The Member Representing Umuahia South State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Barr. Jerry Uzosike has come hard on Uche Nwosu, revealing that the recent media propaganda by him, is because he refused to bankroll his election for the post of Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia Chapter.
Addressing newsmen on Saturday at his campaign/constituency office located at Isi court by Aba Road, Umuahia, concerning a media publication in “The Witness”, written by Uche Nwosu, captioned “The Jackaroo At Umuahia South (2)” wherein he accused Hon. Uzosike of not doing enough to attract authorities involved to fix the Umunwanwa gully erosion site, the lawmaker said there was never a time he promised during campaign to fix the Umunwanwa gully erosion site- a multimillion naira project.
The State lawmaker stated that he is not a kind of politician that is cowed into giving money to people in order not to write what they feel. He said he was elected by the people with greater responsibility to represent their interests where necessary, adding that he is not a Governor or President. Rather, a lawmaker with a view to carrying out his oversight function(s) to the best of his abilities.
While putting records straight, Hon. Uzosike said on the 24th of March and 6th April this year, Uche Nwosu sent him a long mail, requesting he financed his ambition to run for the office of the NUJ Chairman, Abia State Chapter, pointing out that due to paucity of fund as a result of projects he was doing for his constituents, he didn’t finance the ambition.
The Lawmaker noted that in June, Uche Nwosu decided to engage in campaign of calumny, alleging how he worked for the lawmaker and never got paid whereas he betrayed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that if Uche Nwosu refutes all he said, he would send to the media for publication.
Hon. Uzosike, wondered why Uche Nwosu and one Uche Mark will be writing and making bogus demands that are beyond his mandate, saying it was Uche Nwosu’s community that he did his first project which was a four class room block, which made his elder brother the Eze to confer a high chief title of Ogbuhere Uzo 1of Ehuma.
On allegations that Hon. Uzosike has done nothing concerning the erosion site at Umunwanwa, the lawmaker laughed off the claim, emphasizing that he has always been in the media, talking about Umunwanwa road, Umunwanwa gully erosion, the devastating erosion at Olokoro bridge, Mgbarakuma/Ubakala road as well as sponsored motions at the floor of the House which Uche Nwosu alluded to.
Revealing efforts made concerning the multimillion naira Umunwanwa gully erosion site, Hon. Uzosike informed that he has dragged the Senator representing Abia Central, Senator Theodore Orji to the gully erosion site, just as he handed pictures of the site while the Senator has also added his voice to the pitiable condition of the gully erosion site at the National Assembly.
He said he has attended several seminars on NEWMAP projects while also making case for Umunwanwa gully erosion, saying that these moves forced NEWMAP to visit the site with a firm promise that the erosion site will be captured when a 200 million naira grant for erosion sites in the country is released.
On the other hand, the lawmaker while responding to a Facebook post made by Uche Mark, an Alex Otti supporter who queried what he has done about same erosion site, Uzosike, recalled that on 28th August, 2019, he visited the Ecological Office in Abuja, met with the Permanent Secretary, Ecological Office as well as the Procurement Officer to make case for Umunwanwa erosion. Regrettably, Umunwanwa was not captured by the Ecological Office.
He said they advised him that to make proper case for his community, the erosion site must be captured in their database, stressing that on return, he engaged the service of Rhino Maritime Services and Construction Ltd in 21st September, 1999, based in Port Harcourt who designed the Umunwanwa erosion project and handed it over to him.
Hon. Uzosike stated that after the design, he flew to Abuja to submit the design at Ecological Office at Abuja, maintaining that anyone who says he hasn’t done enough concerning Umunwanwa erosion projector is lying, pointing out that currently, the erosion site has been captured.
He said he has also contributed the sum of N1m to expedite action on the site as agreed by sons and daughters from the area, reiterating that he has committed huge resources to make sure the Umunwanwa project does not get so bad before intervention from the Federal Government and other donor agencies.
Uzosike appealed to his constituents to continue to exercise hope of a better tomorrow as help was around the corner to ameliorate their sufferings.
