Anambra: Anxiety in Ekwunife, Umeh’s camps as Obiano’s aide declares for senate
Chief of Protocol to Chief Willie Obiano, the outgoing governor of Anambra State, Uzuegbuna Okagbue, on Wednesday, expressed his interest to represent Anambra Central Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly next year.
Okagbue, who doubles as his Deputy Chief of Staff, at a press conference in his Umunnachi country home in Dunukofia Local Government Area, said that his desire to serve his people on a higher platform prompted his interest.
But this declaration may have caused some unease in the camps of the current senator for the same zone, Uche Ekwunife, and that of Chief Victor Umeh, former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who is reportedly planning to return to the same red chamber.
Okagbue, better known as Uzu, appears to be enjoying the support of the young people especially those in APGA; many of whom have declared that they would give him maximum support.
Uzu said that from his daily interactions with Ndi Anambra of all social classes, he realised that more needs to be done in the way his people are being represented in Abuja.
“And it is only those who understand a problem that can solve it. We will begin here, in our own Anambra Central Senatorial District, to solve our problem of inadequate representation at the Senate.
“It is time to move from where we are to where we should be. Successive Senators of Anambra Central have done their bits but today’s Nigeria requires a drastic departure from the old order. It is time to jettison the “business as usual” mentality and embrace the dynamism of the digital age”, he said.
While announcing his interest for the coveted seat, Uzu said that he had all it would take to offer his people quality representation in the Senate.
“Why me? Why not the next person? My answer is that a service is intrinsically inseparable from the person who provides it. The way one doctor treats an ailment is different from the way another doctor treats it, even though they may administer the same drugs.
“A more caring doctor will make the patient feel a lot better than a less caring one. Similarly, to be a Senator is to offer lawmaking service to the people, and I can do it well, in a better way, with your individual interests fully covered.
“First, lawmaking requires intellect and requisite academic qualification. I am properly educated for this job, having earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and a Diploma in the basic understanding of the law (Diploma in Law).
“The quality of the bills you sponsor as a lawmaker depends on your full understanding of the issues the law is to address, as well as the people whose lives it is to improve. I have a modern worldview and a deep appreciation of the place of the Anambra Central constituent in the larger Nigerian context.
“We are entrepreneurial. We are also educationally aspirational. I will target laws that make it easier for our people to do more business, make more money and develop our place even further.
“I will target laws that will make it easier for our people to get better quality education and for the educated ones to access good jobs and other opportunities available to them all over the world”, Uzu said.
