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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt Hon Benjamin Okezie Kalu has promised to mobilise South East natives in Abuja to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections scheduled for February 21.
Hon Kalu, who spoke to newsmen on the sidelines at the ruling party’s national secretariat after the inauguration of the National Campaign Council on Friday, described the elections as a must-win.
“There are a lot of Igbo people living in Abuja. Just as there are other people from other parts of the country also residing here, because the FCT is the melting point of the entire population of Nigeria from all geopolitical zones. But, like you rightly pointed out, a lot of Igbos are doing business and making their investments as residents.
“I am an Igbo man and a Nigerian, and I am part of this government. I am one of the faces of Igbos in leadership. So no longer can Igbos say we are not part of the administration. This did not happen in the previous administration because there was no Igbo person in the successive leadership of the country for eight years.
“Now they see me every day participate in the governance of this country. And I know that is a big message to my people, that they are not alienated, that they are not marginalised out of the current government. That is a campaign tool already for this administration.
“But suffice that to say that this administration has made a huge impact in the FCT. Under the government of the President of Nigeria, there is a great difference from what it used to be and what it is at the moment. I want to also thank the minister, Nyesom Wike, who has done tremendously well in not just impacting the urban areas of FCT but making governance to be felt even at the grassroots,” he said.
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Speaking further, the Deputy Speaker said: “These are our campaign tools. That is what we are taking to the market. We are taking beyond posters. We are taking beyond radio jingles. We are taking beyond campaign slogans into the FCT. We are saying the fact speaks for itself.
“You can feel our development. You can touch and experience what we have brought as dividends of democracy. So there is going to be less job for us to do. Yes, we struggled in the time past because there were no visible evidence of the impact of the government within the FCT. But no reasonable person can say the same thing currently.
“So we are here to convince our people that the government that has done this for the people of the FCT and the residents that they are charged to do more if given the opportunity to provide leadership in the six area councils of this FCT and in the 68 council membership of the FCT, we are ready.
“I am the secretary of this campaign council, and I can assure you that we will bring the energy of the young minds, the innovative-mindedness of the young people, to push the agenda to the grassroots. We will be on the streets. We will be in every household. We will go door to door, business to business to sell the message of APC.
“It will no longer be mentioned that APC lost election in Abuja. That was in the time past. We are about to rewriting the history. My people that I love so much, the people, my Igbo people that I love and who love me will not allow me to be ashamed knowing fully well that I am at the helm of affairs to make sure that the bulk vote of the Igbo communities in Abuja, that we harvest them for the greatest party within the black race that is called the APC.
“I am ready to bring my brothers. If you look around, you will see a lot of my brothers are joining the City Boy Movement, Renewed Hope Partners, Renewed Hope Ambassadors. All of them, we are going to come together, collaborate to make sure we deliver the FCT,” he said.
