Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah representing Anambra South Senatorial District in this interview states his plans for Anambra Anambra State if elected governor of the state. TONY OKAFOR reports.
Anambra State governorship election is coming up next year. Are you contesting?
Well, I must admit the fact that I have the burning desire to contest for the upcoming election. Why do I have the desire? It is because of the fact that the current and successive governments, to a larger extent, have not been able to put Anambra state through the trajectory that is desirous by our people. Insecurity is very very critical to all of us. Commercial support and empowerment, health challenges are very important. Also, the need to accelerate community development through local government election has been a problem in Anambra state for the past 18 years and that is why we are so backward.
So, for me, these are the main cardinal reasons, because in politics, people always emerge through trickish means by over promising our people and sometimes our people look at these individuals based on their over-bloated status and this has not yielded fruits. So, we should have a bond with our people and that is my heart desire of going into this contest, not because I don’t have a very good political portfolio or that I am not contented with what I have but because I strongly believe that if we continue to allow the status quo to remain, it means that the development that we desire for Anambra state will never materialize.
I am going into the contest and I am more prepared than anybody that will come into the contest. I am spiritually prepared, I have all it takes and I have made an enormous sacrifice to change the narrative for the sake of our children and the future generation.
Are you sure you can realize this in APC that is not popular in Anambra?
Well, I strongly believe that we are all human beings, political party is a platform but we all have conscience. I believe that I am going to APC, having contested elections in my platform which is the minority and I am not also waving Emilokan that people can turn into a revolutionistic structure. If I have the opportunity of what APC is bringing to me, I then have to take it. For me, being the high ranking APC elected officer in Anambra state and also somebody from the zone that is seeking for the governorship position, I repeat, I have what it takes to get into that contest and contest for a singular tenure of four years. I repeat, a singular tenure of four years. It is a commitment.
If I have the guarantee of my people by their support, I am going to give politics a robust and direction-driven leadership that will change the fortunes of Anambra state. I am going to show both the present and past governments the 20% of what I intend to bring into Anambra state, 80% of the content I intend to bring into Anambra has never been discussed before. So, I am championing a new course of total structure that will change the narrative. Not the Okpoko type of the six months election that all became fallacies.
I will give Anambra state the local government election within the four months of inception as a governor and I will hold the mantle of leadership for just only four years.
Do you think people will believe you that you will do only one term as governor?
First and foremost, I am going to have a resounding engagements with every stakeholders which some of the engagements will be written while some will be on verbal binding, concerning my promise. Why I am different from them is that I have substantial assets, investments and key-man risk which can’t be risked. What Anambra has never seen before is people who have key-man risk. I am not saying that anybody to become a governor must be a rich person but if you are somebody who is committed, there is enormous key man-asset and risk.
So, having four months to conduct local government election has to do with a lot of things because to conduct such within such short time, you need to be prepared and tell people the value of that election. For someone to do that in four months, means that you are ready and prepared to make local governments have access to their forms and take decisions that will trigger development within the local districts.
A Governor needs to have the weight of engagements out of his office and have a supervisory role on the local government authorities because if you remove such weight off you, the local government will be running on autopilot and the 21 local governments will be competing against each other. Also, acceleration of development will be high especially when you equally intend to give them local economy to boost; add to value that their direct allocation is also coming to them.
I also strongly believe that a Governor should have his eyes on gas stakeholders and meet them to create value and this will be done within the confines of transparency. Having gotten to where I am today, if I am a man of no value, I won’t come back-to-back in elections, if I am a man of no value, I can’t take political risks like I have been taking and stand by it. When I say that I am going to consult widely in order to champion this course, I have had a pact with the youths, critical stakeholders, religious groups and different organizations which I will sign undertaking and make a pledge with my key-man assets as part of the consequences if I rebel my vow.
Somebody who has no key-man assets, even if you signs any undertaking, there is nothing to offer. I want to be the first person, from February 20 – 28, we will have local government tour whereby we champion seven local governments and I intend to empower close to 20,000 people and we will be the first to write names of those that will be empowered in some daily newspapers. This will show you how prepared we are with data and statistics.
Your chieftaincy title by some traditional rulers generated so much controversy, how do you feel about it?
Well, I felt bad about it because it was an inhuman treatment to our traditional institution. Obviously, I believe it is a dent to the traditional institution and I have also made my public statement condemning it. I strongly believe that those who perpetrated that did not know what they are doing to themselves. How can a traditional ruler that has been there for over 20 years before you came into power and you psay that because he gave someone chieftaincy title, as such must be punished. We are not running an autocratic government, though, they may have their say today but the masses will have their way tomorrow.
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