Prince Paul Ikonne wants Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe’s head politically speaking and he is not mincing words about it.
The Abia South APC senatorial aspirant, speaking to journalists at his country home in Aba, delivered a withering verdict on Abaribe’s nearly two decades in the Senate, saying the region’s most prominent legislator has left nothing behind for the people he was elected to serve.
“This is 20 years in the Senate and there’s nothing to show for it, There’s nowhere you will go and see any constituency project in the entire Abia South, from Aba North to Aba South to Obingwa, down to Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and West.” – Ikonne said
The irony, Ikonne noted, is not lost on anyone familiar with the zone’s profile. Abia South is not some peripheral constituency, it is the commercial nerve centre of the Southeast, home to Aba, and the oil-producing senatorial zone of Abia State.
That such a zone should have so little to show after two decades of Senate representation, is nothing short of a scandal, he argued.
Ikonne also turned his fire on Abaribe’s recent political movements, suggesting the veteran senator’s party-hopping tells its own story.
“He jumped controversially from PDP, to APGA, and to ADC, then from ADC to Labour Party, That tells you he’s on his way out.” – he said
He added that reports are already circulating of plans to settle Abaribe with a chieftaincy title in his local government a soft landing, in Ikonne’s reading, for a man whose legislative career has run its course.
On what he offers as an alternative, Ikonne pointed to his experience as a former chief executive of NALDA, the National Agricultural Development Authority where he observed first-hand how effective senators leveraged federal agencies for their constituents.
“I saw how other senators reached out to my office, requesting support for farmers in their senatorial zones, As a senator, I will not just present views or raise my hands on motions. I will reach out to government agencies, draw their attention to the potentials of my people.” – He added
He flagged the agrarian potential of communities like Obingwa and Ugwunagbor cassava-producing areas he said have been neglected at the federal level and promised town hall engagement to educate constituents on their legislative rights and entitlements.
“Our senatorial zone has been left behind for over 20 years, It is time to bounce back.“ ikonne said
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