The Peoples Democratic Party has advised the Anambra State government to declare a state of emergency on infrastructure in Awka before it becomes too late.
It bemoaned the poor infrastructural condition of the Awka Capital Territory, noting that with few weeks remaining for Soludo to clock two years in office, he will have no excuse if he fails to give the state capital what it called a befitting facelift.
State PDP chairman, Chief Chigozie Igwe spoke at a dinner hosted in his honour in Enugu by a group of small business owners of Anambra State.
“Soludo will be two years in office on March 14, 2024 which is a few weeks away. He will be completing half of his tenure soon and there is no strong footprint of the government’s developmental effort in Awka which harbours the seat of power.
“While other parts of the state have not fared better, Awka remains the worst state capital in Nigeria with worsening infrastructural decay, dwindling economic outlook and increased hardship for the middle and low-income earners,” he stated.
Igwe wondered why the APGA-led government preferred to churn out policies which he said were not thought through as they end up injuring the people more.
“Today, you cannot rent a two-bedroom flat in Awka at any cost below half a million naira and a three-bedroom flat in the town costs from a million naira and above. How many civil servants, small business owners or low-income earners can afford this? Why is the situation like that?
“The government has a defective housing policy where it has ignored the need for a mass low-income housing scheme preferring a sole option of aligning with private estate developers who merely apportion and sell undeveloped land which fail to close the gap on housing deficit, partly due to government’s inability to provide critical infrastructure especially connecting roads to those estates.
“Even the few roads built by Soludo around Awka are so narrow and unbefitting of a capital city with anticipation for growth and expansion.
“Recently we saw the case of traders, mostly women, who in the bid to save their families from the economic crunch caused by bad governance, found themselves plying their trades by the roadsides of Awka, probably because they could not afford the excruciating cost of renting shops in the capital city.
“But the Soludo-led government felt that they were defacing the esthetics of the capital and all it could do was to uproot and destroy their wares. You can see how insensitive the government has been portrayed by their action,” he lamented.
