Apugo endorses Emenike, says there’s renewed hope for Abia
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
A member of the of All Progressives Congress (APC) Board of Trustees (BoT), Prince Benjamin Benedict Apugo, says that there is now a renewed hope for Abia with the candidacy of High Chief Ikechi Emenike.
Apugo, popularly known as Ochiagha Ibeku who endorsed the governorship ambition of the Abia APC governorship candidate, Emenike, when he received him in his country home in Umuahia Thursday, noted that the Development Economist “has the political will to shake things up and reset Abia for great developmental strides.”
Apugo’s endorsement of Emenike came on the heels of series of endorsements the APC governorship flag bearer has garnered across the state in the run up to the March 11, 2023 governorship poll.
The Prince of Ibeku clan and a strong force in Abia politics who was excited to receive Emenike, noted that he has long been admiring Emenike’s doggedness, forthrightness and unquenchable desire to develop Abia State.
“You will succeed in this election and I can assure you that you will have all the votes in areas under my authority,” he assured the APC governorship hopeful, just as he vowed to do everything in his power to ensure the success of the APC gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming poll. He explained that his choice of Emenike was purely based on his outstanding quality and capacity to do great things.
Apugo said that he shared Emenike’s vision for Abia and his action plan to take the state to the desired level of accelerated development, adding that it was unfortunate that the Abia “has been left in the hands of fraudsters” for so long.
He lamented the stunted growth of Abia State due to bad governance, adding that even Umuahia, the capital city, has not witnessed development befitting its status.
Emenike, in his response, said that he was delighted to know that Prince Apugo, like other well-meaning Abians, were thinking on the same wavelength like him on how to move Abia forward and have keyed into his agenda to Rescue and Develop Abia (RADA).
“Let us work together and liberate Abia for the benefit of the entire people and residents of the state,” he urged Apugo.
The APC governorship hopeful said that Abia has become the backwater state of the South East zone due to successive foisting of inept, visionless leaders on the state by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But he assured Apugo and other stakeholders in the Abia project that he was committed to his goal of changing the sad narrative of God’s own state, adding that his manifesto has been tailored for accelerated, holistic development of the state.
