Interview
By Linus Effiong
Umuahia — Abia State governor-elect Dr Okezie Ikpeazu during his maiden media conference after being declared winner of the governorship election in the state elaborates on his vision for the state. Excerpts:
How would you describe your victory?
I dedicate the victory to God Almighty that fulfilled His own words and crowned our efforts and struggles with a resounding victory. We also want to thank the people of Abia State, those that found time to express their confidence in me and my party, the PDP, through the ballot, by voting massively and resoundingly, both during the 11th April and the re-run that came on the 25th of April. They made a statement. I want to say that statement was symbolic, because for the first time, we saw the endorsement of an ordinary Abian on somebody who has come to represent the middle class, more historically, somebody from the Ukwa Ngwa ethnic divide of nine local governments. My commitment to Abia people from Arochukwu, Ummunnochi to Ukwa to Ikwuano is that I will treat every person that is from Abia, that is doing business in Abia, equally and fairly. My mandate is to serve the Abia citizenry and to catalyse the infrastructural development, unity on all spheres of human endeavour, politically, economically and also to fraternise and catalyse unity among Ndigbo, within the South-east and wherever they may belong and to also support the overall development plan of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with Abia making a strong economic statement as an economic hub of the country.
Do you have plans to extend the hands of friendship to those that lost to you at the poll?
I want to say that they are welcomed, because the most important thing is the good of the greater majority of our people. So, anybody that has positive ideas that can bring about the unity, progress and development of the state is most welcomed. I will say that God has given me the grace to recognise quality materials, so it will not take anything out of me to go to them to say, 'please, come let's work for Abia State.' So, what I have come with to the table is humility to create level playing ground upon which every person that has an idea will be given the opportunity to make contributions to the development of the state. I do not also have doubt that they will be forthcoming.
What should Abians expect from you in your first one hundred days in office?
I want to say that within the first one hundred days in office, the main frame of our administration would have been defined. Like we said, it is not going to be business as usual. And it is going to be a serious business. There is a lot of work to be done, there will be no time to sleep on the bicycle. So, from day one, we will decide and define the interjectory that we are to pursue.
Did you receive any congratulatory call from any of your opponents?
Before that election, about six hours or so, around six governorship candidates have joined our party, so we are celebrating together. Chukwu Udensi of the PPA is celebrating. I know that APC is not angry with our victory. Everybody has a common aim-to develop Abia State. Generally speaking, Aba is going to be our front burner, I do not have any other city than Aba, but as governor, Abia is my constituency, Arochukwu, Isiukwuato, everywhere. But one thing is that what we will get from Aba will help us develop other areas. It is not going to be a winner takes all. My strongest point is that I will provide the platform that will give every Abian, including those in the Diaspora, the opportunity to contribute their quota to our state's development. I want to put it on record that you cannot cast an iron on stone. Let us come to the table and talk. If you win the argument, then we run your idea, then if I win, you should be humble enough to accept a superior argument. I am open to all kinds of contributions that will help us make progress.
Are you not disturbed that the APGA governorship candidate, Dr Alex Otti, has said that he would go to the election tribunal on the allegation that his mandate was stolen?
That is the way of bad losers, all of them say the same thing and behave the same way all the time. So, it is not a threat. If I had told you that I did not expect it, then, I am not a serious minded person. Luckily for me, the litigant went to the tribunal in my absence. I will be there to defend my mandate. I am the custodian of that mandate, and going with me will be 1.3 million voters of Abia State or, if I like, I narrow it down to those that voted. I am bothered that we still have desperate losers in Nigeria today. I thought some of us would have looked at what President Goodluck Jonathan did, because Jonathan conceded defeat and decided to tow the path of a statesman, but if somebody takes his desperation to the wires, there it goes.
Could you elaborate on your plans for Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state?
Aba is not the only city in Abia. The state is not synonymous with Aba, but we think that our greatest challenge in Abia is to have a strong economic base. We should focus on our economy, because if we get our economy right, then, you can put food on the table of many, generate employment, and if you do that also, you know that the pillar in which trade and commerce strive is good roads. We expect that all those pot holes around Aba will be a thing of the past in my time, and we expect to do a ring road that will decongest the city centre, which will pass through about seven local governments, starting from Ugwunnagbo where it will interject from the expressway. We have to do a third bridge from Aba River, and it will enter some parts of Obingwa and also go to Ossioma, between Aro-Ngwa junctions. The idea is to allow the city to develop horizontally in a way that it will be decongested. The old fashion of resurfacing the roads should be taken for granted, because I do not like to campaign with such things. The most important thing is that we will build a strong foundation for our medium and small enterprises in Aba, which will employ thousands of people in. We will think of how to bring back to life some moribund companies like the textile mill in Aba and those you see around Owerrinta axis. We are going to speak with the owners of those companies on how to make them come back to production. If we can make those companies to function, we will keep our youths out of the streets as unemployed people. We are going to take stock of those that are jobless in all the 17 local government areas. We will look at their competency and qualifications so that we can target our efforts specifically on those that need them.
How will you strike a balance between recruiting technocrats and party loyalists to work with you?
Our political loyalists are Abians, and they will help me take technocrats that will do the job that we need them to do. We are going to make sure that we put round pegs in round holes. I will design that from the first day in office, so there is no way for me to throw away the political loyalists. Yes, I'll choose good technocrats that will do the work.
What are you going to do with illegal structures that are not approved by government in the state?
Any structures that are not approved by government, in the eyes of law, do not exist.
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