Stakeholders in Awgu South, Enugu State, on Saturday endorsed Governor Ifeanyi of the State.
At a meeting attended by over 100 political and community leaders from the area, who met under the aegis of Agwu South Vanguard for Gburugburu, they said despite the terrible economic situation in the country, Governor Ugwuanyi had made giant strides.
The stakeholders knocked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, accusing it of inflicting hardship on Nigerians.
On the Awgu State Constituency, they resolved that henceforth, the seat would rotate among all the communities in the area.
The communique signed by over 90 persons read in full:
”We, the undersigned, representing the various communities in Awgu South Constituency comprising Awgu Town, Mmaku, Mgbidi, Mgbowo, Obeagu, Ugwueme, Ezere, Nkwe, Nenwenta and Awgunta, on behalf of ourselves and with the mandate of our people, in a meeting held today, Saturday January 26, 2018 at Aston Villa Hotel Enugu, exhaustively x-rayed the political situation in Nigeria, Enugu State and particularly our constituency and observed as follows:
That the APC-led Federal Government has failed woefully in delivering democracy dividends to Nigerians and that this failure has had debilitating effects on our economy and lives and therefore the party must be voted out of power in 2019.
That the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration in Enugu State has, even with the suffocating hardship imposed on our people by the insensitive Federal Government, performed creditably well in terms of restoration of peace in the State; restoration of confidence in the political process and delivery of prompt and adequate dividends of democracy to our people.
That our sons representing our Constituency in the National Assembly, namely Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Ph.D, CFR (the Deputy President of the Senate) and Rt. Hon. Toby Okechukwu (Chairman, House Committee on Works, Federal House of Representatives) have massively transformed our constituency and our lives in more ways than one and therefore still enjoy our loyalty and confidence.
That our support for the current Chairman of Awgu LG Area, Hon. Stanley Okeke (Atu Ogbaku) is irrevocable; and we will continue to support him. Our massive support for him in the last LG elections is a pointer to our support for him.
That Awgu South Constituency has benefitted immensely from the Enugu State Government in terms of political appointments, the on-going urbanization of Aki-na-Ukwa area as well as other infrastructural developments going on in our constituency.
That in relation to the representation of our constituency in the State House of Assembly, we are united in agreement that Awgu Town has had more than its fair share of representation and therefore should allow other component communities in the constituency to produce the next representative in the Enugu State House of Assembly.
Following from the above, therefore, we resolved as follows:
That our loyalty to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) remains unflinching and that we will be at the forefront in reclaiming the PDP mandate at the centre by massively mobilizing our people to vote out the APC from power.
That we hereby endorse the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for a second term in office as Governor of Enugu State. This endorsement is unconditional but based on a solid record of achievements since 2015 till date.
That we endorse our representatives at the National Assembly namely Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Rt. Hon. Toby Okechukwu to continue representing us at the National Assembly based on their track records of solid achievements and effective representation.
That we need a new and vibrant representative at the Enugu State House of Assembly for the following reasons:
Since the delineation of Awgu South Constituency, Awgu town has been to the House of Assembly for four times. During the NPP era, Hon. Mike Egwuonwu (Awgu 1) from Awgu town went to the House and served till the end of that Republic. During the SDP/NRC days, Hon. Okonze from Awgu town represented our constituency at the House of Assembly and served till the end of that period. Under the present PDP, the late Rt. Hon. Emma Maduabu served two terms before his untimely death.
He was replaced on compassionate grounds by his in-law, Rt. Hon. Nelson Uduji who is presently concluding his second tenure in the House of Assembly. Other communities in our constituency are becoming restive as it appears that representing Awgu South Constituency has become the birth right and exclusive preserve of Awgu Town.
This is unacceptable. Awgu town alone has been in the House of Assembly for almost thirty years and if this becomes the norm rather than exception, it will take another 200years before it gets to all the communities in Awgu South. This is not the case in Awgu North.
The general mood in our Constituency is that Rt. Hon. Nelson Uduji has done his best but it is time to give way to fresh ideas and more robust representation.
Awgu South Vanguard for Gburugburu has no specific person in mind to replace Hon. Uduji but any person who emerges as our candidate from any of the other communities in the constituency will receive our massive support.
In conclusion, we wish to reiterate our commitment to the State Government. We commend the State Government for what it is doing, especially in our constituency.
We will count it further honour and demonstration of love for our people if the remaining segment of the Oji-Awgu Road (between Mmaku and Egwu-Achi junction) is given urgent attention. ”
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