The governorship candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Barrister Peter Mbah, has said that the party will emerge victorious in the upcoming March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.
Barrister Mbah declared this on Tuesday when he appeared on Channels Television programme ‘Road Map 2023’.
He said that the outcome of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections in the state will not impact negatively on candidates of the party during the March 11 elections.
“Our people are interested in making sure that they are led by someone who has the background to tackle the challenges we are faced with at the moment.
“They will be looking at quality, and I do not think that any of the opposition candidates who will come close to what we have offered to the people of Enugu State,” he said.
SummitNews recalls that the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr. Peter Obi, polled a total of 428,640 votes in Enugu state to defeat other contenders, with the candidate of the PDP Atiku Abubaka (Mbah’s party), coming a distant second with 15,749 votes, while Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled came far-flunged third with 4,772 votes.
Also, the party produced only one House of Representatives member, as well as won one senatorial seat during the February 25 elections. The senatorial election in Enugu East was put off following the assassination of LP senatorial candidate, Barrister Oyibo Chukwu. The election is slated to hold this Saturday too.
But Barrister Mbah maintained that the PDP will beat candidates of other political parties in the state during Saturday’s elections despite the outcome of February 25 elections in the state.
He restated his commitment to growing the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from its current size of $4.4 billion to at least $30 billion in the next eight years if elected governor in Saturday’s poll.
The PDP guber candidate said that his administration will create the necessary policy and physical environments for the private sector to invest optimally in the state.
According to him, the state is blessed with huge mineral resources, adding that his administration will tap into these resources to shore up the state government’s revenue base.
He dismissed the fear expressed in some quarters that he would be under the beck and call of some godfathers if elected governor of the state.
Barrister Mbah also said that he was never indicted nor tried in the law court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged misuse of funds when he served as commissioner of finance under the administration of erstwhile governor Chimaroke Nnamani.
“My name was struck out of the charge sheet. I neither underwent any trial by the EFCC, nor entered into a plea bargain with them, yet I have been a victim of malicious attacks by people who don’t have anything to offer to the people,” he said.
The PDP candidate also denied allegations that he forged his NYSC certificate, adding that he underwent the compulsory one year national youth service corps programme, and was “honourably discharged by the NYSC.”
Asked whether he thinks that Saturday’s elections could be marred by violence, the PDP governorship candidate described Enugu as one of the most safest and peaceful states in the country, adding that he is confident that “we are going to have peaceful elections.”
He condemned the murder of the LP senatorial candidate, saying that security agencies are investigating the incident, and expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the act would be identified, arrested and prosecuted.
He appealed to politicians not to see elections as ‘do-or-die’ affairs, but rather as a call to service.
