Anambra, PDP State Without Governor- Okwenna

Ifedi Okwenna, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) has said that Anambra state belongs to the PDP but unfortunately the party has not been able to produce the governor for more than 16 years.

Okwenna who stated this at the PDP party secretariat Awka during his declaration of interest to contest the 2021 governorship election over the weekend, said it was time for PDP to take its rightful position in the politics and governance of Anambra state.

The governorship aspirant said that the 2021 guber polls would be a turning point in the life of the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra state and there was need for the party to have unity of purpose and internal democracy to ensure that the party reclaimed its stolen mandate from the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

He was of the opinion that PDP should not be a big political party that would continue to lose elections in Anambra state, noting that his candidacy would brake the jinx in 2021.

The former commissioner for environment who disclosed further that erosions were tackled head-on during his tenure, maintained that he has more developmental ideas to redeem Anambra state from the shackles of maladministration and governmental backwardness.

According to him, “As the commissioner for environment, we took a census of all the erosion sites in Anambra state and the records of our achievements on erosion control are there.”

“Also, I have taken a tour of the entire Anambra; I went to Anambra-West, Ayamelum, Onitsha main market and other local government areas and discovered that Anambra has been under-developed and we have a sitting governor.”

He said Onitsha main market used to be the cynosure of all and sundry but stressed that at the moment, the market has become a shadow of itself, adding that those trading there were magicians for being able to survive in the said terrain yet a sitting governor exist.

Okwenna said, “Onitsha alone has about 45 markets with over 2 million traders and about 500 artisans. About 3 billion dollars circulates in that environment and about 40% are unbankable transactions. How can the governor be sitting at Agu-Awka while that place lie fallow and waste ?”

The former commissioner however told state executives of the PDP that he was at the party house to solicit their support for aspiration to the governnent house. He said if the party ensured transparency and fair play at the primaries, he was optimistic that he would clinch the party’s ticket and eventually win the 2021 govership elections in the state.

State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu however assured the guber aspirant that nobody will truncate or manipulate the party’s primary elections.

Nwobu emphasized that the primary elections would be conducted to its logical conclusion. He said the list of statutory delegates must be consistent and that no names would emanate from Abuja while encouraging Chief Ifedi Okwenna to be steadfast in his issue-based campaigns and refrain from campaigns of calumny.