Group of 5 governors, G-5 popularly known as Integrity governors will on Thursday storm Abia State in solidarity with one of their own, governor Okezie Ikpeazu as the People’s Democratic Party, PDP family flags of governorship and other elective positions campaign ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The Integrity Governors include His Excellencies Barr. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Dr. Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Mr. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and the host governor Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu.
Hon. Elder Abraham Amah, the Abia PDP Vice Chairman/Acting State Publicity Secretary in a statement said one of the major highlights of the political rally would be the official presentation of Prof. Uche Ikonne and his running mate, Barr. Okey Igwe as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Abia State as well as the presentation of flags to other PDP candidates for the Senatorial, House of Representatives, and State House of Assembly elections respectively.
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Okezie Ikpeazu will also be unveiled as the Senatorial candidate for Abia South Senatorial zone. The flag ceremony will feature the presentation of Gov. Ikpeazu’s scorecard.
“The flag-off ceremony is significant in several respects because it would provide an opportunity for the PDP-led government of Abia State to showcase its first eleven and the finest gentlemen it has assembled to rough it out with lilliputians from other mushroom political parties in the 2023 polls. It will also use the opportunity to present its visible scorecard based on the promises it made in 2015 and 2019 and also renew the promises which it would certainly fulfill,” the statement added.
The party also said that the recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has vindicated the governor and the promises he made to Abians in 2015 to make their lives better.
“Thankfully, the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Multidimensional Poverty Index, MPI, report released on Thursday last week bears testimony to the fact that the PDP-led government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu delivered on the promises he made to Ndi Abia in 2015 that he will make their lives better as Abia State came out as one of the five best States in Nigeria and the best in the South East, ahead of Anambra, when measured against deprivations in the key four sectoral indices of health, education, the standard of living and security.
“The NBS report vindicated Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and the Abia PDP but embarrassed critics and detractors who never bothered to fact-check records before slandering the good works of an honourable man, the government he leads and the Party that supports him. It is now up to the good people of Abia State to decide on the continuity or otherwise of the PDP in Abia State.
“Knowing how appreciative Abians are, it is an article of faith for us that they will choose the PDP that rescued them from the shackles of poverty in the past seven years despite the economic decline foisted on them by the APC government at the centre due to its inability to formulate sound economic policies for the growth and prosperity of Nigerians.
“In the last seven years, the PDP-led government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, in concert with other arms of government deepened good governance in Abia by formulating and implementing policies in the key sectors of Abia’s socio-economic life notably; security, health, education, power, economy and infrastructure, and the results are showing clearly going by results from different rating agencies as the NBS.
“In the area of security, Abia has been judged as one of the five most peaceful States in Nigeria and the most peaceful in the South East despite the high level of insecurity that has enveloped the entire country. It is to Dr. Ikpeazu’s credit that there has not been a single case of political assassination in Abia State in the last seven years even as members of the opposition have always exercised their rights to freedom of expression and association without molestation.
“In the health sector, the latest NBS MPI report, showed that the Abia government reduced the time to the health of Abians by shortening the response time and increasing access to healthcare in by providing critical health infrastructure and facilities within the reach of Abians. Some of the facilities include the Abia Children’s Hospital in Umuahia, the Molecular and Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Aba, the Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, Amachara and the free delivery package for pregnant women that use government facilities among others.
“The Aba business clusters have never had it so good, what with the provision of steady power supply in the Aba area by the Geometric Power Ltd following the power agreement signed with the Abia government. Similarly, the PDP-led government contributed to the ease of doing business in Aba and Abia as a result of massive road construction in different parts of the State and the Osisioma Interchange that eliminated the perennial traffic jam that was a nightmare to businessmen and other road users.
“The combined results of investment in education and youth empowerment under Governor Ikpeazu produced an Abia with one of the lowest levels of unemployment and underemployment in the federation and this is not surprising given that Abia had consistently won accolades as the SME centre of Nigeria under the watch of Dr. Ikpeazu.
“Overall, Abians are better off today, many thanks to the untiring efforts of our strong-willed governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu who reduced the level of monetary poverty of Abians to second to the least in the federation after Ondo and far ahead of Lagos and other States with huge financial receipts from both the federation account and other revenue sources.
“As the PDP unveils its candidates officially today, we urge Abians to look at the records of the PDP before it and those of the opposition Parties, especially the APC at the centre that has destroyed the lives and good fortunes of Ngerians in just seven years that it took over power from the PDP and decide whether it is willing to hand over power to APC or others like it at the State level when it is obvious that they are totally clueless from top to bottom.
“The good work of the PDP in the 16 years it was in power at the centre and the exemplary leadership displayed by our indefatigable and irrepressible governor is enough evidence for Ndi Abia to know that the operational word in the 2023 Abia election is continuity at the governorship level, reinstatement of all PDP candidates at the legislative level including returning PDP to the power at the centre.
“We wish to remind Abians that PDP is a promise kept as our governor has shown and ask them to trust in the ability of our gubernatorial candidate Prof. Uche Ikonne to lead us to endure prosperity.
“As Abians troop out en masse to welcome our august visitors to give them a resounding reception embellished with our courteous tradition of refined hospitality, we enjoin everyone to exercise the highest level of decorum in their personal and public conducts and make the governor and the Abia PDP proud.
“We also call on the PDP faithful to eschew politics of rancour, hatred, bitterness, and mudslinging, just to teach the opposition that politics for us is not a do or die affair,” the statement added.
