Abuja -Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi has urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort to curb corruption in the country.
He made the call on Wednesday while speaking to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
He dismissed the insinuation that he would soon defect to All Progressives Congress (APC) to avoid being investigated by the Buhari’s administration
According to him, no nation can progress without addressing the problem of corruption, saying that his administration is in support of the president’s determination to fight corruption.
“We have to understand what is opposition, when Mr President comes out fight corruption then why should we oppose that, is a very good job and that is what the nation needs because without fighting corruption there is no way this country can grow.
“So, we support him because it is a very good policy and I support him personally because I am doing the same thing in Ebonyi state; that is the same character I share with him, fighting corruption and that does not amount to cross carpeting.
“I am still very happy being in PDP.’’
He explained that his meeting with the president was also meant to seek for permission to construct access road to mining sites in the state through the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement to boost economic activities in the state.
He said that already some companies had indicated interest to construct the affected road only if the Federal Government would allow them to erect toll gates to enable them recover their investment.
“I came to ask Mr President for two things; some banks are willing to lend money to Ebonyi state to construct roads and they want assurance from the Federal Government that when they lend us money to construct these roads the federal government will reimburse them.
“There are some people or companies that want to do PPP with the state government on the development of these roads and they want a guarantee from the Federal Government that they will allow them to put toll gate so as to get back their funds,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a magazine publisher, Mr Dele Momodu also met with the President.
Momodu, who spoke to the State House correspondents after the closed door meeting, said he discussed with the president different issues affecting the country.
“I gave him my own idea as a publisher, journalist, a columnist and the way forward for Nigeria.
“If you like someone you must be able to tell him the truth at all times, and what I have realised in so many years of interacting with people in government is that once you get to power, people stop telling you the truth, they tell you only what they think you want to hear.
“And I’m happy he said we should argue with him, tell him the truth if things are going wrong and we should not be afraid of telling the truth,’’ he said. (NAN)
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