The Abia State Government has described the Senator representing Kogi West at the National Assembly, Smart Adeyemi, as a “village idiot”.
This followed some uncomplimentary remarks which the senator made about the Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday the Abia State Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu, said Mr Adeyemi’s utterances confirms the saying that “every time a fool opens his mouth he advertises his absence of intelligence”,
The statement reads in full:
“The Holy Bible acknowledges in Proverbs 17:28 that ‘Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues’.
“Sadly, it appears that the hallowed platform provided by the National Assembly is now a village square for confirmed village idiots to open their mouths, thereby doing great disservice to the great men and women, past and present, that have been elected to serve as Senators.
“For the records, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu does not drink alcoholic beverages of any kind and I make bold to invite ‘Undistinguished’ Smart Adeyemi to appear at a place of his choosing with the Governor for test for alcohol in the blood system. He should also not forget to bring along his own state Governor for the test.
“We know that only confirmed drunks will see and call even saints drunkards and we want to give Adeyemi the opportunity to prove that past allegations of drunkenness induced misbehavior against him are false.
Sadly, a man like Senator Adeyemi who is described by his professional colleagues as the most despicable NUJ President in history who engaged in dubious project tours allegedly to siphon the resources of the Union is the one abusing the privilege of being elected a senator in a constituency where the more erudite and socially justice conscious Senator Dino Maleye also contested is a sad commentary on the situation we find ourselves as a country especially at a time of national security crises requiring serious and focused actions by all arms of government.
“While we have no reason to disparage the Governor of Kogi state for the actions of the misguided Senator, it is important to point out that Abia enjoys the rating of being one of the safest states in Nigeria under the watch of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who is well known to have invested in technology and hardware to support peace and security in the state. If only our village idiot has taken time to study development pattern in Abia State he would have seen that Governor Ikpeazu’s Abia has maintained first position in the performance ranking of states by the West Africa Examination Council,. To date, Governor Ikpeazu has constructed 538 new classroom blocks across the state with 4 new model schools. Under his watch, public school enrollment has improved from about 150,000 to more than 650,000 and Abia School teachers have undergone training by local and international educational service providers.
Recently, reports from NBS confirmed that Ikpeazu’s Abia was the 3rd highest investment destination in 2020 among other States of the federation only after Lagos and Abuja and at a time Smart and his masters could not even understand the science of Coronavirus disease pandemic.
“If he needs further verifiable information on the sterling performances of Governor Ikpeazu who has long been acclaimed as the best ever Governor of Abia State has delivered more than 105 road projects, planted 4m tenera-specie palm seedlings, established the biggest poultry cluster in the south east and envisioned the ambitious Enyimba Economic City, let him feel free to visit the state and see for himself.
“We do not need any apology from Adeyemi who only confirmed the saying that “every time a fool opens his mouth he advertises his absence of intelligence”, yet, we must advice the leadership of the Senate to evolve ways to prevent legislative misfits from using the protection offered by its hallowed chambers to abuse men who are by far better than them in all ramifications. After all, but for the immunity offered by the chambers of the National Assembly Smart Adeyemi would have been facing libel charges for his malicious rant.
“Finally, Abians have no apology to tender to Adeyemi or anyone for electing a Governor who is well educated enough to understand the science of the existence of COVID-19, the need to promote business and attract foreign investment to the state.
“We are therefore proud to be described as ‘highly intelligent people, highly educated people, very enterprising people’ even if that is the only description available to a once-in-a-year lucid Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”