Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, has named a woman Rev Gloria Nanya Akara as his running mate in the 2023 general elections.
Emenike promised to work with her and other Abia women to salvage the state from misrule.
Rev Akara from Ukwa East local government in Abia South Senatorial District was unveiled yesterday at a meeting of Bende local government APC stakeholders in Item in Abia North zone.
Emenike, who formally introduced his running mate to the party faithful at the event, described her as “a lady of faith, a true mother and a loving wife” who would add value to his “Rescue Mission” in Abia.
Abia women have never had the opportunity to sit in the executive wing of the state,” he said, adding that, “APC is promising something positively new in the state.”
The governorship candidate underlined the significance of his choice of Akara as his running mate, pointing out that nobody from Ukwa, the oil-bearing area of Abia had been in the executive wing right from the old Imo state.
“It has always been my desire that Ukwa people must be in the political equation of Abia,” Emenike said, adding that he got a quality woman with intimidating credentials, including 40 years of legal practice.
Emenike also stated that by choosing a woman as deputy governorship candidate, he had demonstrated that “in APC, we don’t just preach gender equity, we practise it.”
The governorship candidate said he encountered immense pressure in the process of picking a female running mate, saying that he had to seek the face of God and through divine inspiration he was able to stick to his decision.
In her acceptance speech, Akara said the emergence of Emenike as the 2023 governorship standard bearer of APC “is an answer to prayers.”
“The people of Abia have prayed and cried to God variously to intervene in the affairs of the state. Being strategically placed by God in Nigeria as an oil-producing state and also a well-known industrial hub in Africa, Abia deserves more than it has ever gotten in the course of its existence,” she said.
According to her, the emergence of Emenike with a mandate to liberate Abia “at this time and in this season is well timed for Abia liberation, transformation, credible, tangible change in several fronts from the basic to the truly kitty issues of governance.
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