Fides Media Living the Faith
…Preaches Post-Primary Unity
By Jude Atupulazi
Valentine Ozigbo, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) frontrunner ahead of the 2021 Anambra governorship election, has called for the party to ensure aspirants, interest groups, and stakeholders, stay united after the party’s primary scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
Mr Ozigbo made the call on Wednesday, June 23, when he hosted all the ad-hoc delegates of the party at an event held at Cana House, Awka.
The event was the latest in a series of town hall meetings with Ndi Anambra hosted by Ozigbo in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja. He has also held similar meetings with stakeholders and kingmakers in Anambra North, Central and South Senatorial Zones in May. Early this month, the business mogul hosted five town hall meetings with over two thousand delegates of the PDP.
In his address of welcome, Ozigbo congratulated the delegates on their victory at the recently concluded ward ad-hoc congresses held across the 326 wards in the state.
Mr Valentine Ozigbo, PDP aspirant
Ozigbo, a multiple award-winning global former President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, Transcorp, acknowledged that although the delegates had emerged through different circumstances, they were responsible for the fate of Anambra State for the next four years.
‘Whether you emerged through a free and fair process, community consensus, or even violent imposition, the truth is that you will decide the flag bearer of our great party and invariably, the future of our children and the generations after them,’ Ozigbo remarked.
‘I called this meeting to remind us that we are not members of different political camps, but we are members of a united PDP with a common goal of victory in the November 6 polls,’ he said.
‘If you are here and I am not your number one choice, I am not here to poison your mind against your preferred aspirant; I am only here to present myself and my credentials.
‘It is up to you to decide, so I urge you to listen with an open mind and ask God for guidance,’ Ozigbo said, while giving a brief history of his profile and career background, which, he said, moulded him into the award-winning global CEO, an international banker, a sports developer, and an entrepreneur that he had become.
Ozigbo said that as the son of a headmaster and catechist, he had learnt, developed and imbibed a hunger for excellence from a tender age.
‘As the last of seven children, I did not have my way a lot, so I understood respect, the value of people and relationships. I learnt empathy, which is a necessary ingredient of a credible leader,’ Ozigbo submitted.
He said that over the years, he had picked up valuable experience as a top player in the finance, banking, technology, hospitality, energy, agribusiness, entertainment, sports, power, and oil and gas industries.
He said those experiences were what he was bringing to bear as he offered himself to serve the people of Anambra State.
‘The time has come for us to change the story of our people. But, sadly, we are still battling fundamental issues like power, roads, basic amenities and infrastructure, when the rest of the world has moved on.
‘This coming election is our best shot at kicking out APGA from Agu Awka. All we have to do is to ensure we do the right thing at the primaries. The people of Anambra are waiting for us to show a willingness to depart from the old way of doing things.
‘Our #KaAnambraChawapu manifesto is designed to cater to the needs of every citizen of Anambra, irrespective of their social status. We will give every sector the necessary attention they need to meet global standards.
‘We will also implement a cluster approach to development by fixing different geographical demographies, using their unique economic advantages. We will also partner with Ndi Anambra by encouraging their efforts with government concessions,’ he promised.
Ozigbo urged the delegates to energise their base to ensure that PDP took over Anambra.
PDP’s primary which was earlier to hold on the 26th of June was shifted to 29th.