As campaigns gradually wind down ahead of the September 21 Council Chairmanship and Councillorship poll in Enugu State, Governor Peter Mbah has urged the electorate to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to consolidate his administration’s development strides.
Mbah, who is also the PDP leader in the state said that his administration was already undertaking over 1,000 projects across Enugu State, with at least N1bn worth of projects for each of the 260 wards.
The governor spoke at the grand finale of the PDP campaign, which held at the Okpara Square, Enugu, on Wednesday.
Speaking amid fanfare, Mbah said, “When we say power to the people in PDP, we understand where power belongs. You entrusted your mandate to those who will hit the ground running. We are currently executing over 1,000 projects in our state. And what that means is that you have not entrusted your future to people that will use it for trial and error.
“We are building in your various wards, 260 Smart Green Schools and 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres. It is not just about the brick and mortar. It is to ensure that every child has access to quality learning. And it is not just about quality learning. We are talking about the robotics, mechatronics, augmented realities, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and computer-generated images. The idea is that 10 to 15 years from now, no child in Enugu State would ever be poor.
“We are spending over a billion naira in every ward. What that means is that we are generating wealth in every community. The bye-products of these activities are employment generation and wealth creation so that our people would not longer be hungry. It is not about giving you handouts. It is about providing you job so you can work and get paid.”
He noted that the PDP took conscious steps to elect credible candidates in for the council primary election, knowing that the rural communities were the most developmentally challenged.
“If we are feeling the impact of governance of PDP at the state level, it means that we must cascade it to the grassroots because we are only as good as our weakest link.
“We understand that our weakest point is our rural areas and that is why we have gone through our rigorous process of conducting a credible primary that threw up the best of our best to go to our various local government to serve us.
“The programmes and projects that we are executing need to be consolidated. We need men and women whose track record and integrity cannot be questioned; people who have demonstrated in their various places of work that they are able to deliver; and those are the people we are presenting to you to support come Saturday.
“You must all come out en masse. Take nothing for granted; do not say it is a foregone conclusion, PDP has won. You must come out and cast your vote.
“I am assuring you that these men of integrity and competence that are coming to join us to consolidate the works we are doing in our various communities will not fail you. We are going to make sure that they deliver,” he stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the PDP in Enugu State, Dr. Martin Chukwunweike, said the party’s State Executive Committee campaigned in all the LGAs, while the chairmanship candidates campaigned intensively in all the 260 wards, noting, however, that they did not see the opposition campaigning anywhere.
“If you do not campaign, how do you hope to win? It is a walkover. Nevertheless, we urge our supporters to come out and vote en masse to make the needed statement,” he stated.
Other party chieftains, including the Speaker, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu; Senate Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu; Member representing Nkanu East/Nkanu West Federal Constituency, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji; the State PDP Woman Leader, Hon. Peace Patrick; the State PDP Youth Leader, Hon. Benneth Ajah; and the immediate past Chairman of the Enugu State Chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, and Chairmanship candidate of the party in Nkanu East, Hon. Okechukwu Edeh, stressed that the governor’s myriad of projects across every nook and cranny in just 15 months had already campaigned and secured victory for the party..
Speaking to newsmen, the party’s chairmanship flagbearer in Isi-Uzo LGA, Hon. Obioara Obeagu, said the governor’s numerous projects had liquidated the vestiges of opposition.
