Obinna Ichita, the two-term member of the Abia State House of Assembly, has adduced the rationale behind his acceptability to become the running mate of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) for the forthcoming 2023 general elections in Abia State, Professor Greg Ibe.
Ibe is a Professor of Entrepreneur and the Chancellor of Gregory University Uturu in Abia State.
He was on 28th May 2022 emerged as the main candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance by securing 283 out of the 482 total votes cast at a concluded gubernatorial primary election held at Kolping Society Umuahia in the state capital city.
Mr Echezona Etiaba, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee and Returning Officer, while announcing the election results, also disclosed that other aspirants, Etigwe Uwa, SAN came second with 148 votes, General Ijioma N Ijioma (retd) came third with 36 votes, and Chief Chikwe Udensi who came last with only 12 votes while three(3) votes were voided.
In June 2022, Ibe unveiled Hon Obinna Ichita who is currently only APGA member out of 11 of the party’s lawmakers elected under the platform of the party in the last 2015 general elections held in Abia state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, Hon Obinna Ichita who represents Aba South constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, while continuing in his speech in Aba on Wednesday, on the reason he admitted his nomination as the running mate and Deputy Governorship Candidate of the APGA, posited that Prof Ibe is rated today as the highest employer, investor of labour in Abia state, and has continued to contribute the most towards the attainment of social mobility by the majority of people in the state.
The two-term Abia lawmaker maintained that the frontline APGA governorship candidate has also demonstrated empirically verifiable competence in the management of complex organisations, and also possessed the most social capital in Abia, and beyond its shores.
Ichita partly stated, “there is no gainsaying that only one candidate ticks all the boxes in the search for the most competent hand to salvage Abia state from bad governance.
“Of all the Governorship candidates; who has provided access (via full scholarship ) to quality education to the majority of families in Abia state?
“Who possesses the most social capital ( in Abia and beyond) of all the candidates in Abia state? Who has provided free medical care to the majority of people in Abia? Who is the highest creator of jobs for people in Abia State?
“The answer to all these is Prof. Greg Ibe of APGA. If you wan govern Abia tok wetin you do for our people in Abia State”.
AFRIPOST reports that Greg Ibe who is running the 2023 Abia governorship race on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), will battle the revered Office of the Governor of Abia state in the March 2023 gubernatorial elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), across the 184 electoral wards of the 17 Local Government Areas in Abia State, alongside with Prof Uche Ikonne of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Alex Otti of Labour Party (LP), Rev Apostle Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Ogbuneke of Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Amb. Bishop Emeka Nwamkpa of Accord Party (AP).
It would be recalled also that Ibe who earlier contested the Abia 2023 gubernatorial seat ticket of the ruling Peoples Democracy Party in Abia state, had in April 2022, dumped ruling PDP for the opposition APGA, and cited the party decision, not to zone its 2023 Governorship seat ticket to his senatorial district(Abia North).