Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike has urged residents of the state to use their votes to usher in a government that would partner with them in the governance of the state.
Emenike stated this at separate town-hall meetings he had with the Abiriba Communal Improvement Union (ACIU), Old Bende Progressive Union (OBPU), and Aba Merchants and Artisans Association (AMAA) in Aba.
He maintained that in choosing their next governor, residents must consider the candidate that has the capacity to deliver on his promises and not to allow those who have destroyed the state for almost 24 years to return to office.
“Most of those who destroyed the state have come out again to seek reelection or election. I am the only candidate that has never had anything to do with either the administrations or the destroyers,” he explained.
Emenike noted that if elected, his administration will revamp the economy of the state immediately, fix decayed infrastructure, build new ones and ensure the welfare of civil servants and pensioners.
“Show me what the Peoples Democratic Party administration has done in the state for almost 24 years. Is it not shameful that since 1999, the state has remained stagnant while even the less endowed ones are fast moving ahead?”
He noted that in view of the level of underdevelopment in the state, his administration would establish financial institutions and operate an annual budget of not less than N300 billion “as against the paltry less than N150 billion.”
According to the development economist, “Abia will continue to run in circles until we have financial institutions that will drive the economy. We will engage every sector through creative engagements to succeed.”
Similarly, the APC senatorial candidate for Abia South, Hon Blessing Nwagba and the candidate for Aba Central state constituency, Lady Jane Ogbauta, appealed to the various interest groups in Aba to change the ugly narrative of the state by voting for the party.
In his response, the president general of ACIU, Chief Nduka Agwu bemoaned the level of infrastructure decay in their home community in Ohafia local government area of the state and the multiple challenges to their businesses.
He assured the APC governorship hopeful of their readiness to vote for him and the other candidates to bring the desired change “which will also create employment windows for our teeming youths, including graduates.”
The president of OBPU, DIG Azubuko Udah (rtd), who was represented by Chief Friday Eze, and the president of general of AMAA, Sir Albert Okafor assured of their commitment to Emenike’s agenda.
The APC state chairman, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, said the governorship candidate’s “Rescue and Develop Abia” agenda is the only way out of the rot the state had found itself in since 1999 under the PDP.
