Diversion Of Relief Materials Allegation Against Me Politically Motivated- Ita-Giwa
Senator Florence Ita-Giwa on Monday said allegations leveled against her over diversion of relief materials she sourced from the National Refugee Commission for victims of fire outbreak in Dayspring Island Bakassi are politically motivated.
Senator Ita-Giwa Ita-Giwa who made stated this at a press conference in Lagos said she recently uncovered an alleged plot by some Cross River State officials to divert relief materials, she sourced from government, for victims of a fire outbreak in Dayspring Island in Bakassi.
According to her, since the diversion of relief materials by the government officials were uncovered, there had been a sustained and coordinated campaign to stop the Senator from her continuous efforts towards alleviating the plight of her people
Ita-Giwa pointed out that, such acts were being coordinated from the highest echelon of power in the state, adding that the allegations were obviously sponsored by character assassins.
The Senator said she had been estranged from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State for a while, even though she supported and campaigned for the election of the present governor of the state, Governor Ben Ayade.
According to Ita-Giwa, “it appears to me that Governor Ayade feels threatened by my joining the All Progressives Congress, APC, for whatever reasons. I don’t recall any other former PDP stalwart in the state who decamped to the APC being so persecuted as I am. Could it be that Governor Ayade is picking on me because of my gender or my enormous electoral appeal? I choose to believe the latter as I would like to believe that Ayade is not a misogynist, and he ought to know that I have never played gender politics.
“I would like the public to know that Governor Ben Ayade, a man whose election I supported has been sending menacing text messages to me, warning me of the consequences of involving the Nigerian media and Nigerian Police in the uncovering of the diversion of the relief materials by his government officials.
Commenting on the government of President Buhari for its obvious high regard for Cross River State and Cross Riverians, Ita-Giwa said, “It is on record that the Head of Service of the Federation; the Chief of Naval Staff; the Auditor General of the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria are al Cross Riverians. Indeed, we have never been so honored by any administration in the history of Nigeria”.
Debunking allegations that she was never a signatory to the ceding of Bakassi ancestral land to Cameroun, the Senator also pointed out that she never mentioned Governor Ayade’s name as a culprit in the diversion of relief materials meant for the Internally Displaced people (IDPs)
While confirming that she has no resettlement camp in Akpabuyo, Ita-Giwa made it clear that she at no time misled government to recognize a nonexistent Dayspring Island as part of Bakassi.
“The allegation that there was never a fire outbreak and that the story was manufactured to get relief materials from National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is an indictment against the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Refugees Commission and the Nigerian media who all accompanied me on the verification visit to the site of the fire incident”, she said.
