As the countdown to the kick-off for the 2023 electioneering campaigns draw near, the various political parties, their candidates along with their teeming supporters are putting in place the necessary machineries in their preparation for a successful outing. It promises to be a season of frenzied political activities aimed at selling both parties and candidates’ manifestos to the electorate.
One frontline political colossus who is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to launch a successful campaign is High Chief Ikechi Emenike, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Abia State in the 2023 election. This much can be gleaned from his recent moves and interactions in the last few weeks aimed at familiarizing himself with his people and stakeholders in the state.
Having recently inaugurated his branded campaign materials which include vehicles, wears and several other promotional items at Ututu, Arochukwu area of the state, Emenike is poised to sell his candidacy to all parts of Abia State. On that auspicious occasion, he was warmly received by the good people of Arochukwu who promised to work with him in order to realize his mission of securing the mandate next year.
While accepting the mandate to lead the charge to rescue Abia from years of bad governance, the respected publisher and development economist bemoaned the fate that has befallen his beloved state since 1999 and promised to give his best in achieving the needed change. Deploring the pitiable economic situation the state has found itself, Emenike gave the people hope of better days ahead. His “Rescue and Develop Abia State” political motto obviously derives from his fundamental belief that there is an urgent need to redirect the ship of state and ensure a more encompassing growth and development in all sectors to avert the looming danger.
As a human capital development expert and political strategist, Emenike will surely be leveraging on his cognate experience to rescue Abia State from the shackles of underdevelopment and poverty. He hopes to empower the citizens with the wherewithal to create wealth and improve their general standard of living.
The groundswell of goodwill towards his ambition by a vast majority of Abians is clearly unmistakable. From Abia Central senatorial zone through Abia South, down to Abia North, one common thread runs through the people’s yearning – an urgent rescue from the status quo. Interestingly, Emenike has pledged to deliver the dividends of democracy by pacing the state on the path of irreversible growth if given the opportunity to serve. He said during his recent consultation and mobilization visit to Ututu in Arochukwu local government area that that the main reason why Abia has been experiencing stunted growth is low budgeting. According to him, those who have been at the helm of affairs in Abia Government House have been running the state on a low budget of less than N200 billion, which, to him is insufficient to pull the state out of underdevelopment.
Emenike promised that if given the mandate, he would find creative ways to enhance the state budget to be able to meet the demands of developing the state to enviable heights. Surely, the Abia APC governorship candidate is a man with the Midas touch to transform the entity that prides itself as “God’s own State.” It is therefore in the hands of the Abia State electorate to ensure that this man who has chosen to take on this onerous task succeeds at it when the chips are down in 2023.