Former Ohaneze Ndigbo UK president seeks to become next governor of Ebonyi State

FORMER president of Ohaneze Ndigbo UK Dr Nnanna Igwe has declared his intention to stand as a candidate in the 2023 Ebonyi State governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Dr Igwe, who prior to being leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo UK was the president of the Ebonyi State Union UK and Ireland, declared his candidacy at his Abakaliki residence yesterday. He noted that his decision to vie for the governorship seat was as a result of positive responses from his consultations.

A medical doctor who lives in Kent in the UK, Dr Igwe  pledged that if elected governor in 2023, he would consolidate, maintain, protect and add value to the achievements of Governor David Umahi’s administration. he added that he aims to make the Ebonyi State economy the best not only in Nigeria but in Africa.

He said: “I have received warm reception from my people, showing great excitement and enthusiasm because of my willingness to return home and offer my service to them, so, I’m very pleased to make this declaration this evening. I have canvassed a few things and one of them is the principle of continuity, that’s to continue with the good works of our dear governor, David Umahi, who has done an excellent job in infrastructure and in other areas.

“Secondly, we want to consolidate on the things we have on ground. We will maintain, protect and add value to them, so that the state does not go back to yesterday. Also, it’s to bring competence to governance at different levels and also to build capacity in the system and expand the administrative and governance horizons in order to carter for the needs of people in many areas."

“We want to provide good governance never seen before in education, making it free and technologically-based by equipping it with computers. Even in primary schools, we should be able to use technology in learning and making it free and accessible. We will ensure that teachers who are part of the civil service are maintained and their welfare improved.

“We will make university education accessible and also have vocational education. In health, we will provide free health care service based on health insurance scheme and make sure that when people go to hospitals, they don’t pay and we will make sure the system is not abused and will build more hospitals.

“We will mechanise agriculture and commercialise it and also tie it with industrialisation because we want to build industries along agricultural value chain. The reason why we want to focus on agriculture is to tackle hunger, create jobs and make sure our people create wealth because Ebonyi soil is one of the best and if we utilise that God-given resources, we will be one of the best and our economy will improve remarkably."

Dr Igwe added that other areas of focus were solid minerals, affordable housing and human capital development in its totality. He added that this is a digital age and as such his administration shall create a digital economy and digital government with the youths at the centre of it.