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| Governor Willi Obiano |
The chairman of Electronics Dealers International Market, Onitsha, Chief Izuchukwu Okoye, has said there has been no single crisis in his Market since the inception of his administration.
Okoye who was refuting erroneous publications in the media against his person as the chairman of Electronics Market said the allegation of diversion of N110m was not only unfounded but baseless.
Okoye said the allegations of crisis or fraud in the market only exist in the imagination of those who made it.
He said the whole thing was all about politics, stressing that publications were the handiwork of unpopular people and mischief makers in the market who wanted power by trying to cause trouble so that they would attract the attention of Government to cancel the Saturday July 14,2018 election.
Okoye said by so doing they were desperate to induce another Caretaker Committee for a second time to allow them get power through the back door.
"The market has been the most peaceful since the inception of our executive until election date was announced sometimes in February. It is no longer news that the arrow head of this trouble does not have one good to sell in the market"said Okoye.
He said those who carried protest to Awka on Tuesday to give an impression that there was crisis in the market were not more than 19 persons in market of over 5,000 traders.
The chairman said these 19 persons cannot represent the interest of the market, saying that about five people in this group were no more traders in the market.
He said " since 2010 this same group has been causing trouble. Anytime election is being scheduled , they will start writing petitions, levelling allegations against Commissioners and their fellow aspirants to assassinate their character".
To set the record straight, said the chairman, Electronics Market cannot collect N110m even in 15 years.
He said in 2014 they collected tax and development levy of a little over N3m, then the Ministry enforced and collected the remaining money.
In 2015 and 2016, he said, the Government contracted those who used Pay on point of Service to collect the revenue, explaining that it was not the union that collected levies in those two years.
Okoye said they have also collected just a little above N1.6m in the 2017, stressing that about 450 traders were yet to pay their levies.
He said the election was one major reason the collection of levies delayed as they could not have been collecting the levies when the election process was still being delayed.
He challenged anybody who has contrary view to bring his/her own register if they felt he was not saying the truth.
Izuchukwu said some elements in Government persuaded these people to carry out demonstration so that it will provide them with the alibi to cancel the election but said all of them will fail.
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