De-emphasize party politics in governance to reshape democratic ideals — Umahi tells APC Stakeholders
Jacob Ogodo, Abakaliki
Ebonyi state Governor, Chief David Umahi has underscored the need for leaders of the State and nation to mitigate emphasis on political lines in the course of governance to further reshape the democratic ideals of the State and country.
Governor Umahi made this remark during an APC stakeholders meeting held at the APC Secretariat, Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki.
He assured of his administration’s resolve to provide a level playing field for all political actors in the State and commended some leaders of the party like former Governor, Chief Martin Elechi for attending the meeting aimed at further strengthening the party for future political outings in the State.
Governor Umahi who appealed to political actors to always place the interest of the State first reminded them that they were duty-bound to impact lives positively irrespective of the magnitude using their various job schedules towards taking the State and nation to the next level in governance.
“Let me thank our father, Chief Elechi for finding time to be here. One thing that I am so grateful to God for is that he has given Ebonyi people the opportunity to right past mistakes. It was party differences that brought so much bitterness and enmity among our people. It made us lose so much that we should have had at the federal level. But we are happy that today, we have united Ebonyi state.”
He charged those nursing political ambitions to always strive to impact positively on the lives of the people to merit their support at the time of reckoning knowing that sovereignty resides with the people in an ideal democracy.
“There were people not seeing eye to eye because of the party. We have to de-emphasize that and know that patriotism to the state is number one. That is where we come together before anything. We make all forms of permutations in our quest for leadership, elections. But one thing we don’t accommodate is the God factor.
“If you want God to help you, have faith in him and do things rightly. In this next level, everybody must be given equal opportunity. Everybody can aspire to any position. So that if you don’t make it, you know why. It is about the people, not the governor or leaders. If you are going to contest for anything, you start building relationships with the people.”
The Governor while noting that the state has received a quota of 30 slots for appointment into Federal Boards, made it clear that the State will soon flag off the post #EndSARS youth and women empowerment program as a way of building the capacity of the beneficiaries.
The leader of the APC in the State used the opportunity to appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of Professor Sunday Elom as the third Vice-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ikwo.
Governor Umahi who was full of gratitude to Mr. President for the honor said Ebonyi people were pleased by the opportunity to produce the first indigenous Vice-Chancellor of the University since its establishment.
“We have thanked Mr. President for the appointment of the first indigenous vice Chancellor of AE-FUNAI. I thanked all the people that blew the alarm. They were not saying it must be from a particular place but any place in Ebonyi. We are happy that from February that an Ebonyi person will head the place and it is irreversible.”
The acting Chairman of APC in Ebonyi State, Chief Stanley Okoro commended the stakeholders for attending in their numbers and called for continued support to the party and the administration of Governor Umahi.
While announcing that the new membership registration of the party will soon commence in the State, the Acting Chairman called on the stakeholders to take the registration exercise seriously to ensure its success in the State.
The former Governor of the State, Chief Martin Elechi congratulated Governor Umahi for defecting to the APC and said he left the PDP in 2015 due to abuse of the party’s constitution.
“I want to congratulate the Governor for his passage to the APC. I know the storm that surrounded that defection in the social media and other discourses but as a senior member of the APC, I welcome you to the party.”
He appealed to the Governor and the acting Caretaker Committee of the APC not to throw caution to the wind but go all out to reconcile with all those who lost their loved ones or were shortchanged in the build-up to the 2019 General elections to enhance the unity of the party going forward.
The Chairman of Federal Government Special Public Works, Ebonyi State, Dr. Edward Nkwegu applauded the Governor for his historic defection to the APC and solicited the support of stakeholders to his administration.
“I want to appreciate the Governor for his courage in joining the APC. His patrimonial understanding of the politics of the center is very unique because the leader of Nigeria nationalism Benjamin Azikiwe, late Akanu Ibiam, our own Martin Elechi and others believe in the politics of the center.”
Other stakeholders including Chief Mike Okoro, Dr. Chike Onwe, Engineer Peter Edeh, Chief Ugo Chima and Comrade Chinedu Ogah appreciated Governor Umahi for the massive transformation of the State.
