South East
Revival Group (SERG) has endorsed the candidacies of Sir Victor Umeh of
the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Dr Orji Uzor Kalu of the
Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) for Anambra Central and Abia North
senatorial re-run elections respectively.
Coordinator of SERG, Chief Willy Ezugwu explained in a statement yesterday that both have
actively pursued the interest of the Igbo nation among all the
candidates taking part in the re-run elections for the two Senate seats.
“Sir Umeh and Dr.Kalu have
demonstrated that they will go beyond the tokenism of constituency
projects when they get to the Senate since they have earlier
demonstrated the power of ideas and capacity to mobilise the people for a
common cause.
“On his part, Kalu has wealth of
experience that he has repeatedly placed at the disposal of the people
whom he has served dedicatedly even in the face of persecution in some
instances. He has in the past, successfully articulated a workable
blueprint on how to industrialise not just the South-East but the entire
Nigeria. These are qualities the Senate desperately needs.
“Representation in the National Assembly
is about the constituents and must never be left in the hands of people
who have a track record of having no understanding of what the South
East or their constituents need,” the group warned.
SERG urged the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) not to allow a repeat of the electoral
fraud, which necessitated the reruns in the first place.
…Umuahia stands still for ex-gov
From Chuks Onuoha, Umuahia
Thousands
of Abians from different senatorial zones in the state filed out from
the Abia Tower end of the Enugu –Port-Harcourt Express Road, to show
their love for former governor and Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) senatorial candidate for Abia North senatorial district, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu.
Kalu kick-started his campaign for the rerun election scheduled for March.
It was observed that from the Tower to
Michael Okpara Square in Umuahia, admirers lined up on both sides of the
road, waving and cheering Kalu endlessly as his convoy headed to
Umuahia. This exhibition of love was said to have made him to, in his
usual style, asked his convoy to stop for him to acknowledge the cheers
of his admirers. An aide said Kalu had planned to quietly go to his
country home to attend a stakeholders’ meeting. He changed his mind when
he saw the crowd. At Okpara Square, the crowd was so uncontrollable
that the former governor had to alight from his vehicle and had to walk
with them while the people hailed him by his arrays of titles, such as
“Mmiririri enyi, Ozo Igbo Ndu, Ohicharanwa Ogbuenye anya miri.” The
uncontrollable crowd shouted and assured him that the mandate they gave
him, which was stolen, would surely be given back to him this time
around.
The ever-smiling former governor could not hide his emotions as he was almost in tears touching, hugging and waving to the crowd of Abians who trooped out to welcome and identify with him.
From Okpara Square, his convoy moved to
the ever-busy Corporative Square, drove straight to Uzuakoli Road,
joined Uwalaka and headed back to Isi Gate.
At Isi Gate, however, the human go-slow
forced Kalu to alight again, from where he had to acknowledge cheers. He
walked some distance with the crowd, before he went back into his vehicle.
The convoy then moved to Aba Road through
Post Office, then to Bende Road, Uwalaka and finally moved out of the
city towards Uzuakoli. At Akara Junction in Isuikwuato Local Government
Area, youths, men and women organised a reception which Kalu was not
aware of and he was forced to alight from his vehicle the third time in
a row.
Masquerades of different hues lined up
for the ceremony. Here, they assured him that the Abia North Senate
seat has been reserved for him as their only son whom they trust and
believe in his representation. He later moved on to his country home
after the reception at Akara Junction.
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