we have been doing that now for two years plus to get this document and the State Government is busy frustrating that. So, I don’t know which charge or what I am going to tell them again. It’s up to them, they have to check what they think they are doing and when they think that they are giving good governance. So, it is up to them to check and know whether it’s the right thing they are doing”, he concluded.