Admin l Wednesday, September 12, 2018
ANAMBRA, Nigeria – The publisher of Omambala Voice magazine and Chairman of Macpee Group, Chief Peter Aniekwe has said that he joined the race for Anambra West/East Federal Constituency seat on the platform of People’s Democratic Party(PDP) because opportunities of attracting developments abound more in a national party like PDP than a one state party like APGA.
He said that he was not deterred that Governor Obiano’s kinsman, under All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, is among those vying for the position, since there maybe no APGA after Governor Obiano’s tenure. He added that he has better personal antecedents than other candidates and that the zoning formula also favours him.
Peter Aniekwe who spoke to journalists in Abuja after picking his expression of interest and nomination forms said that equity and fairness demand that somebody from Anambra West should represent the zone this time, since people from Anambra East have represented the constituency several times and the sitting governor is also from the same area.
Apart from that, he said, there was urgent need for vibrant legislations geared towards exploring the human and natural resources that abound in the zone and that it takes someone with proven track record and business sense to explore them. He added that Anambra West/East had always taken backseat due to poor understanding of what drives development in riverine communities that make up the constituency. According to him, Anambra East/West Federal Constituency is one of the most backward in the state because most representatives in the past are far separated from the constituents.
“They stay in faraway Abuja and were quite disconnected from the people. They only come during elections to canvas for votes. Representation is an everyday job. The representative must mingle with the people to understand the challenges,” he said.
Peter Aniekwe said that ideas for bills should emanate from the interaction with the people, not from the representative alone, so that it should reflect the challenges of the area where it is meant to cover.
“How can a representative of the riverine communities of Anambra East/West that have problems of yearly flooding, high level of illiteracy, lack of farm produce preservatives, accessible roads, electricity, good hospitals, be pursuing something else that has no bearing with the constituency, instead of tailor made bills targeted at offering short and long term remedies to the above enumerated challenges?”
Aniekwe explained that “since Nigeria operates representativedemocracy where few people represent the interests of the majority, every legislator must develop regular and good working relationship with his people so as to understand the day-to-day challenges and solutions of the area. He must not be faraway from his people,” he noted.
“Also, many financial activities done at the national and state assemblies are shrouded in secrecy. It ought not to be so. Why will the constituents waste precious time trying to find out how much allowance the legislators receive including the one meant for constituency projects while the representative has all the information. Everybody should be carried along. It is a collective thing and everyone has a role to play”, he explained.
Aniekwe said that if he is elected, he would embark on massive political education which he said would open the eyes of the people.
“Anambra East/West needs lots of political education or awareness. It is the bedrock of all other developments. When the people know their rights, it helps for targeted developments. This must be engineered by the representative, especially when they do not have skeleton in their cupboards. These forms part of the reasons I want to represent Anambra East/West Federal Constituency in 2019,” he said.
Aniekwe explained that he did not go into politics because of money as many political jobbers do. But to change lives. “I am a businessman with interests in oil and gas, business development, media, construction, trading and freight forwarding before joining politics. As a youngman, I am comfortable but we need better legislations to create the enabling environment to empower more people,” Peter Aniekwe said.
