I’ve come to clean T.A Orji’s mess in Abia –Udensi, PPA gov candidate

Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) candidate in Abia State for the February 28 governorship election, Chief Chikwe Udensi, has said that he wants to be the governor of the state in order to reposition it for greatness. According to him, Abia State is in a deep mess created by Governor  Theodore Orji and, therefore, needs urgent attention by a tested and competent person, like him, to rescue it. In this interview, he talked about his programmes and others.
Why are you contesting the Abia gubernatorial election?
Ordinarily somebody like me wouldn’t come out, given the fact that I’m currently the Secretary General of ALGON, running 774 local governments, whose one year budget is more than six years budget of Abia State. I’m also doing well in the area of articulating and implementing very monumental budget in the local government system. However, the challenge is there.  Remember, our big brother, Chief Arthur Eze, had asked if there weren’t men in Abia.  More so, there was also another challenge from Bishop Obinna, the Catholic Bishop of Owerri, Imo State, who also asked if there were men of character in Abia.
The question is, are we going to remain and allow the state to degenerate to unbearable level as it is today? The question also is, are we going to accept it? The answer is, ‘No.’
There are people like me who can come out of our comfort zones to make genuine sacrifice so that Abia is restored to level of dignity. That is why I’m here trying to come down from my high horse, trying to come down from running 774 local governments to run 17 in Abia,  just to make sure we rescue the state from the downward degeneration as is currently done by the government of the state, led by Chief T. A. Orji.
From the gloomy picture you painted of the state, anybody coming to govern Abia may suffer. Have you chosen to suffer?
Yes, Abia is in a big mess and I have chosen to suffer to rescue it. Coming to make Abia great again requires a very great deal of hard work, sacrifice and so much pain.
Pls click to see what he said hes going to do for Abia State.


What are you going to do for them?
I have my blueprint in every area. First and foremost, I’m going to declare Aba a disaster area. I’m going to move my administrative office from Umuahia to Aba for two years. This may not go down well with some people but that is what I’m going to do. I will collaborate with the relevant ministries to clean up Aba, as it is in total mess. I will supervise specifically the job in Aba; that does not mean that I will not have competent hands to run the ministries. However, because of the zeal I have, I want to ensure that I handle it.
Education is the only thing that brings the son of a rich man and a poor man to the high table. It is the pivot on which all developmental activities revolve. I will declare free and qualitative education. The question is, do we have the capacity to do that? Yes, we do.  Look at what is got every month and the governor takes about one billion naira as security vote, which he does nothing with. I will reverse the issue of security vote. Security vote is a fraud. It was not intended to be a fraud but the state governors converted it to fraud. It is wasted money; it is a leakage that ought to be blocked. As the governor of Abia, I will block that leakage.
Another area of interest is the area of social services. Today, you walk the streets of Abia, even the remote villages, you see mad men and women walking around naked; that debases humanity. They need psychiatric treatment, which is got at psychiatric hospital. Under my watch as the governor, there won’t be any mad person in the street. We shall ensure that our psychiatric hospitals are properly equipped. We shall also have responsibilities to those who have children and abandoned them. We shall introduce child support. If you have a child you must support it and if you don’t have money we shall give you job. Children today are born with reckless abandon and dumped by some men and women. The idea of seeing seven-year-old children hawking wares in the streets will be a thing of the past.
We shall have several sources of funding these. One of which is called, the Charity Commission. If you go to church, mosque and any amount you give a percentage goes to charity commission, including motherless homes.  In the area of agriculture, we know that every local government is unique in its agricultural products; so, we shall enhance this arrangement in very local government. There will be agricultural settlement in every local government as it was done in the defunct Eastern Nigeria, where we had farm settlements. We must initiate agricultural programme in Abia, where it must go beyond the level of subsistence to a level of providing for export.
We are not coming unprepared; we know exactly what we want to do in every area: healthcare, sports and sporting activities to keep unemployed youths busy. We are going to engage in stars search in rural areas. As Secretary General of ALGON, I did what is called Stars Search in rural areas to get athletes and footballers in rural areas. John Fashanu headed it under my care and we have about seven of them playing professional soccer in Europe. We are going to harness these talents, people who ordinarily are in the villages rotting away can be put to good use where they will not only help themselves but also help the society. In every facet of the economy, we have programmes that we are going to execute.
You have highlighted lofty programmes for the state. How are going to fund them?
Every budget I have has a revenue base. I have told you about the Charity Commission. It has a revenue base. Education has a revenue base. We shall introduce what is called the PIT (Personal Income Tax) card. This will ensure that you are a taxpayer in Abia. Whatever you do, you must have a PIT card. On how to enforce it; if you want to cash a cheque, you want to buy fuel, send your child to school, want to renew your vehicle licenses, you want to own property, you must have evidence of your PIT card. It will be impossible for you to operate without having it. It does not mean everybody will be paying high taxes, but everybody must pay something. These are the revenue sources.
The state will have Abia Road Safety Commission, because what we see today in Federal Road Safety Commission is not what it ought to be. The Abia Road Safety Commission will ensure that only road worthy vehicles are on the road. The idea that if you have a flat tyre on the highway and you park there to change your tyre, thereby inconveniencing road users, will be a thing of the past. I will step on toes the first four years to change the state. I’m determined to step on toes, to make sacrifices and to make sure that the state is rescued. The problem we have is that we have people who are without mission, vision and direction.
Now, the candidates have emerged in the various parties. What is your unique selling point and what advantages do you have over the other candidates?
My unique selling point is that I have been running government. Which of them understands government? If you start with the young man in APC, his only qualification is that he was a manager of a hotel. If you look at our friend and brother, Alex Oti, who within 10 years became managing director of a bank, where your growth is your ability to bring deposit. There is no proper experience there. Without bringing him down, all he has capacity to do was to manage funds. Can he create funds, wealth? Look at another young man from PDP, who, over six years, could not remove dirt in a local government; who could not manage refuse disposal, how can he manage government? As chairman of ALGON, I manage 774 local governments activities and programmes . I initiated very innovative programmes and executed them in 774 local governments. There is no comparism here. My ability to manage governmental activities dwarfs the collective experience of them all.
How do you address this issue of zoning and rotation? The Ukwa/Ngwa of Abia South says it’s turn and you are from Abia North.
Firstly, what we have in Abia today is such that zoning, rotation shouldn’t be the issue. What we want is capable hands. Secondly, party, not by Abians, does zoning. Political parties do zoning. The last time PPA had a candidate, he was from Ngwa, Abia South. Before him, was a candidate from Central. So Central had, which is the current governor and after that it went to South, which was Akomas and this time it the North. That is the way PPA rotates its own. So, rotation is not a matter for state, but for political party. Other political parties have people from different places. What we need is who can deliver the goal, who has vision and direction.  As a consultant, I moved the revenue base of Lagos State from N750 million to over one billion Naira in less than six months; you can imagine what I will do in Abia. I understand the security implications in Abia and the problems and prospects of the state. Like some young men who came here today, they have nothing doing. I must make sure I get every Abian something doing. Marwa did it when I was consultant on revenue in Lagos State. He changed those miscreants to become productive, and it can be done in Abia. The problem we have is that our leaders lack vision, mission and direction.
In a recent media report, you alleged that Abia has got over one trillion naira. How did you come about this figure?
Let me elaborate more. By virtue of my office as a Secretary General of ALGON, I store facts. By virtue of my office, I have crisscrossed the country; you know how much is coming and you want to see what is on the ground. What happens in Abia is unfortunate. Every month, we make over ten billion, Naira; so you can see what the state has made for almost eight years. The money Abia has made is not equitable to the developmental activities you have on ground. I have said earlier, that despite the amount of money that Abia receives every month , it cannot handle a simple wage bill, which is only about a billion.
It was alleged that your campaign billboards were vandalized. Who could have been responsible and what doest it portend for the election?
It portends something very negative and violates the Electoral Act. We already know that they personally directed hoodlums to remove these billboards. We have evidence; these boys did this in the view of everybody. We have reported it to the law enforcement agency. They don’t have the exclusivity of violence. But, we feel that it will be more civilised for the security agencies to do their jobs. Where we are not protected we have to protect ourselves. We will resist that nonsence in Abia. If the law enforcement agents do not take charge of protecting lives and properties, we will take charge; the law allows us to do that. That is our position.
What message do you have for Abians for February 28?
Go out there and vote for Chikwe Udensi, the candidate for PPA. I have the capacity to change Abia. I have done that before and I will do it again. Like the great American president said, you do not have any way of knowing what can happen in the future except what has happened in the past. Look at what I have done in the past and see what I can do in future.  For me, I pledge to rebuild Abia; we have the resources and we are capable. My opponents don’t have the capacity, but I do have the capacity.
In view of the dwindling oil revenue, how are you going to manage the state?
This makes it very important that whosever that should take over the mantle of leadership in Abia, in view of this global trend of oil that will reduce income to the country, should be somebody who has the capacity. None of these candidates can create wealth. I have the capacity to create wealth, given my record as a revenue consultant.