SENATOR THREATENS TO PETITION EFCC OVER ROAD CONTRACT

By NBF News

VICE Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Anthony Agbo, has threatened to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged abandonment of rehabilitation of the Abakaliki section of the Abakaliki-Afikpo federal highway by contractors.

He stressed that the anti-graft agency would establish whether the contractor colluded with some officials of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to abandon the work after collecting mobilisation fees.

Agbo, who spoke during an interactive session with journalists, said although he neither knew nor had met the contractor, he would drag the contractor and the ministry to the EFCC to explain why they neglected the project.

He explained that it was not possible for the contractor to abandon a project of such magnitude without the active connivance of some employees of the ministry, insisting that unless drastic measures are taken against contractors who abandon projects after collecting huge mobilisation fees, infrastructural development in the country would be stalled.

Agbo, who was once the Speaker of old Enugu State House of Assembly, also used the occasion to plead with Mr. Chris Nwankwo, the brother-in-law of Ebonyi State Governor Martin Elechi, to support his ambition for a second term in the Senate instead of running against him. He said his achievements in the Senate and the fact that like wine, legislators get better with age in the Legislature, stands him in good stead.

He noted that the emergence of Nwankwo as his sole competitor, threatens the historical ties between his clan and Nwankwos.

He admitted that in as much as he would not expect Elechi to prevail on his in-law to reconsider his ambition, he expects that the PDP should reward his loyalty and foundational membership over the years.

Agbo, who hails from Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Council of the state, recalled that his clan and Izzi where Nwankwo hails from, have been doing things together as brothers.

He said: 'This a clarion call to all men of goodwill and well-meaning people of Ebonyi-North Senatorial District and Ebonyi State in general. My aspiration for another term in the Senate is monumentally and fundamentally justified in my favour more than that of my opponent, Chris Nwankwo, whom I respect so much. It is in my favour because I am just about concluding my first tenure in the Senate and it is my feeling that I have not disappointed my constituency, Ebonyi people or the South-East geo-political zone, all of which I represent in the Senate'.