The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Peter Mbah has unveiled his manifesto, dubbed, ‘Building a peaceful and secure highly developed and prosperous state for all.”
He made a firm promise to tackle the persisting poor water supply challenge faced by residents of the state capital and other settlements in the state.
In his statement of purpose, Mbah said his objectives include economic development and a sustainable prosperity for all indigenes of Enugu State by 2031.
Mbah spoke on peace and security and said that it would be achieved “through a three-pronged intervention, firstly, an integrated programme to accelerate youth employment for all Enugu citizens. Secondly, integrated rural development programmes and thirdly, community policing and inclusion of all citizens in the governance of the state.”
He also said all would be achieved “through key targeted policies and programmes including agriculture to grow the Gross Domestic Product of Enugu state for the next three to four years, from the current level of $4.4billion in 2022 to $30 billion.”
The Governorship Candidate added that when voted into power, his administration would strive to achieve a zero percent rate in the poverty headcount index through government-enabled private sector development by 2031.
On the sustainable prosperity for all citizens of Enugu State by 2031, Mbah disclosed that his goal would be achieved, through, “an inclusive servant-leadership, transformative governance reforms; economic diplomacy and preventive diplomacy with a singular objective of improving the quality of lives of the citizens of Enugu state, founded in the core principles of transparency, accountability and rule of law.”
Mbah said that his government would be lean and agile, transparent, inclusive, and focused on enhancing productivity and value addition in all sectors of social, economic and environmental progress of the state.
Mbah, who responded to a question at the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Press Centre, Enugu, after unveiling his manifesto at the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, said he would make supply of pipe-borne water one of his government’s priority.
According to him, “the present government had started doing something about the water problem because of the importance of water to life.
“We will embark on an aggressive campaign to provide water to our city and rural dwellers. We will seek the collaboration of experts to tackle once and for all the water issues in our state.”
He noted that the major challenge facing water supply in Enugu metropolis was poor supply of power and his government would link power direct, so if we are able to get power supply and not rely on generators only,so our plans is to bring in private sector investment see how we can ensure through the power plant we have in Oji-River run a power line directly from that power plant straight to Oji-River water scheme, but it is only electrical it is also mechanical.
Mbah further said that water resource sector has three arms; upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream has to do with water supply. The midstream focuses on how pipelines convey water from source to storage. We understand that this needs sufficient power supply to function effectively.
Enugu State, he said, had the capacity “to produce 130,000 cubits of water and this would be enough for Ndi Enugu and we would aggressively bring in private sector investment to revive the water sector, by addressing the mechanical and electrical concerns.
“Our government if voted, he said would set up boreholes in the rural areas. The proximity between the boreholes and the houses of the residents will not exceed five minutes walk.”
Mbah, who said he was on a mission “to deliver quality, people-focused governance by making Enugu the preferred destination for investment, business, tourism and living,” declared that his vision was “to transform Enugu State from a public sector to a private sector.”
He said that he had already fashioned out well-researched, robust, dynamic and strategic programmes and policies that will enhance inclusive economic development and sustainable prosperity for all citizens of the state.
Mbah stated that his ambitious programmes for the people were all integrated and mutually re-enforcing, pointing out that they will be achieved through government-enabled private sector driven economic development and agricultural transformation.
“We shall industrialise Enugu State, attract investors and change it from being a public sector driven economy to private sector driven economy. We shall enhance agricultural production in a special agro processing zone. We shall transform dormant assets into productive assets, including the mineral resources. We shall also bring in private investors by creating a good environment for businesses to thrive without asking them for return on investment. These and many more will lead to wealth creation and job creation,” he said.
According to Mbah, his administration will engender a paradigm shift in the state, stressing that the state must act urgently to reposition and insulate itself from the existential threats the country is presently facing.
“We must do things radically differently. We are selflessly committed to insulate Enugu State from this emerging threats in the country, and we are standing on the threshold of history to effectuate a new state,” he said.
Disclosing that his core agenda would be an integrated private sector-led productivity growth.
“Our focus would be on agriculture, energy and mineral resources, commerce and industry, rural and urban infrastructure, creative industries, information and communication technology and tourism development, insisting that the economy will be driven by radical innovation and departure from the incremental and nominal style of leadership.
“Our objective here is to attract private sector investments by making the environment attractive to investors. My job is to make sure we enable the ease of doing business, create special economic zones, and encourage our young people who are doing well in ICT by providing all the facilities and infrastructure to explore their full potential,” he said.
