Boniface in Umuahia
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Dr. Kelechi Anosike, has vowed to attract investments to reduce the high cost of living in the state.
Anosike, who described Abia as the most expensive state to live in, blamed the situation on a lack of investments in agriculture by the current administration.
The PDP governorship candidate who stated this when he received a delegation of old students of his alma mater, Comprehensive Secondary School, Okoko Item, Bende Local Government Area, in his office in Umuahia, who paid him a solidarity visit, pledged that his administration would prioritise agriculture to reduce cost of living in the state.
Anosike, who emphasised that his administration would invest massively in agriculture and ‘stomach infrastructure’, said it was unacceptable that Abia State, with its arable land, would depend on food items from neighbouring states to feed its populace.
He noted that the situation which is responsible for the high cost of living in Abia State has persisted because farmers in the state have received little or no encouragement from the current administration.
“Abia remains one of the most expensive states to live in because the government has done little or nothing in agriculture. Daily, heavy trailers bring goods from other states to Abia State even though we have fertile land,” he said.
The PDP chieftain said that with the removal of the fuel subsidy, states now receive huge federal monthly allocations, noting that Abia State, which hitherto received N3 billion to N4 billion, now gets as much as N40 billion monthly, yet citizens still direct their anger at the federal government because the states have failed to develop welfare programmes for the people.
He assured the old students that he would look into their request for renovation of their dilapidated alma mater.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Harold Onyeukwu, said they came as a family to identify with their colleague, noting that the values inculcated in them at the school were yielding fruits.
He requested Anosike to rehabilitate, fence, and build library and laboratory blocks for their alma mater if elected, urging him to uphold the values taught them at school.
In his remarks, the state PDP Chairman and deputy governorship candidate, Abraham Amah, commended their guests for identifying with their own, saying they should start counting their blessings as one of their own would soon emerge governor.
“God prepares a man before his manifestation. What we are seeing is the manifestation of God. PDP was almost gone in the state, but his emergence revived the party,” Amah said.Also speaking, the Chairman of the state PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Empire Kanu, noted that Anosike’s blueprint for Abia State mirrors that of the late Premier of Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Okpara.