From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A political pressure group, Abia North Political Projects Advocacy Group (ANPPAG), has picked Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), as the Abia North consensus governorship candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Abia State.
Disclosing this during a press briefing in Umuahia on Monday, the Director General of the group, Dr Uduma Nnante said ANPPAG came at the choice of Bishop Onuoha after it painstakingly screened six of the governorship candidates from Abia North zone.
Nnante noted that after the party primaries, they discovered that 10 out of the 18 political parties, gave their governorship tickets to Abia North sons and daughters.
He said there was no way Abia North as a people, would go to the polls with such a number of candidates at the same time and win the election, hence the need to streamline the number.
Nnante said with this in mind, the group set up a committee, drawn from the five local government areas that made up Abia North, and it screened the candidates.
The ANPPAG DG said the committee used some key considerations in arriving at its conclusion, which included capacity, credibility, sound health, political party and knowledge of good governance.
“It is important to note that all our governorship candidates in all the parties are qualified and met our selection criteria, but we must present only one person.”
Nnante said Bishop Onuoha was chosen based on his capacity, integrity, sound health, rich manifesto and knowledge of good governance.
Giving a brief rundown of the consensus candidate’s profile, Nnante said: “Bishop Onuoha is a peace-builder, a quintessential community mobilizer, and an astute programme strategist who has in partnership with various world bodies, touched humanity in various ways.
“Bishop Onuoha is the first and current Executive Director, Nigerian Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA), a non-governmental set up to mobilize Nigerian Faith leaders all over the country, to take action against diseases, poverty and violence in Nigeria.”
The ANPPAG DG urged other candidates who were not chosen to rally around the consensus candidate to ensure victory for all Abians.
“We, therefore, request our other candidates who are not chosen, to rally round the chosen consensus candidate to ensure victory for God’s Own State.”
Nnante said while the group did not take for granted, the confidence and trust reposed on it by the people of Abia North, he said he had no doubt Bishop Onuoha was going to win the race.