Ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State, candidates of three major political parties participating in the election, on Monday, unfolded their agenda to the people, promising to turn around the health, education sectors, and infrastructure in the state if elected.
The candidates are Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Valentine Ozigbo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Andy Uba of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The candidates spoke in a debate organised by the Arise News Channel, with the support of a non-governmental organisation, Enough-is-Enough (EiE) Nigeria and anchored by Reuben Abati and Ngozi Alaegbu.
Although the three candidates agreed that Anambra State was facing a serious security challenge, they however, disagreed on the best way to tackle it.
While Soludo said the insecurity issues in Anambra were politically motivated, suggesting that intelligence gathering needed to be reinforced, and that there was the need for increased collaboration with local vigilance groups in checking the menace, Ozigbo accused APGA and APC of failing Anambra people, as far as insecurity was concerned.
Speaking further, Ozigbo lamented the deplorable state of roads in the state, promising that if elected, he would encourage the private sector to assist in building the dilapidated roads.
Soludo and Uba also toed the line, admitting that the roads in Anambra were bad. They said they would declare a state of emergency on roads if elected.
On how to handle the issue of the secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the three candidates said dialogue was the best option.
Ozigbo also promised that if elected, he would advocate for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the group and the de-proscription of IPOB.
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Speaking on their plans for the health sector, while Uba said if elected his administration would establish three health clusters in the state, Soludo promised to work with the private sector to improve health infrastructure, while Ozigbo said he would improve access to healthcare.
“We are talking to people in the private sector to equip our hospitals to make it one of the best in the world,” Soludo said.
On plan for the education sector, Uba lamented the state of education in the state under the APGA government, promising to employ the best teachers and pay them good salary; a similar pledge was made by Ozigbo, who said he would bring quality and affordability to the education sector.
When asked about his relationship with Uba when both of them served in former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, Soludo denied knowing Uba. “I didn’t know Andy Uba from Adam,” Soludo said.
Uba, who responded to Soludo, reiterated what he had said earlier that he assisted APGA candidate to become the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Meanwhile, a poll has revealed that APGA and its candidate, Soludo, may win Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra.
The poll was conducted by VIISAUS, a market research, technology and political consulting firm.
The poll result revealed that when asked about the choice of party, 37 percent of respondents said they would vote APGA; 14 percent PDP, 4 percent APC and 2 percent picked other parties.
The research, however, stated that 24 percent undecided response posed a significant threat to APGA’s chances of emerging victorious, while offering hope for other parties.
According to the report, violence, at 35percent, is the biggest reason respondents cited for not going out to vote.
