Maduako Igbokwe l Thursday, June 29, 2022
ONITSHA, Anambra, Nigeria – Chairman, Caretaker Committee in charge of Zone 3, Main Market, Onitsha, Chief Robinson Ezebunanwa has stated that the protests against him were sponsored by those who have been feeding fat on government revenues.
According to Ezebunanwa, who spoke to journalists on Wednesday said the state government appointed caretaker committee under his leadership had conducted the affairs of the market with utmost probity. He said the activities of the committee had helped the State government to raise revenue in the markets.
Recall that some people under the aegis of Zone 3 Stakeholders staged a protest, asking the state government not to renew Ezebunanwa’s appointment. The stakeholders alleged that Ezebunanwa was ‘not carrying’ them along in the administration of the market.
Reacting to the protest , Ezebunanwa said that those behind the protest were not comfortable that he had exposed the corrupt activities in the market that had made them very rich, leaving the state government poorer over the years.
According to him, the fact that nobody accused him of embezzlement speaks to the fact that he was being witch-hunted by those who felt that somebody from the Ihiala area should not come close to the administration of the market.
Ezebunanwa said he has been able to ensure that all revenue collected from the market was remitted to the government as a way of strengthening the revenue base of the state .
“In the course of my short reign as chairman of Zone 3, my team has been able to generate huge revenue for government without increasing levy on traders, we have been able to expose the corruption going in the market where government money is diverted into private pockets of the so called stakeholders
“It is after we exposed the corruption in the market to the government that they started these problems, claiming that we came to destroy the system with which they used to make money. The stakeholders who are very few but influential in the market said that I am from Ihiala Local Government Area and not from the area that has been dominating the system, so I can’t come in.
“These are the people sponsoring protests against me and my team. They want to blackmail me so that government will remove me to enable their stooges can come back and resume their business as usual.
“If you go to the Ministry of Commerce, the record is there, you will see the difference between what they were remitting and what we are remitting. We are determined to help the government succeed,” he said.
Ezebunanwa said some people who purportedly signed the petition including a woman had reached out to him to disclaim the petition and apologise to him because they were not consulted. He said himself, and chairman of zone 1 and two had been working tirelessly to protect both their members and the government.
According to him, they are sponsoring the protest for their selfish interest because they are anti-progress.