Rep. Eugene Dibiagwu, who represents the Ohaji-Egbema/Oguta/Oru West Federal Constituency of Imo State, says he has carried out empowerment projects worth more than N1 billion since he was elected in 2023. He revealed this during the News Agency of Nigeria Personality Interview Series on Sunday in Abuja, as reported by Nigeria Startup News. The lawmaker, who was a successful businessman before joining politics, explained that his focus has been on ensuring that his constituents feel the impact of his presence in the National Assembly. He said he organised a major empowerment programme in March at Mgbidi, in Oru West Local Government Area, to help cushion the harsh economic realities affecting many families.
Dibiagwu said he has always been committed to improving the welfare of his people. According to him, “I have done so many things for my people as a result of my presence in the National Assembly. I have been involved in making sure that their welfare is guaranteed.” He described the March empowerment programme as a large event that “shook Imo” and also drew attention across the South-East and other parts of the country. He said it was designed to directly support the downtrodden and give many residents a chance to start small businesses or improve their livelihoods.
Listing what was shared during the mega empowerment, Dibiagwu said items were distributed across all 33 wards in the constituency. These included 45 buses, 45 tricycles, 45 motorcycles and 45 sewing machines. Others were 45 grinding machines, 120 stoves and 3,000 bags of 50kg rice. He added that 120 people received grants of N500,000 each to support new small-scale businesses. He explained that the distribution was structured to ensure fairness. “I made sure that each ward benefitted from the buses and then we gave out some of them to other outstanding people within the federal constituency,” he said.
Dibiagwu also highlighted the various infrastructure projects he attracted to the constituency. These include the Nkwo Ihitte-Owerri/Onitsha Expressway Road, the Mgbidi, Umualaoma Akabo-Catholic Church Junction Road, Awa Road, Assa-Idegele Road and Awarra Ohaji Road. He said he ensured that education and basic amenities were not left out. “I equally attracted construction of six-classroom blocks at Community Secondary School, Awarra, construction of modern classroom blocks with modern facilities and solar energy borehole at Otulu Secondary School in Oru West,” he said. He added that solar-powered boreholes were provided at Umuokwu Izombe and Eziorsu in Oguta.
According to him, residents also benefitted from the distribution of improved palm seedlings, fertilisers, broilers and roofing sheets, especially to farmers and victims of insecurity. He said these efforts were part of his plan to support economic growth and social stability across rural communities. On education, Dibiagwu said he has been sponsoring UTME and WASSCE candidates annually. For the 2024/2025 May/June WASSCE, he said 2,000 candidates were registered. He explained that this was important because many families in rural areas struggle to afford examination fees. “In our various rural areas, some people don’t have anybody to register them for WAEC, let alone sponsoring them in the universities. So I have registered so many less-privileged children and I have given scholarships to deserving students in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education,” he said.
The lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Regional Development and Amnesty Programme and is a member of the All Progressives Congress, said he also carried out a supplementary empowerment programme for political stakeholders who were not captured in March. He noted that he leads one of the biggest political platforms in the state, the Imo Progressives Movement. “I discovered that some members of the political platform who worked for me were not captured during the March empowerment. So I recently held what I called a supplementary empowerment to take care of them,” he said. He added that more than 10,000 people attended and each received N100,000 as a grant.
Dibiagwu said the empowerment programmes would continue as long as he received divine favour. He said, “Empowerment is from God. I will continue to do that. It’s a continuous process. By next year, we will do the same because it’s a yearly ritual for my federal constituency.” He also spoke on the realities of lawmakers’ earnings, saying that his salary in the National Assembly is N605,000, while his allowance stands at N12.5 million, which must be retired. “That’s all I receive from the National Assembly at the moment,” he said.
