Monday, 11 November 2013
Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Chris Ngige who is one of the many aspirants gunning for the governor's seat in Anambra state, has admonished the people of Enugwu Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State to vote in a governor they can trust to deliver and improve their town based on pedigree, rather than a deputy governor they would merely claim.
Apparently referring to the running mate of one of the parties contesting next Saturday’s election who hails from the town, Ngige told the crowd that “the time has come for a useful climax in the long-standing political relationship we have enjoyed with this historical town and it is wise to carry it through to the end, so as to give value to all your previous sacrifices in the course of this journey.”
The governorship hopeful, who spoke in both the Igbo and English told his audience that, when many towns in Anambra State did not know where they were going in terms of exposure, Enugwu Ukwu had cut its teeth in education exposure and industry in all sphere of human endeavour.
‘It is too late in the day for anyone to come to Enugwu Ukwu and give them a stand-by generator because with your exposure, you can agree with a governor who will perform and your town will be better, rather than associating your name with another government that would simply occupy space and dent your image.”
Ngige, who was accompanied by his wife, Evelyn, former Anambra State Commissioner, Chief Charles Amilo and members of his team had earlier paid a condolence visit to the Nkwocha family at Urukpaleke Village Enugwu Ukwu, where he urged the family to take heart on the loss of Chief Mike Nkwocha, a politician in the town who passed on at 89.
Meanwhile, a pressure group in Anambra State, Anambra Democratic Vanguard (ADV) had at a solidarity visit to the Ngige Campaign Office in Awka, urged the candidate APC to ignore the distractions of APGA.
Leader of the group, Chief Christopher Mbelu, while being received by the Director of Operations in Ngige 2014, Hon Uche Okonkwo-Okom, referred to a libelous statement made by one Emeka Umeagbalasi, against Ngige and his platform on the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) and urged Ngige to such.
In his response Hon Okonkwo–Okom thanked ADV for their concern for human rights and assured them that the APC candidate would not descend to the level of throwing mud which APGA was instigating through Umeagbalasi and the ABS.
Also, at a live debate among the governorship candidates, Ngige has been tipped as the only one able to address issues of labour in the state.
The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Umar, had cried out that Anambra state pays the least salary scale to workers of the state and local governments.
Umar was actually lamented that the government under Mr. Peter Obi has refused to comply with payment of minimum wage in the state despite all efforts to compel him pay workers their legitimate entitlements.
Ngige however showed experience when he stressed that having passed through the cadre as a civil servant and he was therefore in the best position to resolve labour issues. He said that something was wrong with the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, of the state as what is presently being declared is far less than expectation when compared to what he generated as governor of the state.
