Mr. Osita
Okechukwu, the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) and chieftain of All
Progressives Congress (APC), at the weekend lashed out at the Deputy Senate
President, Ike Ekweremadu, for using the last three years to fight Buhari,
instead of attracting good projects to Enugu West senatorial district.
Addressing
APC delegates in Awgu, Okechukwu, a senatorial aspirant in Enugu West,
regretted that Ekweremadu, rather than giving his people effective representation
like some senators do, dissipates energy in fighting President Muhammadu Buhari
from the hallowed chambers of the Senate.
According to
the VON DG, “what Senator Ekweremadu has been doing in the Senate in the last
three years is fighting Mr President and not lawmaking. I was one of those who
thought that his objective of smuggling himself into 2nd in Command in the
Senate was to help our people. Rather he unwittingly poisoned Senator Saraki’s
chalice and by extension that of the 8th Senate.”
“Senator
Ekweremadu instead of joining Buhari’s RRAP (Roads, Rails, Agriculture and
Power) Projects, spent the last three years fighting Buhari. By his inclination
to self, he failed to utilise the Anchor Borrowers or any of the agricultural
programmes to develop rice, cassava, cashew or palm farms. By the grace of
Almighty God and my people, I as a senator will key into Mr President’s
projects to develop rice and cassava integrated farms.”
He lamented
that such a ranking senator had chosen to make the Senate a battle ground,
abandoning a vital road infrastructure in his senatorial district, such as
Oji-Awgu federal highway, to become a death trap.
“If you are
fighting an incumbent President, will you get anything for your people? Instead
of behaving like David Mark who even had more senators on his side but said his
party, PDP was not in power, our brother Ekweremadu plunged into the contest
for the Senate leadership and you could see the confusion he caused in the
Senate in the past three years,” Okechukwu said.
He
maintained that it will be delusion to expect Ekweremadu to achieve anything if
given another four years when his scorecard for Enugu West is not commensurate
to 16 years sojourn in the senate.
On what
spurred him to run for the Senate, Okechukwu explained that he was inspired by
a desire to revamp the abundant coal deposits in Enugu State.
“What
inspired me to run for Senate is that I know how poor I am and how poor my
constituency is. Enugu state has at least, 10 higher institutions and they produce
over 2,000 graduates every year and there are no jobs. That is why we migrate
to South Africa and they kill us.
“When
Professor Barth Nnaji was Minister of Power, we started the journey to revamp
Enugu Coal. He set aside five Coal fields and designated them for Coal to
Power, so as to generate 1,000 megawatts. We continued with Professor Nebo. Its
been six good years talk about coal. They said it was no longer in vogue. Yet,
it produces 80 percent of electricity in India and 65 percent of electricity in
South Africa.
“When Buhari
came, we persisted. Methinks as a senator one will actualise the objective of
revamping Enugu Coal to generate electricity and proved employment to thousands
of youths,” he said.
Okechukwu
said his undying desire to revamp coal made him to join the senatorial race.
Urging the
Awgu delegates to support him in his senatorial bid, the VON boss noted that
with this modest appointment, he registered cooperatives, with ten
beneficiaries per ward in Enugu West.
“I have a
good relationship with Mr. President, the Vice President and almost all the
Ministers. None of my other contenders for the APC ticket has this level of
contact.
“All these
are crystal clear. As a senator, I do not need to wait two hours to see Mr
President. Now, you (delegates) spent money to come here. If I win, will I
forget you? Capital No! I paid my dues and Buhari did not forget me. In the
same way, if I get to the Senate, I will never forget you,” Okechukwu said.
Earlier,
Basil Chukwu, one of the major stakeholders of Awgu APC and State Assistant
Secretary, noted that Okechukwu had contributed so much to the party and time
has come to give back to him.
Similarly,
Ikenna Umeh, the Chairman of APC in Awgu LGA, described Okechukwu as an astute
and loyal party man who had contributed both morally and financially to solving
problems in the party.
Umeh assured
Okechukwu of the support of the entire APC in Awgu local government area.
The party
chairman urged him to go back to his immediate constituency in Udi and Ezeagu,
to get their support and return to Awgu, where his support was already
guaranteed.
Also
speaking, Chikwado Chukwunta, the APC State Deputy Chairman, said Mr. Okechukwu
has the capacity to get Awgu people out of their condition, adding that under
the leadership of Emperor Baywood Ibe, the people of the area would make APC
win in Enugu State, Enugu West and Awgu.
Speaking on
behalf of the Osita Okechukwu Campaign Council, Mr. Chiedozie Nwafor, the
Director General (DG) said they were in Awgu because they have seen, “the Moses
who would deliver them from Pharaoh.”
“Pharaoh
must allow our people to go. This neocolonialism must end. Our condition in
Enugu West is bad and we are demanding for change. APC has come of age and we
need programmes that could put smiles on our faces,” Nwafor said.
He said
equity demands that the next senator for Enugu West should come from Udi or
Awgu, since Ezeagu and Oji River had produced senators in the past while Aninri
produced the incumbent senator, Ike Ekweremadu, who was not willing to leave
office after 16 years in the Senate.
Others in
Okechukwu’s campaign train were Dr Bonny Eneh, Kate Offor, Maureen Anosike,
Godwin Onwusi and Ejike Eze.
Meanwhile,
in a swift reply, Ekweremadu’s media aide, Mr. Luke Mgbor said it was obvious
that Okechukwu appreciates that he is just an upcoming propagandist who has no
political value both to his party and his constituency, as such his only chance
of getting attention is to mention the name ‘Ekwereamdu’. That way the media
will consider his story.
“It is
evident that it is either that he mischievously refused to appreciate the
numerous developmental projects attracted by Senator Ekweremadu to Enugu West
Senatorial District such as Nnewe / Oduma/ Akaeze roads and bridges, Nkwe/
Ezere/ Awgunta/Mmaku/ Obeagu road, Udi North ring road which cover Awhum/
Egede/ Affa and almost every part of Udi North, Electricity and Educational
projects, Scholarships and bursaries to indigent students, facilitation of
employments, capacity building and empowerment programmes etc or that he is not
on ground having been operating from Abuja.”
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