The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West has expressed its sympathy to victims of cholera outbreak now ravaging some parts of the State, describing the outbreak as “avoidable and evidence of failure of the Kayode Fayemi-led Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government in the State.”
The party, which said it was painful that Ekiti people no longer get pipeline borne water to drink, added that it was worrisome that the same Ekiti State that did not have a single case of cholera in 2010 that the entire South-West States recorded high cases of the epidemic is now being ravaged by Cholera.
In a release issued today by the PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Kayode Babade, the party said the reported case of cholera outbreak in Ikere-Ekiti, Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State was the second in Ekiti State this year, saying; “a responsible government would have taken steps to prevent its re-occurrence instead of waiting for people to be killed before rushing to intervene.”
“In July, two persons reportedly died from cholera outbreak in Igbara-Odo, Ekiti South/West Local Government area of Ekiti State. And now, there is another outbreak of cholera in Ikere-Ekiti, a town less than 30km from Igbara-Odo.
“This to us is unacceptable especially in a state where the ACN government claimed it committed N3.2 billion to provision of pipe borne water this year alone.
“Funny enough, before the ACN paid its ways into power in Ekiti, there was a certain Cleric then, who was always criticising the State government about provision of water, and no doubt, such criticism spurred the government into pursuing unrelentlessly, adequate provision of pipeborne water in the State.
“It was evident that lack of pipe borne water was almost becoming a thing of the past before the PDP left government in 2010 via the Salamic judgment and Ekiti State was already on the verge of selling water to neigbouring states.
“However, it appears that the Cleric had left Ekiti because if he was still talking on the issue of water provision in the State at one tenth of how he was talking when PDP was in government in Ekiti, the situation would not have degenerated to this level that cholera is now ravaging the State.
“While we sympathise with victims of this new cholera outbreak, we wish to urge the ACN government in Ekiti State to stop paying lips service to provision of basic amenities, especially water for the people and begin a process of salvaging the government from total failure that it has obviously become,” PDP said.