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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Anambra State governorship election, John Chuma Nwosu, has said he would win the November 8 poll barring the incidences of vote-buying and voter apathy.
He disclosed that the poor performance of Governor Chukwuma Soludo has removed the power of incumbency, noting that the coming of a new Chairman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the person of Prof. Joash Amupitan, has provided fresh hopes that the election would be credible.
Speaking when he appeared on the signature television programme of Arise Television, yesterday, Nwosu urged Anambra voters to come out en masse to vote, stressing that only by coming out in their numbers and shunning vote-buying would Prof. Amupitan’s promise of credible election bear fruits. On his switch from the Labour Party (LP), the ADC flagbearer disclosed that he decided to move to the coalition platform of ADC when it became obvious that the nomination process in LP would run foul of the Electoral law and Nigeria’s Constitution.
“I was the one who built the structure of the Labour Party in Anambra State. When I decided to run for governorship last year, I met our leader, Peter Obi, who advised me that Labour Party does not have physical structure in Anambra State and that we need to go and build the structures and be visible. “Then, I recruited a team, comprising His Excellency, Oseloka Obaze, former Secretary to the Anambra State Government (SSG) and the campaign manager for Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, under which I served as the Director ICT.
“With him and the Rt. Hon. Ben Chuks Nwosu, who was the Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly, when Peter Obi was impeached; three of us moved down to Anambra State and set up the 21 Local Government Area offices for the Labour Party, giving them N1 million each,” he stated. “And went to our brother in Onnoson Plastics, who made chairs and tables for them, with that, we built a physical structure and started moving from one local government to the other; as a matter of fact, we travelled around the nook and corners of Anambra State about four times.”
Nwosu remarked that coming from a private sector background like the incumbent governors of Enugu and Abia States, he is sure to replicate the good governance and impactful service delivery in those neighbouring states.
He said ADC was sure to pull surprises in the November 8 gubernatorial poll in Anambra State, adding that just as the election is the first under Prof Amupitan, it is also going to be the coalition ADC’s first electoral contest after the coalition.
“Yes, under the name of ADC. As you know, ADC is a coalition of parties being represented mostly by PDP, from which I picked my deputy governor, Chief Dr. Ndubisi Nwobo, who was a local government chairman of Awka South under PDP, and also the state chairman of PDP.
“So, PDP forms the major part of the coalition, followed by Labour, which I came from Labour. So, a major part of Peter Obi is of Labour, for which PDP got the position of the National Chairman of the party, while in the name of former Senate President David Mark.
“Then, the Peter Obi-led Labour Party was given the position of National Organising Secretary, for which he nominated Hon. Chinedu Idigo, who represents them. So, it’s a coalition of parties. There is no much optimism, Obi is definitely part of ADC. Well, four years in the life of a state is very, very important.”
On why he swore an oath in court to serve only one term when elected governor, Nwosu noted that just as the current incumbent used three and half years to show that he has not done well for the state, the incoming ADC administration would use three years to make a difference.
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On claims that Soludo has delivered, the ADC governorship hopeful said: “The point is that the indices are there for everyone to see, starting from insecurity. As a matter of fact, in the last three and a half years, Anambra State has lost illustrious children in the name of kidnappers and sundry brigandage.
“In fact, in Ihiala Local Government Area that houses Lilu, Mbosi- where my great brother and friend, Dr. Allen Onyema, the owner of Airpeace, hails from. In the past three and a half years, they have never been going home.
“As a matter of fact, they are now holding traditional wedding ceremonies and everything in townships. And even to bury the dead, you have to find a way to pay ransom and then get in there. So, insecurity has been a major challenge.”
Nwosu regretted that the only project the incumbent governor could say he completed was the Government House, which was initiated by a former governor, Late Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju in 1999 that he completed.
He said when elected the ADC administration under his watch would change the narratives, declaring: “what I am bringing on the table is e-governance, e-security, e-health, e-tax, e-transportation, e-commerce.”
The governorship contender disclosed that his seven points agenda of good governance, under acronym SHEEEMS, where S stands for security, H stands for health, first E stands for education, second E stands for economy, where the third E stands for environment because Anambra is being ravaged by erosion and they’re all man-made.
“As you know, I have managed an ICT company for the past 31 and half years. So, what is the difference between managing a state and managing a company? The only fair difference is that in a company you go for profit, whereas in a state it’s about the welfare of the people.
“But, accountability, everything, you must be efficient in the management of both human and their resources, which is what is lacking in this state as of today. As a fact, we have issues of touts beating people with canes on the streets in the name of chasing them for tax.
“And after looking at it, you go back to review the IGR being generated by 36 states and the FCT last year, according to the Cable Times, Cable Index, you’ll see Lagos State coming up top again at N1.26 trillion, followed by River State at N317 billion.
“Then looking down at the South East, where I come from, Enugu State came fifth position in the entire country about N180.69 billion, then my own state, which is being seen as a commercial nerve centre of the Southeast, coming a distant 17th position at N42.69 billion.
“And what does it show? It shows that most of our IGR goes into private pockets because the state is not fully computerized. So, what I’m bringing to the table is e-governance so that we remove the touts from the street and allow people to pay their tax with ease, as it is in Enugu and Delta State.”
