There were rousing receptions and gale of endorsements for Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other PDP candidates in the state when the governor’s campaign train visited Ozi-Edem, Umabi Ugwuoye, Nru, Nguru, and Obimo in Nsukka Local Government Area on Sunday, ahead of the forthcoming general election.
At Ozi-Edem, the jubilant people of the community who came out in their numbers at the residence of Engr. Aloysius Onyebuchi Enete to welcome Governor Ugwuanyi, expressed utmost joy and fulfillment over what they described as the first visit of a governor to their land.
The people celebrated Governor Ugwuanyi for the ongoing construction of Ozi-Edem/Akpa-Edem/Okpuje road as well as his administration’s unprecedented empowerment and rural development programmes which they said have benefited the people of Enugu North Senatorial District immensely.
They declared their resolve to vote Governor Ugwuanyi for Senate, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah (PDP governorship candidate) for Governor, Engr. Vita Abba (PDP candidate for Nsukka/Igbo-Eze Federal Constituency) for House of Representatives, and Hon. Amos Amadi Agbo (PDP candidate for Nsukka West Constituency) for House of Assembly, stressing that their support for the governor and the PDP is massive and resolute.
The story was the same in Umabi, Ugwuoye Nsukka, where Governor Ugwuanyi was cheerfully received by the people of the community led by the traditional ruler, HRH Igwe George Asadu, the Board Chairman of the Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA), Pastor Chinweike Amoke (Mohammed), and the President General of Ihe Town Union, Nduka Amoke.
They also declared their support for Governor Ugwuanyi’s senatorial bid and pledged to vote for him and other PDP candidates in the state.
In Nru, the elated crowd was massive as they cheered the governor and expressed their endorsement of his candidature.
In a brief stopover earlier at Ogige Market, Nsukka to identify with the people, Governor Ugwuanyi was cheered by jubilant traders and tricycle (keke) riders who endorsed him for Senate and hailed his remarkable achievements in Nsukka zone and beyond.
Arriving Obimo later in the evening, shortly after a successful outing at Nguru Nsukka where the people of the community including leaders of their religious and traditional institutions equally endorsed the governor for Senate and commended his great transformation programmes in Nsukka zone including the establishment of the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences, SUMAS, Igbo-Eno; the Federal Polytechnic, Ohodo; ultra-modern Township Stadium; Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway fitted with street and traffic lights, 31km Udenu Ring Road and other network of roads, among others, Governor Ugwuanyi was welcomed to a rousing reception by the people of Obimo community at the residence of their revered leader, a business mogul and major dealer in pharmaceuticals in Onitsha, Chief Tony Ogbuagu.
The Obimo leaders at the event including the host, Chief Ogbuagu declared their support for Governor Ugwuanyi to represent Enugu North Senatorial District in the National Assembly as well as other PDP candidates in the state in the forthcoming elections, appreciating the governor for his developmental interventions in the communities in Obimo/Ikwoka Ward.
Welcoming Governor Ugwuanyi to his palace, when he arrived Nguru with his campaign train earlier, the traditional ruler of Nguru Nsukka Autonomous Community, HRH Igwe Linus Nosike Obayi, on behalf of the community endorsed the governor for Senate and gave him a royal blessing, reassuring him that the people will deliver him at the poll.
In his speech at the reception ground, the Spiritual Director of Okunerere Adoration Ministry, Rev. Fr. Prof. Paul Obayi disclosed that Ugwuanyi was the first governor to visit Nguru Nsukka, adding that Governor Ugwuanyi is the person behind the relocation of the Adoration Ministry to its permanent site in Nsukka.
The cleric asked the people of the community to thank Governor Ugwuanyi for the role he played in the realisation of the permanent site project, stating that the church, the congregation and the people of Nguru will reciprocate the governor's kind gesture at the poll.
Other speakers at the event, namely the President General of Nguru Nsukka Town Union, Builder Ignatius Onyishi, the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Prof. Ik Ernest Onyishi, the Special Assistant to the Governor, Luke Eze (MC Elder), Mrs. Theodora Obi-Okeke (Nee Alumona), and the PDP Zonal Woman Leader, Enugu North Senatorial District, Mrs. Esther Agu Nwangwu, etc, all assured Governor Ugwuanyi that Nguru people are for him and will deliver him and other PDP candidates in the state including the party's governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, in the forthcoming general election.
The Chairman of Nsukka LGA, Hon. Barr. Walter Ozioko, the PDP candidate for Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency, Engr. Abba, the Party’s candidate for Nsukka West Constituency, Hon. Agbo and the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Hon. Barr. Peter Okonkwo, were among the dignitaries at the colourful and well-attended events.