Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem, Director General, Maintain Peace Movement, MPM, and National Legal Adviser, PDP, during inauguration of local government steering committee of the group. (Credit : Facebook -Directorate of publicity, MPM
By Contributor
Governor Udom Emmanuel has allegedly spent N70 million on Maintain Peace Movement, MPM, a new political group formed to midwife his succession plan.
The group which was unveiled on July 26, has received N70 million from the Governor within one month.
Mr. Ini Ememobong, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Akwa Ibom State who doubles as the Publicity Secretary of the movement said the group was “conceived as a potent grassroots mobilization movement.”
The group was enmeshed in a slogan theft scandal a day after it was unveiled.
The group name was changed from Peace Maintenance Movement, PMM, to Maintain Peace Movement,seven days after it was unveiled.
Governor Udom Emmanuel allegedly released N70 million of state funds for the inauguration of local government steering committees of the group.
A state executive of MPM who spoke on condition of anonymity told our reporter that the Governor approved and released N2 million each for the inauguration of each chapter of the group.
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“We were given N62 million to facilitate the inauguration of the local government chapters of the group and N8 million for logistics, making it a total of N70 million.”
The source however said the money is managed by the Director General of the group and National Legal Adviser of PDP, Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem, and it’s Secretary, Prince Enobong Uwah, Chairman, Uyo Capital Territory Development Authority, UCCDA.
The source said members of the group have complained that the money was too small to prosecute the job and are hoping that more funds would be released.
“People may think we are enjoying, we are not because we have a limit for each local government and that is N2 million.”
The Governor has already started spending money and using state government apparatchik to plan his succession.
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The Governor is spending money holding nocturnal political meeting with groups and individuals including the clergy albeit surreptitiously, despite sector-wide complaints of cash crunch.
Last week, scores of retired primary school teachers and their next of kin protested the non-payment of gratuities.
The state government conducted a verification exercise for more than 2000 retired primary school teachers in March and has only paid less than 200 of the retirees since then.
The government blamed the delay in payment of the retirement benefits of the teachers to revenue shortfall.
The current revelation that the state government has released N70 million for the inauguration of the local government steering committee of the Governor’s succession group, Maintain Peace Movement, MPM, shows apparently that the priority of government is not welfare of the people.
