The people of Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State have expressed their total support for the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
Governor Sullivan Chime, who is from the same zone with Senator Ekweremadu, is believed to be eyeing the seat.
However, in a statement made available to DailyPost, by the people of Aninri (Ekweremadu’s local government), they lauded the Senator for the quality projects he has attracted to the zone.
The statement was signed by Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, Okpanku Community; Engr. Patrick Ikpenwa, Ndeabor Community; Chief David Orjinworie, Nenwe Community; Chief Gordi Ilegbu, Oduma Community, Hon. Desna Ajah, Mpu Community and Engr. Charles Ajah, Okpanku Community.
Ekweremadu’s kinsmen said their declaration
became necessary owing to some “wicked media campaign” being carried out by some selfish politicians against the Senator.
The statement read in parts, “Our attention has been drawn to a newspaper advertorial on the above subject matter published on page 9 of Daily Sun of Thursday, February 27th, 2014 and on page 22 of The Nation of the same date.
“The said advertorial is not only regrettable but also totally misleading, false and does not represent the position of our people. It is indeed sad that some group of political never-do-wells and thugs would make such declaration in the name of Aninri political stakeholders and leaders of thought when in fact they are not.
“The intention of the advertorial was to give the erroneous impression that our people have adopted Sullivan Chime as PDP candidate for the senatorial seat of Enugu West zone, which is presently being occupied by our worthy son, H.E Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR, the Deputy President of the Senate and the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament. This is well-nigh inconceivable.
“The authors of the pedantic advertorial strove hard to give reasons why Sullivan Chime should be the preferred candidate by alluding to the governor’s purported transformation agenda in terms of physical infrastructure, economic expansion and employment, rural development, service delivery and good governance.
“Unfortunately, they could not cite one project initiated and completed in Aninri LGA by the Sullivan Administration since its inception. The reason for not citing any project done by the governor in Aninri LGA is that there is nothing to cite.
“Conversely, we can name some major development projects attracted by Senator Ike Ekweremadu to the respective communities of the political turncoats. For instance, the N12 Billion Nenwe-Oduma-Uburu federal road project attracted by Senator Ekweremadu has crossed the doorstep of Mr. Okezie Nwanjoku’s family compound. His town is the first to enjoy the road and he can now drive home during rainy season. Previous governments told us the topography was impossible, and it would have remained the same for the next 100 years, but for Ikeoha’s quality representation.
“With the completed Ndeabor-Mpu-Okpanku-Akaeze federal road project attracted by Senator Ekweremadu, Prof. Chris Okoro drives home at will, and even with his two eyes closed, if he so wishes.
“Mr. Ben Alukwu Jnr. enjoys the ongoing Emudo, Nenwe asphalt road project, which enables him to drive home at all seasons. And when he drives further down, he would also find the ongoing 132KV DC Line and 2x60MVA, 132/33KV Power Sub-Station in Nenwe.
“Mr. Eli Aja enjoys the completed Ndeabor-Mpu-Okpanku road project, the brand new and modern Ivo Bridge (abandoned since the end of the civil war, but now the longest bridge in Enugu State) as well as the ongoing Ivo General Purpose Dam Project all courtesy of Senator Ike Ekweremdu, Ikeoha Ndigbo”.
It continued that “the authors of the accursed advertorial failed to acknowledge the fact that before the coming of Ikeoha, the entire Local Government Area was inaccessible due to bad roads worsened by a very challenging topography.
“However, it is now on record that Senator Ike Ekweremadu has, through his numerous constituency projects, attracted over 37 projects to Aninri Local Government. Most of these projects have been completed while others are in their various stages of completion.
“They should also note that Governorship election could not hold in Udi LGA during the 2007 election as Udi people refused to vote for their son. It took the convergence of all political actors, including Aninri people, to deliver Governor Chime in his LGA during the rerun. But Aninri got only a Commissionership position, while Udi, which worked against his emergence, became the greatest beneficiary in terms of multiple appointments. On the other hand, Senator Ekweremadu has facilitated numerous federal political appointments and employment opportunities for our people.
“We stand by our son, the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate and the Speaker of ECOWAS Pariament, His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR to return to Senate in 2015 if he so desires.
“The Commisioner and Special Assistants that masterminded the claimed endorsement of Gov. Chime, said that they know the truth, but were only acting on Government House directives to save their jobs. Let the so-called Aninri political stakeholders and leaders of thought point to just a single project conceived and completed by the Chime Administration in Aninri LGA.
“However, we are not surprised that those charlatans could descend so low as to sell their consciences. We know them and their odious track records. They are those that would sell their father’s stead for a mess of porridge. Indeed, those persons who signed the document could be anything but Aninri political stakeholders and leaders of thought.
“Obviously, they wanted to set our party and Local Government on the path of crisis by such rascality, but our people would not be distracted by such infantile advertorials. Aninri people have not and would not endorse any candidate other than Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Consequent upon all he has done for our people and Local Government, we hereby endorse His Excellency Senator Ike Ekweremadu. After all, who sees the road and follows the bush?
“Furthermore, we are aware that a certain civil society organisation in Enugu, the Civil Liberties Organisation, has been contracted by desperate political interests to conduct a “kabukabu” public opinion with the sole aim of giving the impression that the people of Enugu West prefer Governor Chime to Senator Ekweremadu as their Senator come 2015. It is both childish and dubious and we would advise the national headquarters of the Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, to warn its South East officers to face their human rights work instead of dabbling into the murky waters of Enugu politics if the CLO wants to keep its integrity and respect intact. We advice the public to discountenance such worthless misadventure. You can tell the blind that there is no oil in the soup, but not that there is no salt in the soup.
“Meanwhile, we thank the people of Awgu, Oji River, Udi, and Ezeagu Local Government Areas who along with Aninri constitute Enugu West Senatorial District of Enugu State for supporting our son, Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu all these years. We thank them for openly standing by him even in the face of unwarranted intimidation, and for expressing their appreciation of the thousands of scholarships, and numerous employment opportunities, roads water, electricity and other projects His Excellency has awarded and attracted to the people. We urge them to continue to render their support as more dividends will certainly flow.
“In totally endorsing Senator Ekweremadu, we wish to remark that the Senatorial seat of Enugu West zone cannot be traded as retirement benefits for anybody under any guise”.
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