Imo: Chairmanship aspirant sets agricultural development as priority

Irechukwu Ndudirim Okereke, a top contender for the chairmanship seat of Aboh Mbaise in the forthcoming Local Government Council election in Imo State, has said that his administration would, among other things, focus on agriculture and agricultural development in order to ensure food security for the people.

Okereke, a former elected councillor for Mbutu Ward in Aboh Mbaise, who had worked as a staff of the National Assembly under Anyim Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara, and the late Chuba Okadigbo, said that he would use his wealth of experience as well as connections to develop the agricultural sector of Aboh Mbaise Local Government Council.

The aspirant, who spoke exclusively to BusinessDay at his campaign headquarters, said that if nominated and becomes the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and eventually wins the chairmanship election, that his administration would create farm centres and revamp the poultry centre in the council headquarters which have been moribund for years.

He also said that his administration would establish viable commercial poultry farms in the twelve wards in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area.

This, he said, would create jobs in the local communities to stem the rising population of unemployed youths, stressing that such will reduce the increasing rate of crime and criminality as well as other societal vices in the localities.

“I have been a councillor; I have had the privilege of working in the National Assembly as a staff for 10 years, and resigned honourably to contest the councillorship position in Mbutu Ward.

“It is on record, that all the wards in Aboh Mbaise have offered me chieftaincy titles; I have their letters. I have built friendships; I have built houses for the less-privileged; I have handed over buses to people, motor bikes, above all, I have got opportunities for our people to be in government, in the civil service, in the Nigeria Police, in the Army, in the Navy; I have made people in the Customs, even some of those who are contesting with me, I have built houses for their brothers they ignored,” he said.

According to him, “I worked with the late Senate President Chuba Okadigbo, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, when Emeka Ihedioha, was Special Adviser on political matters to Atiku Abubakar, and as a liaison officer to the one that represented us at the National Assembly, Aboh Mbaise and Ngor-Okpala Federal Constituency.

“While in the National Assembly, I attracted signature projects which are spread in the twelve wards of Aboh Mbaise, projects ranging from building and renovation of classrooms to supplying of school furniture and computer equipment, transformers, among others.”