The Enugu State Government has faulted a widely circulated article by the Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought Dr Sam Amadi criticising Governor Peter Mbah’s administration describing it as partisan intellectually dishonest and lacking in empirical evidence.
Amadi in an article titled ‘Peter Mbah Is Failing and Failing Unnecessarily’ had accused the governor of presiding over an atmosphere of political intimidation insecurity and suppression of opposition activities in Enugu State despite acknowledging his administration’s achievements in infrastructure development and revenue generation.
However the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Mbah on Mainstream Media Dan Nwomeh said he was taken aback by the article given Amadi’s reputation as a public intellectual arguing that it was characterised by unsubstantiated allegations extreme partisanship emotionally charged rhetoric and questionable statistical interpretations.
Nwomeh in his response accused Amadi of disguising political partisanship as intellectual analysis insisting that his arguments failed to demonstrate the level of research objectivity and scholarly rigour expected from someone of his standing.
He particularly faulted Amadi’s assertion that a person was shot dead at a political rally in Enugu every week describing it as a reckless allegation that required verifiable evidence.
‘Where are the names of the victims dates locations and police records? How did he arrive at this conclusion?’ Nwomeh queried challenging Amadi to substantiate the allegation rather than rely on sweeping generalisations.
He said Enugu had consistently been identified by security experts as one of the states with the lowest crime rates in the country citing independent assessments which according to him indicated a reduction of more than 80 per cent in violent crime since Mbah assumed office in 2023.
Nwomeh also highlighted the state’s investments in security infrastructure including thousands of artificial intelligence-enabled surveillance cameras drones nearly 200 patrol vehicles fitted with intelligent cameras and a Command and Control Centre for real-time monitoring.
He said the Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu had recently commended the facility and urged other states to understudy it arguing that the investments demonstrated the government’s commitment to protecting lives and property.
On Amadi’s criticism of Enugu’s internally generated revenue (IGR) Nwomeh described his interpretation as misleading insisting that the state’s revenue growth was not primarily driven by increased taxation but by the recovery and commercial optimisation of previously moribund government-owned assets.
Citing the 2025 revenue figures he said tax revenue accounted for only N51.5 billion representing 12.6 per cent of Enugu’s N406.77 billion IGR while non-tax revenue contributed N355.2 billion or 87.4 per cent.
According to him technology-driven revenue tracking electronic payment systems and the elimination of collection leakages had significantly improved the state’s revenue performance.