Claim That You Run Abia With Your Money Derogatory, Abia Stakeholders Tackle Orji Kalu

Stakeholders in Abia State have picked hole in the claim of the former governor of the state,Orji Uzor Kalu, that he ran the affairs of the state with his personal money in his first six months of being on the saddle of affairs of the state as governor in 1999.

The stakeholders, Abia Ohaneze Youths and the Abia Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Stakeholders, all disagreed with the senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, saying he was economical with the truth.

Speaking at different press conferences held Wednesday on the issue, the groups insisted that Kalu lied and asked him to apologise to the people of the state.

The Abia PDP, which spoke through one of its chieftains, Mathew Ibe, insisted that by making the claim, the former governor must tender an unreserved apology to the people of the state within 48 hours.

Ibe, who is the Zonal chairman of the party, said:”We demand an apology from Kalu within 48 hours or we will drag him to court for breach of public peace because right now, our people are not happy with his claim.”

“We view the claim of the former governor of the state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, as derogatory to the people of the state and for this, we have a 48-hour ultimatum to apologise to the people of the state over his reported derogatory claim that he personally funded the state for the first six months of his tenure as governor in 1999.

Continuing Ibe said that “the state party’s chieftains were expected to brief the national leadership today, Thursday, in Abuja on the next level of action against the former governor should he failed to apologize and face the real substance of his trial on alleged N7.6 billion fraud.

Also, the Abia Ohaneze Youths, who addressed the media through their leader, Uche Nnadi, described Kalu’s claim as “derogatory and clear insult on the sensibility of the good people of the state and South East.”

Recall that Senator Kalu, while testifying at the resumed hearing of a case of N7.6bn alleged fraud instituted against him before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, claimed that within the first six months of his first tenure, he governed the state with his personal money, adding that he could not have stolen what was not in existence.