Ikonne applauds Uzodimma for backing Aba state creation, slams Otti’s opposition

Former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, has applauded Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, for his unwavering support for the proposed creation of an additional state in the South-East.

Ikonne described Uzodimma’s stance as consistent with the sentiments of many Igbos and other Nigerians who have long decried the structural imbalance that leaves the South-East region with only 15 senators, compared to 18 or more in other zones.

This disparity, he said, limits the region’s access to federal appointments and resources, diminishing its influence in national matters.

In a statement issued Thursday in Abuja by his media aide, Chiagoziem Enoch, Ikonne criticized Abia State Governor Alex Otti for what he termed an unconvincing position during the South-East zonal hearing on the 1999 Constitution review, held in Owerri on July 19.

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Otti had argued that the creation of new states was unnecessary, given that existing ones are yet to achieve economic viability.

Ikonne, however, saw this as a missed opportunity for the Abia governor to rally support for the region.

“But for those who know the Abia governor, that occasion afforded him the golden opportunity to express his deep resentment and vendetta against a section of Abia who must not be allowed the casual luxury of an innocuous boast of being the indigenes of Aba,” Ikonne said.

According to him, Otti harbours a long-standing disdain for the location of Aba.

“Seeing that he lacks the power literally to undo what God has done in his eternal plans, he has resorted to other nebulous ways to express his frustration,” Ikonne stated.

He further recalled that upon assuming office, Otti made a controversial declaration in Aba that it was a “no man’s land,” a statement Ikonne believes could have sown discord among the city’s residents.

“Many wondered why he had to do that, considering that Aba has always been known to be at peace with its residents, not minding who is an indigene and who is not,” he said.

“Thankfully, the Aba spirit and its ‘Nwa Aba’ cliche, a trans-sectional phrase and aura that has adhesively bound the city, swallowed that mischievous and ill-intended divisive declaration which had the capacity to initiate deep sectional sentiments in that great city.”

Ikonne also dismissed Otti’s claims that a new state would be economically unsustainable, calling it a “dubious and infantile attempt” to downplay the viability of Aba State.

He added: “The Governor deliberately forgot that the finite nature of natural resources has made proactive administrators to redirect their focus to other initiatives that provide  sustainable development, not prone to the vagaries of nature by depending only on natural resource endowments, but one that will initiate knowledge based programs and policies that will move the new state away from lazily looking up to the Federal Government for monthly handouts as it is presently in Otti’s “New Abia.”

Ikonne further argued that the South-East’s political marginalization has fueled calls for secession and that creating a new state would help to calm these agitations by promoting equity and inclusion.

“It is therefore worrisome that Gov. Otti who should be in the frontline with the likes of Senator Uzodinma in leading the agitation for the creation of additional state for Abia to address this abnormally is the one leading the gang to frustrate the actualization of an additional state for the South East,” he said.

He stressed that the demand for Aba State has already met constitutional criteria and only awaits federal approval.

“The agitation for an additional state and the viability of Aba State has passed the needed criteria thresholds. What remains is the declaration of what our fathers have put in their very lives and resources to achieve.”

Ikonne urged South-Easterners to rally behind Uzodinma’s leadership on the issue.
He said: “Abians, for the avoidance of any doubt, will not relent in demanding for an additional state as it is sine qua non to peace and justice in the Federation.”