Absence Of Federal Secretariat In Abia @ 30: Rep. Sam Onuigbo Expresses Worries Reveals Reason For Delay …A Must Read!!

The honourable member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency, Honorable Sam Onuigbo
has expressed immense worries over the absence of a federal secretary in Abia State after 30 years of existence.

Famous Reporters gathered from a reliable source that the state government of Abia has allocated the land for the erection of a federal secretariat which is situated in virtually all the states who came on board after the creation of Abia.

Grapevine, however, disclosed that a land had been allocated for the project, “but they haven’t released the title documents to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. That is what is delaying it. Honourable Sam Onuigbo has written to the Governor about that, after Fashola informed him of the reason for the delay”, grapevine stated.

Meanwhile, speaking in an interview, the Spokesperson for the people of Ikwuano/Umuahia at the Lower Chamber bemoaned the absence of a Federally in a state that would attain its 30th year in a fraction few months, whereas other younger sister states already have existing functional Federal Secretariats built by the federal government.

Honorable Onuigbo said: “as a former commissioner for lands in Abia and as a person who takes special interest in one’s effort to contribute towards the improvement of where you have found yourself as a legislator, I am aware that Abia does not have a Federal Secretariat, despite having come of age. The state will be 30 years this year, yet it does not have a Federal Secretariat, even states created after it have new Secretariats built for her by the federal government.

Odozi Obodo revealed that this preoccupied his mind during a committee meeting where the Honourable Minister for Works and Housing Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN came for budget defence.

“After listening to the presentation of the minister and having looked through states that has Federal Secretariat,i discovered that most states especially those that were created in 1996 have new and well furnished Secretariat built for them by the federal government”.

“This made me to ask the Honourable minister the reason why Abia does not have a federal Secretariat despite been the first state in the country in alphabetical order”.

“In responding to this questions, the minister requested me to get a land for the project from the state governor for him, and once this is done,his ministry will commence work on the project”, he responded.

Based on the response, Hon Onuigbo stated that he immediately requested his team to do a letter to that effect to the governor.

Two days later when the governor arrived Abuja, he took the letter personal to the governor, who read through it and did not only signed, but also called the honourable minister personally. Hon Onuigbo commended Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for his timely response to the request.

The honourable member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency said he personally took the letter and delivered it at the office of the honourable minister of works and housing, after which he did a fellow up two weeks letter being 6th November, 2019.

The Honourable member said at the meeting with the honourable minister, he was told that they received a letter from the governor expressing intent to provide land for the project, but what he wants is a land not an expression of intent.

On hearing this, the honourable member immediately got across to the governor, who directed the commissioner for land to provide a land for the project, this he said culminated in the allocation of 7 hectares of land at Ekoba low cost housing estate for the Secretariat project.

On the current situation of the project, the honourable member said information at his disposal after speaking with the Minister for Works and Housing indicates that the Abia State government is yet to release title documents to the Federal Ministry of works and housing to enable it start preliminary work on the projects in order to ascertain the cost of the projects which will be inserted in next year’s budget. As soon as this hurdle is cleared before the issuance of budget circular for 2022 ,the project will be captured,he said.

Evidently, one could, therefore, say that the delay by the government of Abia state in releasing the title documents has crippled the efforts of the Legislator from bringing to stay a functional federal secretariat to the state.