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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eric Opah has said his party was not in alliance with anybody for the 2027 election.
The Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last week formally declared its support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
In a declaration it made on Thursday in Umuahia during the inauguration of the Abia State Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for President Tinubu’s re-election, the deputy Governorship candidate of PDP, Abraham Amah, who represented his boss, Dr. Kelechi Anosike, said it hoped APC will reciprocate by supporting PDP in the Governorship election.
However, addressing newsmen in Umuahia on Saturday, the Abia APC Governorship candidate, Chief Opah said his party was not in alliance with anybody as far as the Governorship election was concerned.
Opay said if there would be anything like alliance, other parties should come to APC for consolidation because of the great support his party enjoys.
“As far as the 2027 election is concerned, I am not in alliance with anybody. If there should be anything like alliance, it will be others coming to joint me because of my great manifesto and the followership we enjoy”.
He used the occasion to highlight some of the programmes he will pursue if he is elected Governor, including the reformation of the tax regime in the state.
“My government will look at the tax regime in the state, harmonize it and ensure that Abians are not over taxed as it is the case presently” .
Opah said if elected Governor, his administration will revisit the issue of mass sack of workers in the state, with a view to reinstating any civil servant who was unjustly sacked.
“The present situation whereby directors in the civil service are compulsorily retired after eight years on the post will no longer be so because civil servants have statutory retirement age of 60 years or after 35 years of service”.
Opah berated the Governor Alex Otti administration for not doing much for the state despite the huge amount he said Abia has received from the Federal Government as allocation.
“The present administration in Abia has received more than N1.8tn in allocation from the Federation Account and no Local Government gets less than N350m monthly from the same source, yet there is nothing much to show for all these huge allocations”.
The APC Governorship candidate lambasted the present administration of not giving Councils in the state the freedom to operate, stressing that if he becomes the Governor of Abia, Local Governments will enjoy full financial autonomy.
Opah accused the present administration in the state of flagging off projects it was not prepared to fully execute, citing the Abia Innovation and Industrial Park and three other projects which he said was flagged off three years ago, yet nothing appreciable has been done.
“We will not flag off projects we will not start like the Abia Innovation and Industrial Park which was flagged off three years ago, yet nothing meaningful has been done”.
Opah, who expressed optimism of winning the election in 2027, promised to run not only a transparent government, but also one with empathy.
