Governor of Anambra, Mr Willie Obiano, on Friday said the development efforts of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra would give it victory in the Nov.18 governorship poll.
Obiano stated this while addressing newsmen after submitting his nomination form for the election at APGA’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
He said that a second term would help him to consolidate on his efforts in developing the state and institutionalise them.
“I am happy to be here to submit my completed party nomination form. I am very ready for the fight purely because APGA has done very well in Anambra and the record speaks for itself.
“We have been paying all workers’ salaries, pensions and gratuity. We have also been working on infrastructure in the state and when compared with three years ago, you will see major difference.
“We have done well over 320 kilometres of road. More importantly, the last government that ruled the state for eight years was APGA; so, it a continuous thing.’’
Obiano said that he had completed 80 per cent of the road projects awarded by the last administration, without abandoning any.
He said that the Onitsha Hotel and the mall in Awka were great legacies of his administration, adding that the Golden Tulip project would be open for business before Christmas.
The governor said that over 37 communities had been connected to the national grid, with street lights in most places.
He said that 181 communities in the state had benefited from government projects and that all the communities had completed their first set of N20 million projects, and that 82 communities were already working on second phase.
“So, you will see the imprint of APGA in every community because we have carried out projects in every community. So, the same party bolstering that will go for second term; we will win and win very decisively.
“This second term will help me to institutionalise the beautiful things that we have been able to do in the first tenure, particularly in the area of agriculture.’’
“Today, Anambra is self-sufficient in rice; when I took over in 2014 we were doing over 80,000 metric tonnes but today, with the addition of Ofuma integrated rice farm, we are doing 375 tonnes.’’
Obiano said that the state was targeting 578,000 metric tonnes in 2018, adding that since the state consumed 320,000 metric tonnes, it means that it was already self-sufficient in rice.
He said that the state exported “ugwu, onugbu, ichanwu leaves’’ and had received order to export five million tubers of yams to the United Kingdom.
This, he said, would create jobs for the youths and boost the four major pillars of agriculture, trade, oil and gas and industrialisation.
The governor added that the state was building a world-class airport, which would be available for inauguration in three years, saying “so, I am quite confident that we have done enough work to go into this election.’’
Receiving the form, National Chairman of APGA, Mr Victor Oye, said that the governor was doing well and that he would be screened on Saturday ahead of the party’s primaries on Tuesday in Awka.
“We are proud of the administration in Anambra, especially in the aspect of socio-economic development and that is why we are working hard to ensure that nobody takes Anambra from us.’’ (NAN)