In a colourful and well-attended rally in Enugu on Friday organised by the people of Enugu East Senatorial District of Enugu State, chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the district joined other political, religious and traditional leaders to endorse the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, as their sole candidate for the election in March, 2023.
The APC chieftains, led by former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani who was ably represented by the immediate past chairman of the party in the state and presently, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Dr. Ben Nwoye, said that their decision to endorse the PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Mbah was borne out of their conviction about his character, manifesto, comportment, depth of heart, judicious temperament and ability to lead.
Speaking on behalf of Senator Nnamani, Dr. Nwoye disclosed that the APC chieftains at their leadership meeting were of the view that “leadership of people in Enugu State should not be by party. The leader of Enugu State will be elected by the citizens of Enugu. Nkanu people have had their consensus to pick you (Mbah). I am an APC member but I and my group will vote for you.”
Speaking for himself, the former State Chairman of the APC said that as a member of Contact and Mobilisation of the APC PCC, they will turn everything to Dr. Mbah after supporting their party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25 election.
“I am here in two capacities. I will talk in my capacity and I will also talk because I was sent here by our leader, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Ken Nnamani, the only GCON we have in Enugu State.
“He sent me here to represent him because we have looked at everything beyond your (Mbah’s) manifesto which some of the candidates still don’t have. We studied your manifesto sir; we studied your character; we studied the content of your comportment; we studied the depth of your heart; we looked at your judicious temperament; your ability to lead sir and we concluded in that leadership meeting that leadership of people in Enugu State should not be by party.
“The leader of Enugu will be elected by the citizens of Enugu. Nkanu people have had their consensus to pick you. I am an APC member but I and my group will vote for you. Peter Mbah is the incoming governor of Enugu State.
“Speaking in my capacity, I am a member of the APC PCC but after February 25, we are going to turn everything to Barr. Peter Mbah."
Describing #Governor Ifeannyi #Ugwuanyi of #Enugu State as “the most performing governor of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my brother and my friend," Dr. Nwoye thanked the governor for keeping faith with the promise he made to the people of Enugu East Senatorial District that equity, fairness and justice will take pre-eminence in respect of the zone that will produce his successor in 2023.
Also speaking, former Governor of old Anambra State and former Senator who represented Enugu East Senatorial District, Senator Dr. Jim Ifenayichukwu Nwobodo, also expressed gratitude to Governor Ugwuanyi “for being a man of his words.”
Senator Nwobodo assured the governor that the people of Enugu East Senatorial District will join hands and campaign to ensure that he goes to the Senate in appreciation of his exemplary leadership role in the emergence of Dr. Mbah from the district as the PDP governorship candidate.
The former governor equally applauded Governor Ugwuanyi for entrenching peace and good governance in Enugu State in spite of the nation’s economic and security challenges, stressing that the governor deserves to go to the Senate to do more for his senatorial district in particular and the state in general.
Declaring that the PDP will record a landslide victory at the polls in Enugu State as it has always done since 1999, Senator Nwobodo who graced the event with his wife, Mrs. Pat Nwobodo, stressed that Dr. Mbah will win the governorship election in the state.
He, therefore, urged the people of the state especially those who have not collected their PVCs to do so, hold on strongly and vote for the PDP during the elections.
Earlier, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the rally, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi, the State Chairman of the PDP, Hon. Augustine Nnamani, the lawmaker representing Enugu North/Enugu South Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo, the Chairman of Enugu East Local Government Area, Hon. Nze Livinus Anike, the Deputy Chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Dr. Igwe Julius Nnaji and the Patron of the Council, HRH Igwe Ezeudo Sir Abel Nwobodo, the State Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Amb. Emmanuel Edeh, the President of Enugu State Market Amalgamated Traders Association, Chief Stephen Aniagu, an academic, Prof. Christian Ngwu, and former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon. Mrs. Rita Mbah, all spoke on behalf of their members, endorsing Dr. Mbah as the sole candidate of Enugu East Senatorial District for the governorship election in the state and pledged to galvanize the electorate to vote massively for him at the poll.
They equally expressed immense gratitude to Governor Ifeanyi for acceding to their appeal that his successor in 2023 comes from Enugu East Senatorial District in line with established rotational zoning arrangement in the state through the emergence of Dr. Mbah as the PDP candidate.
Addressing the jubilant crowd, Governor Ugwuanyi recalled what played out during the Oganiru Enugu East Senatorial District rally of June 17, 2021 concerning the tensed, robust, passionate and logical quest for zoning of the position of the next governor of the state to the district and how he assured that dialogue, justice and equity would take pre-eminence in the fullness of time.
The governor said that he was delighted that, “that self-fulfilling prophecy has come to pass and Enugu East Senatorial District has produced the gubernatorial candidate of our great party, the PDP in a free, fair, transparent and credible primary election.”
He added that what was more gratifying was the fact that every other political party in the state zoned her gubernatorial ticket to Enugu East Senatorial District underscoring the correctness of the choice the PDP made.
Governor Ugwuanyi congratulated the PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Mbah for earning the trust, support and solidarity of the people of the senatorial district and expressed confidence that same is true for other senatorial districts in the state.
“It is also cheering that virtually all other contestants in that primary election have long closed ranks with the winner, Barr. Peter Mbah, to ensure victory for the party in the general election and I salute their spirit of sportsmanship.
“It is significant that today’s endorsement of Barr. Dr. Peter Mbah for the March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election transcends partisan boundaries. I salute the good people of Enugu East Senatorial District for keeping their eyes on the ball.
“Barr. Mbah is a phenomenal young man with a knack and uncommon capacity for outstanding performance. The excellent record of his stint with the public sector as Commissioner for Finance and Chief of Staff, Government House, Enugu, as well as subsequent oil industry leadership in a record decade through the Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd, which he founded are testaments to his capabilities. With him, our tomorrow is indeed here,” he said.
Governor Ugwuanyi used the opportunity to enjoin teeming supporters of the PDP to take advantage of the on-going distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) by INEC and collect their PVCs as that is the only instrument they can use to practically express their support for Dr. Mbah.
The governor further charged the stakeholders to take responsibility for the mobilisation of the people to collect their PVCs in various electoral wards.