Council Wants Law On Abia Equity Charter

The Abia State Advisory
Council says it will sponsor an executive bill on “the Abia Charter of Equity’’ in the House of Assembly, for passage into law.
The Chairman of the council, Dr Anagha Ezeikpe, said this when he briefed newsmen on the activities marking the 22nd anniversary of the creation of the state in Umuahia on Friday.
Ezeikpe expressed regrets that efforts made by the founding fathers of the state to pass the charter into law had not yielded any positive result.
He said the council would not relent in its efforts in ensuring that the charter was passed into law.
The chairman pointed out that the charter was designed to ensure equitable distribution of state resources among the different blocs in the state.
“We have approached the different Houses of Assembly from the onset till now. We have also presented it to the present house and members promised to look into it.What we have decided to do is to produce a draft bill and put it forward as an executive bill to the house,” he said He decried the level of development in Abia, stressing that the passage of the charter into law would make its content binding on the citizenry.
Ezeikpe explained that it took the intervention of patriotic citizens of the state and the pioneer military administrator, retired Capt. Frank Ajobena, who raised funds for the new state to take off. He also recalled that some prominent indigenes donated their property, while the new administration took some public buildings and infrastructure.
The elder statesman recalled that the agitation for the creation of Abia state was instigated by the high population density in the area, which he said, impeded its rapid development.