Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
The leadership of the Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend “energised” the party’s 24 state assembly candidates and 184 ward chairmen in readiness for grassroots campaigns.The leaders performed the infusion of courage, boldness and self-confidence into the candidates and grassroots leaders at a meeting with them at Umukabia Okpuala in Umuahia North Local Government.It was a fine-tuning of strategy preparatory to the commencement of governorship and state assembly campaigns. The Abia APC leaders of the party said they would take the campaigns to every nook and cranny of the state in order to achieve its 2023 goal of liberating the state from perpetrators of bad governance.To effectively penetrate the grassroots with its message of “rescue and develop Abia,” the party also took step to strengthen its structures in all the 184 wards for Abia.Leader and Governorship Candidate of Abia State’s APC, Mr. Ikechi Emenike, said that the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has already done over 40 percent of the campaigns for the opposition due to the dismal performance of successive administrations in the state.Nonetheless, Emenike charged candidates and party leaders at all levels as well as stakeholders to work harder for the remaining task of winning the people’s votes with better alternative that Abia APC represents.He said: “We are determined to win this election. Our objective is to win this state. Change doesn’t come easy; it comes with hard work.” The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the APC, Rev. Gloria Akara, in her remarks encouraged party members to work very hard to actualise the APC’s goal of taking control of Abia State.The Chairman of Abia APC, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, assured members that the party is ready for the forthcoming electioneering campaign, saying, “we are good to go; God is in control.”Also, two of the APC’s senatorial candidates, Hon. Emeka Atuma and Hon. Blessing Nwagba, who were at the meeting, joined in encouraging members to engage in robust campaigns in every part of the state.Atuma, who is the APC’s senatorial candidate for Abia Central, enthused that the party would dethrone the ruling PDP and confine them to opposition in 2023.“Nobody should be afraid. Emenike will be governor and we will recover the Government House and relocate it from the rented location (where it has remained since the creation of Abia 31 years ago),” he roared.Atuma noted that Abia APC is already “submerged in grace,” and is poised to record resounding victory come 2023.
