Former Abia State governor, Senator Theodore Orji, said that he had paid his dues by ensuring the entrenchment of equality of all the zones in the state in line with its Charter of Equity.
Orji stated this while speaking with our correspondent after attending a civic reception organised by the people of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area in honour of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Chikwendu Kalu, at the Umuacha Primary School, Isiala Ngwa.
Everybody in Abia has been given sense of belonging
He stressed that when the history of the state would be written, he would be remembered for working along with its other eminent leaders to ensure the emergence of a governor of the state from the Ukwa Ngwa bloc.
The senator, who currently represents Abia Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, argued that as one of the major groups in the state, anything short of giving the Ukwa Ngwa people the opportunity of producing the governor for the state would have amounted to grave injustice to them.
He said this was in accordance with the vision of the founding fathers of the state, who had in their wisdom, insisted that the governorship of the state should rotate among the three senatorial districts.
According to him, with the emergence of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu in the 2015 general elections, the Ukwa/Ngwa people had been recognised as equal partners with others and given a sense of belonging in the state.
Orji said another thing for which he would also be remembered was “liberating” politics in the state from idolatry and the subjection of political appointees to the swearing of oaths in shrines.
He said leveraging on these achievements, he had continued, as he did while in office as governor, to touch the lives of his constituents by attracting democracy dividends and empowerment programmes to the district.
On the recent Supreme Court judgment, which upheld Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Orji assured the people that the party would bounce back to power at the centre in 2019.
Speaking on the occasion, Governor Ikpeazu commended the people of the area for organising the event, which he described as their endorsement of his administration, and assured them of his commitment to improving their lives.
In his address, the speaker of the state assembly expressed appreciation to his constituents for finding him worthy to represent them, thanking his colleagues for choosing him as their leader.
He assured them that he would not only place their needs on the front burner and respect the confidence reposed in him, but also contribute to making quality laws for the governance of the state.
Kalu, who along with the senator and the governor received the endorsement of the people for their respective offices in 2019, commended the organisers of the occasion for their efforts.
