…As Peter Mbah assures to unite the people if elected
▪️By Pascal Chibuzo
Former Minister of Power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Pro-Chancellor of Bells University of Technology Ota, Ogun State, Prof Bart Nnaji has commended Dr. Peter Mbah, the Enugu State Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for exhibiting diligence in his pursuit of the people’s mandate to govern the State.
This is contained in a press statement made available to GMTNews by Chijioke Ogbodo, Media Aide to the former Minister.
Professor Nnaji, a father to all, who is the Chairman/CEO of a privately owned Geometric Power Ltd, a key player in the electric power industry in Nigeria that built 188 MW power generation and the power distribution companies in Aba, Abia State, stated this on Saturday September 25, when the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Enugu State, Peter Mbah and his entourage paid him homage in his Umuode country home, in Nkanu East LGA.
Nnaji who stated that his doors were wide open to all levels of candidates who want peace and development of Enugu State, recalled the painstaking positive efforts of Nkanu East Leaders Consultative Forum in consulting and seeking the support of about 17 important stakeholders across Enugu State including the Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, whom they visited twice in their bid to zone the governorship seat of the State to Nkanu East LGA.
“We visited our Governor twice, we visited him before we started, we visited him after we had finished…
“One of the things we the members said to ourselves was that this should be a new beginning, and we should use this to show how we can work together for progress in Nkanu Land…”
He said that as a member of the Committee he does not have anything against the ‘selection’ of Mbah as the guber candidate. “My doors are open to everyone provided that you are a peaceable person interested in the development of our dear State.
“I was happy when our brother from Nkanu East LGA (Peter Mbah) was selected but it would have been better if all concerned were carried along in the process”, he said.
Prof Bart Nnaji recounted that the idea behind the MoU which the PDP gubernatorial candidates signed prior to the primaries was to avoid litigations, violence, and ensure rancor free transition from Ugwuanyi’s administration to the next. He congratulated Peter Mbah and further affirmed that he has always stood by his words as agreed in the MoU, hence his firm decision not to contest the governorship seat on any other political platform.
“After the party primaries, you can’t imagine how many persons and political parties that approached me to take their (governorship) ticket but I said no because I will not go against what we have agreed to do. I went back to my business.
“I want to congratulate you, I want to wish you well. My strong advice is that politics is about the people. In the final analysis, everything is on you as a leader, and the decisions you take affect people’s lives. Let there be peace and harmony”.
Earlier the governorship candidate, Barr Peter Mbah while making a speech during the visit extolled Prof Bart Nnaji whom he said brought credibility to bear on Nkanu East Leaders Consultative Forum, describing him as the face of the leaders’ forum.
He said Prof Nnaji exhibited spectacular purpose driven leadership in handling the forum and made it an envy of people across the State, which eventually necessitated the emergence of an aspirant from the LGA as PDP governorship candidate. “You got the people in the State to buy-in into the project, and they saw the need why this (governorship) should be zoned to Nkanu East.
“Your leadership style made other people who are not from Nkanu East become proponents and take ownership of it”.
He said Prof Nnaji as a believer in the project was the first person to issue a press statement to congratulate him when he emerged the candidate on May 25, 2022, and subsequently they continued to talk, and he wanted to reconfirm Prof Nnaji’ support owing to misconceptions coming from the social media. On this, Prof. Nnaji said that he should not believe everything he sees on the social media.
Furthermore, Mbah noted that if eventually he emerged victorious come May 2023, “it would be difficult for history (of this journey) to be written without posterity recognizing the role you played. And I will further unite the people if elected”, he said.
Others on Dr Mbah’s entourage include his running mate Barr Ifeanyi Ossai, Executive Chairman of Nkanu East Local Government Council, Sidney Okey Ede, former Secretary to Enugu State Government under Chimaroke Nnamani, Dr. Dan Shere, Their Royal Highnesses Igwe Hyacinth Edeani, Greg Ugwu, Okeke Arum, and Hon Nnamdi Nwafor among many others. GMTNews
