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The Enugu State Labour Party (LP) deputy governorship candidate and National Publicity Secretary of the party, Barrister Ken Asogwa, has criticised the administration of Governor Peter Mbah, urging the government to prioritise the provision of potable water for residents rather than investing in an airline, which he described as serving the elite.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party said an incoming Labour Party administration would, within its first 100 days in office, provide the Enugu State counterpart funding required to complete the abandoned Adada Dam project, which he said is critical to addressing water scarcity in the state.
Barrister Asogwa, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, criticised what he described as cosmetic leadership and the failure of past and present administrations to provide the counterpart funding required to complete the dam project, which he said has remained stalled since 2021.
Recall that the Adada Dam was designed to provide water and support agricultural activities across Enugu North, regarded as the food basket of the South-East.
“You see, the Adada Dam project is one of the projects that sits right inside my heart. I want to tell you a story: in 2021, during the administration of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources went into a partnership with the Enugu State Government on how to revive Adada Dam, and the Ministry was supposed to provide 75 percent of the funding for the completion of the project, and Enugu State counterpart funding was supposed to be 25 percent. But do you know what happened? The Ministry of Water Resources has succeeded in meeting 60 percent of its own bargain as of today, and the Enugu State Government has not dropped a dime as part of its own contribution till today. They have not met one percent of their counterpart funding. So this happened under Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in 2021. And when Peter Mbah’s administration took over, yours sincerely, as the Chief of Staff to former Senator Okey Ezea, I’m privy that when the Senator assumed office as Senator representing Enugu North, the first official letter he wrote was to Governor Peter Mbah, drawing his attention to that after writing to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to understand why the project was abandoned. The ministry replied that it had made about 60 percent of its counterpart funding and that the Senator should use his office as Senator representing Enugu North to find out why the state government had not committed anything regarding the agreement. As I speak to you, the answer to that letter may not be worth the Governor’s ink.”
Further lamenting what he described as cosmetic and white-elephant projects in Enugu State, the LP deputy governorship candidate added that the Smart School project had failed because, according to him, it was conceived on a false premise.
“As I speak to you today, he has built smart schools in all 300-and-something wards in the state, and not up to five are fully functioning. What are we talking about? Billions of naira have gone down the drain, and that is why a friend of his, who is called Sujimoto, came, and he was awarded a contract for the smart school. He bolted because Sujimoto saw that things were not working out, and nobody hears about the case anymore. The man bolted because he realised that it was an avenue to share money with the boys. And now the state is borrowing money here and there while people are suffering.”
Barrister Asogwa said that if elected, a Labour Party administration would first assess the strengths and weaknesses of the state, noting that its major competitive advantage lies in commercial agriculture.
“Need I remind anyone that Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area is positioned as the food basket of the South-East? If that potential is well harnessed, as a precursor to that, Adada Dam has to be fixed because it will supply water throughout Enugu North for seasonal commercial farming.”
“As a direct answer to your question, what my administration will do is to ensure that there is a regular water supply around the state to revitalise the agricultural potential of the state. Enugu State, the pride of the average Igbo, today still has water tankers supplying water around the city, as is done in villages. Tell me which state capital in Nigeria still has water tankers supplying water to residents, except Enugu. Water supply is not rocket science. No, you can’t be floating an airline when the people lack access to drinking water. Cambodia is where it is today because of rice farming and agriculture. Even the Netherlands, as we know it today, is because of agriculture. So we can be the food basket of the South-East without being overly dependent on food coming in from northern Nigeria.”
On plans for the 2027 campaign and grassroots mobilisation, the deputy governorship candidate added:
“I have said it time and time again that our party doesn’t have the financial war chest that you can get elsewhere, like the ruling APC in the state, because they have stolen enough.
“Yes, they amassed so much money meant for the development of the state. And they have deep pockets to spend, but ours is that we have not stolen from the system, and we don’t have the deep pockets to execute an extravagant campaign. But we have been able to devise a strategy that meets our target.
“We have been able to devise a campaign much more far-reaching than what you can get elsewhere, but cost-effective.”
He said he would not unveil the party’s full manifesto at this stage as part of its campaign strategy.
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Further commenting, he said the Labour Party was aware of the Electoral Act and had no intention of exceeding the legal threshold for campaign expenditure or violating the electoral process.
While assessing the current administration in Enugu State, he maintained that government performance should be measured against available resources and visible outcomes.
“The only measure for whether the government in Enugu State has done well is in juxtaposing what has been collected and the work done, or what is on the ground. This administration, according to revenue and fiscal data, has been highlighting how much the federal government has given to the state. And it shows that Enugu State has collected over N1.2 trillion in less than three years.”
He claimed that there was little evidence of development across the state when compared with federal allocations and internally generated revenue.
“So it is pertinent to say that what we see on the ground is measurable against revenue collection. There is nothing on the ground. Is it the floating of an airline? We all know that aircraft are not bought off the shelf, apart from leasing. So what has this government done within three years that gulped this money? Is it payment of salaries?”
Barrister Asogwa stated that he did not need to make direct accusations for residents to draw their own conclusions about governance and public spending.
“You see, another thing is the crass incompetence of the government. Many of us have seen that the government of Enugu State thrives on cosmetic and high-sounding investments that don’t bear any fruit or direct impact on the downtrodden. The Governor said he floated an airline, built an international conference centre and built five-star hotels. All these are cosmetic and elitist. And I can tell you that Enugu State is a civil service state, and the people are presently suffering from heavy taxation by the administration. Today, it is among the states with the highest internally generated revenue. It has never been like this before.”
Meanwhile, Barrister Asogwa criticised what he described as the urbanisation of villages primarily for tax collection purposes.
He said palm wine tappers and tomato, pepper and vegetable farmers were being heavily taxed across the state.
“How terrible is it for the governor to use the money collected from these poor villagers to float an airline that does not have a direct economic impact? What happened to the tax you collected from the rural dwellers? How have you invested it? Have you built the rural roads leading to the farms? Where are those tomatoes and peppers farmed? Now tell us what economic impact the airline will have on those who have never seen an airstrip or an airport.
“You floated an airline for the bourgeoisie to fly, and these are not the people from whom you collect most of the taxes.”
On water supply, he said the administration had failed to fulfil its campaign promises regarding regular water provision across Enugu State.
He argued that the government had failed to provide basic amenities and that many of its projects had not translated into benefits for rural communities.
On insecurity, he lamented what he described as growing fear and uncertainty among rural residents, saying many had abandoned their farms and communities because of the activities of armed groups operating across parts of the state.
