South South group differs with Ohanaeze youths on Ikpeazu’s performance, backs Frank

The South-South Emerging Leaders Forum (SELF) yesterday disagreed with Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (ONYC) on the performance of Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.

Its National Coordinator, Preye Wilson, enjoined ONYC to desist from praise singing of public office holders who have nothing tangible to show.

The group was responding to a statement credited to the ONYC and signed by one Maxi Okechukwu, which cited former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, who accused Governor Ikpeazu of not doing enough to protect the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It asked the Ohanaeze group to compare Ikpeazu’s performance to that of other governors of the South East like Enugu and Ebonyi states in the last four years.While justifying Frank’s comment against Ikpeazu’s trip to London with President Muhammadu Buhari, it maintained that Abia State was a glorified village under the present administration when compared with other South East states.

SELF said instead of deploying their youthful energy to calling Frank names, the Ohanaeze youths should tackle the activist on development issues in Abia State.

“One wonders if Frank has suddenly created job for the Ohanaeze youth group over his recent comments on the Abia State Governor. One expects the ONYC to be interested in development of the region more than defending a non-performing governor for a pot of soup.

“Frank did not say anything derogatory against the real Igbo leaders. He only pointed out what is wrong in Ikpeazu’s trip with President at a time his (Ikpeazu’s) party was going through challenges because of the perceived injustice in Imo State, where a democratically elected governor was removed. Where was ONYC when this was going on? It asked.

“With his first tenure gone and some months into the second term, the issue of underperformance has been on the lips of Abia people who daily lament lack of progress and development of the state.

“No matter how hard Ikpeazu thinks he is trying, something appears to be missing:The rapid transformational touch that makes a city to shine for all to see.”

The group insisted that Ikpeazu himself acknowledged this much in his inauguration address when he took oath of office for his second tenure when he said: “An internal review of our processes were observed and we are now committed to making amends in areas we got it wrong.”