Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has assured the people of the State that his successor will emerge, through a peaceful process of consensus and justice, involving all interest groups in the State.
This is as the people of Ukwa La Ngwa in Abia State, on Thursday, under the auspices of Ukwa-La-Ngwa Elders’ Council, insisted that they will also govern the state for sixteen consecutive years, that is from 2015 to 2031.
Ikpeazu, expressed concern at the current exchange of political brickbats, by politicians and groups, over who succeeds him in 2023, describing such exchanges, as unnecessary, premature and capable of distracting his administration.
Ikpeazu in a statement, signed by Onyebuchi Ememanka, his chief press secretary and made available to BUSINESSDAY, affirmed that he is still in charge of the State and will not be stampeded out of office, by people who want to alter the natural order of things.
While the Governor appreciated the rights of persons and groups to canvass their political ideas and preferences, he warned that timing is critical in these permutations and that there could only be one Governor at any particular time.
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He assured that when the time is right, his successor will emerge, through a peaceful process of consensus and justice, involving all interest groups in the State, reminding Abians that it is God that anoints leaders.
The Governor stated that his preoccupation now is how to continue to deliver more people-oriented infrastructural projects for the people of Abia State, strengthen trade and commerce and keep the people safe.
He noted that the question of who succeeds him is definitely not what he is thinking about at the moment. This is because “if I start in June 2021, to think about my successor in 2023 and begin to hold meetings on the issue, it will be difficult for me to concentrate again and do my work”.
Ikpeazu appealed to politicians not to allow their rhetorics about 2023, threaten the peace and tranquillity currently enjoyed in the State, and finally advised them to pray to God to give life and good health ahead of the politics of 2023 because only the living and the healthy will play politics by that time.
