Aki Efe Vincent, a resident of Ovu Community who has been calling for better governance, has accused Augustine Ogedegbe, the chairman of Ethiope East Local Government Area, Delta State, of threatening him after he posted videos of the poor road network in the area.
The local government chairman has stayed quiet.
According to Vincent, Ogedegbe visited his home, warning him to pull down the videos or face unspecified consequences.
The resident said he was only advocating for better governance and complaining about the administration’s inefficiency.
“Nigerians, my life is under threat. The Ethiope East LGA chairman just came to my place to warn my family that I should drop all the videos, or else he will deal with me,” he said in the video shared on Sunday.
“I have the right to express my feelings. I am not satisfied with the administration and government. I am fed up with their sluggishness, with whatever they are doing; they are not doing it right.
“This is my protest, I am advocating for my life, for good governance. He has come to threaten my life. Since I made those videos, I have not slept in my house, I have not bathed or even changed my clothes.
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“My life is under threat. I am putting this video here for Nigerians to know that I am fighting for a just cause, good governance. If anything happens to me, hold the Delta State and Nigerian government responsible.”
In his earlier video, Vincent accused Ogedegbe of ignoring a flooded section of Ovu Community despite being in office for more than one year and receiving money from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
He also noted that the drainage wasn’t well built, which contributed to the flooding on the road.
In the two-minute video, the Ogbe junction being described was flooded, with the drainage channels submerged underneath it.
“Now look at this, look at the road, look at the gutter. This is Ogbe Junction,” Vincent said.
“The allocation that is coming to Delta State, the one that is coming to Ethiope East, if you take 0.01% out of it, it is enough to tile this road. To whom much is given, much is expected.
“You can’t tell me that I am insulting a local government chairman when I am telling him what he is supposed to do. The money he is receiving from the federal government is enough to solve this problem.
“Must he stay there for four years before he can attempt to solve a problem like this? You are telling me it is just one year in office. Must he spend up to four years in office before he can do something like this?
“Just two to three months of FG allocation will solve this problem.”
Vincent said he feared that once the chairmanship was rotated to another part of the LGA, no one would be interested in fixing the road anymore.
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FIJ sent questions to Augustine Ogedegbe, the local government chairman, for a reaction to the threat accusation via Facebook on Tuesday. He had yet to respond at press time.
On Monday, police officers arrested Usman Sabo, a youth leader in Shira LGA, Bauchi State, for criticising Babangida Isah, the LGA chairman.
Sabo had accused the chairman of refusing to sponsor the Shira LGA team in the Kaura Unity Cup, delaying salary payments, and trying to evict government workers from staff housing.
The post Delta LG Chairman Quiet After Resident Accused Him of Threatening His Life Over Accountability Calls appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.