“We borrowed N5bn in one month to help the poor, says Umahi

David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi, says his government has spent over N5 billion in touching the lives of people and to set the poor free.

Speaking during a Christmas visit to Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospitals, Fetha One and Two, and Mile Four Maternity Hospital in Abakaliki, the state capital, Umahi said the state did not have the money but had to borrow it.

He said the action, which is to set the poor and oppressed free, is a real form of empowerment.

“Between the Local Governments and the state, in this December alone, we have spent over N5billion. When we didn’t have the money, we had to borrow because touching people like this gives me a lot of joy,” Umahi said

“So when few people are saying there is no empowerment, don’t mind them. This is the real empowerment, to set the patients free, to set the poor free, to set the oppressed free, that is the real empowerment.

“Roads is the basis of the development of every state and we needed this road so badly. Remember we are the salt of the nation, but today, we are the road of the nation.”

The governor donated food items to hospitals and paid outstanding medical bills for patients across the state.