By Engr. Jude Chikadibia Okpor

The publication by Sahara Reporters on February 4, 2025 with the caption: “Amid Rising Killings, Ebonyi State Government Splashes N8.3billion On Purchase Of Official Vehicles” is to say the least, a rape of professionalism and the greatest height of the organisation and its reporters’ insensitivity.

We cannot stop pondering over the connection between purchase of official vehicles and the very recent massacre by yet-to-be identified assailants on a hitherto peaceful Ebonyi community, Amagu Nkalaha in Ishielu Local Government Area, which left over ten Ebonyians dead with property worth millions of naira destroyed.

How could a media organization that is worth its name choose to ridicule itself in public domain over the black Sunday event, which has thrown the state into mourning? It is a clear evidence that in their unbridled gluttony and junk journalism, Sahara Reporters have sacrificed their conscience and human empathy on the altars of inordinate gains, having no regard for the sanctity of life.

We wouldn’t have had any business responding to Sahara Reporters again over the allegation of “splashing N8.3billion on Purchase of Official Vehicles,” an item of expenditure in last year’s budget, if not for the fact that they brought into their malevolent and unguided diatribe the unfortunate Sunday morning bloodletting in Ishielu Local Government Area as if it was the expenditure that perpetrated the mayhem.

The issue of insecurity has assumed a global dimension. However, Ebonyi State has remained comparatively one of the most peaceful and secured states in Nigeria. This has been attested to by the recent data released by the African Centre for Media, Governance, and Peace Building, in which Ebonyi was placed at only 1% cumulative casualty rating from diverse forms of insecurity.

The recent gunmen attack, just as it regularly occurs in many states, is a spontaneous and isolated occurrence which the state government has taken proactive measures to contain. The attack has nothing to do with the states budgetary expenditure on security, which the government of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has prudently and justifiably maximized for the benefit of the citizens.

Sahara Reporters, in one of their publications on 3rd December 2024, had earlier raised the issue of the state budget in connection with the said official vehicles, of which the state government gave a comprehensive clarification. Hiding under the recent unfortunate calamity on the state to bring up the issue again evidences the fact that Sahara Reporters are involved in a hatchet job.

By reporting that the N8.3 billion was spent on the purchase of only 20 vehicles at a self-calculated unit price of an average of N417 million, Sahara Reporters has once again displayed their naked ignorance. The state government from part of the said amount has prudently purchased vehicles for the medical doctors in general hospitals, Hiace buses for EBOTRANS, Ambulances for General Hospitals, Vehicles for Commissioners, Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants as well as other aides and top government officials.

On the budget performance data quoted in the report, suffice it to say that Sahara Reporters in their calculated mischief simply pecked the government published document, deliberately ignoring its holistic excellence but dwelling only on a very insignificant component which suits their nefarious intentions. They feigned ignorance of the fact that some of the sector concerns may have been addressed as an integral part of project execution in multiple other sectors bearing in mind that the 2024 approved budget (including supplemtary budget) stood at *392.7* billion, with *306.3* billion, expended.

This singular truth if no other, should be acknowledged by Sahara Reporters and their cohorts: Ebonyi State Government has received many commendations for exceptional performance resulting from its budget performance review from reputable organisations such as BudgiT, USAID-State2State, among others. With these organisations scoring Ebonyi high in fiscal discipline, the opinion of Sahara Reporters is as irrelevant as a drunk’s wish, which should be ignored by all serious-minded persons.

For the benefit of doubt, the security agencies in the state under Francis Nwifuru’s administration are well equipped in terms of mobility and other logistics to effectively discharge their functions. The State Government has not at any time wavered in its support to the ever ready security agencies in the state to ensure that the state is effectively secured.

Sahara Reporters is therefore warned to desist from incisive publications against seek clarifications when in doubt.

Moreover, for gloating over the recent misfortune on the state, Sahara Reporters should get prepared to answer pertinent questions that might arise as a result of their actions.

Engr. Jude Chikadibia Okpor,
Hon. Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Ebonyi State.
05/02/2025.