Obinna Oriaku declaring his governorship ambition, Tuesday
Ex-commissioner, Oriaku enters Abia governorship race
{From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia}
Former Commissioner for Finance, Mr Obinna Oriaku, has declared his intention to contest for the Abia State governorship seat come 2023 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he was on a mission to redeem it from stunted development.
Oriaku said his passion to serve Abia made him not to return to his banking job after he was dropped from the cabinet of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, from 2015 to 2019.
“My over two decades of working in the banking sector has taught me the rudiments of the economy. But more practical experience came whilst I became embedded in successive tenures of two former Governors of Enugu State as their official banker and part of economic team.
“Ostensibly my four years stint as first, the Economic Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu; and later, Honorable Commissioner for finance 2015/2019 was the most outstanding.
“The latter experience became interestingly the melting point of my career. It afforded me the practical experience that has deeply honed my managerial economic public sector skills,” Oriaku added.
The Finance expert noted that State which ought to the hope of the South East and Nigeria for economic emancipation, having been endowed with vast resources and human capital, has remained a sleeping giant.
“The geographical area called Abia led the economic development of the South-East through the economic policies of our forebears who were men and women of courage, principle and integrity which we represent today,” he said.
According to him, Abia’s development has been stunted because about 80 per cent of the entire receipts of the state go to recurrent and overhead expenditure, while a paltry 20 per cent is left for capital expenditure, disclosing that he frowned at such while serving as Finance Commissioner. He argued that the current system of governance could not support growth and development.
Oriaku also explained that he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the APC in order to align with like-minded progressives to be able to achieve his lifelong goal of becoming an agent of positive change.
“I promise to partner with good spirited Ndi Abia in order to usher in a lasting economic solution with an attendant enforcement that will push the policies to fruition,” the aspirant said.
