From Fred Itua and Okwe Obi, Abuja
Ahead of the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has unveiled Dr Obiora Okonkwo as its candidate, whilst calling for the thorough scrutiny of all candidates through public debate.
ZLP National Chairman Dan Iwuanyanwu, who performed the ceremony Wednesday in Abuja, described candidates of some of the other political parties as pretenders to the throne, citing their supposed faulty nomination processes.
‘Anambra State here we are. It is going to be a tough battle. We have some candidates of other parties who are pretending to be candidates; whose candidates have been jaundiced by their faulty nomination process,’ he said.
‘Unfortunately, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has no power to disqualify them for now. This is an opportunity ZLP should not miss because if you check the calculations in Anambra, you might say it is too close to call but it will end in favour of the ZLP.
‘We want a situation where the first five parties would be subjected to thorough scrutiny and debate. You must come and tell Anambra people what you can do for them. If you have held a government position before, you must be able to tell them what you did for them. You must come and talk to the Anambra people. There must be no proxy candidate.’
In his address, Dr Okonkwo, flanked by his running mate, Dame Jessie Balonwu. accused the Willie Obiano administration of criminally denying the people of Anambra their right to quality representation at the local government level, due to his refusal to conduct local elections since he came on board.
He said he would conduct local government elections within his first year in office if elected.
‘In my recent letter to Ndi Anambra, I reiterated the commitment of my administration to conduct local government elections within the first 12 months.
‘It may interest you to note that the last time Anambra people elected their leaders at the local government level was on January 11, 2014. Ever since then, Anambra people have yearned to elect their local government leaders and bring governance to the grassroots for the rapid development of the state.
‘The APGA leadership has criminally denied the people this right which is constitutionally guaranteed in Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic,’ Okonkwo stated.
Our rural communities have become even more impoverished because of the refusal of successive administrations in the state to return power to the people through the conduct of local government elections. As a result, our people have been denied the right to participate in their own governance.
‘Basic development projects and programs which elected local government authorities should bring to their people have failed to materialise because of the decision of the APGA government in the state to undermine local councils by refusing to release to them their statutory allocations.
‘At the base of political governance, independent local councils are foundational to grassroots development in Nigeria and it is in recognition of this that we pledge to conduct free and fair local government elections in Anambra State within our first 12 months in office as governor and deputy governor.
‘This is a most solemn commitment from us never to deny the people their right to elect their leaders at the local government level.
‘We are as worried as every other Anambrarian that our dear state has not actually progressed in terms of infrastructural and human capacity development despite being governed by democratically elected individuals since 1999.
‘We are certainly as concerned that our dear Anambra State has been left behind on key development indices despite the huge sums of money that flow into the state from the federation account along with internally generated revenue by way of the various taxes and rates that our hard-working people pay.
‘We are aware that the people are equally worried that our employment indices are looking downwards as evidenced by the high percentage of our youths roaming the streets for jobs that do not exist but certainly can be created if we have a government that can foster the right synergy with the private sector to boost employment,’ Dr Okonkwo stated.
He said he decided to join the governorship race ‘to bring back a state that had been misgoverned and rapaciously raped by those whom we had trusted with our commonwealth.
‘It is a journey towards returning power to the people and make them the centre of government policy and programmes.
‘We entered this race, irrespective of the pains and the stress because we are deeply angry at the state of affairs in Anambra State. And we had wondered who would fix the rot if we, as comfortable Anambra people, sit back in the comfort of our homes and wealth provide and watch as persons who lack the competence to administer even social media groups, mismanage our commonwealth and continually expect applause from us.
‘We had told ourselves that if we shy away and refuse to get in to correct the impressions being created, we may end up bequeathing to our children a state they will be ashamed to identity with.
‘It is for this reason that we come into the race with a 10-Point Agenda anchored on rapid rural development; economic growth with jobs; revitalisation of education and human capital development; youth manpower development and employment; planned urbanisation, urban renewal and ecological management; peace and security; improved access to basic (preventive and curative) health services; diaspora engagement; rebuilding our ethical infrastructure and social services to dutifully cater for senior citizen, the infirm and most vulnerable of our people,’ he stated.