The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Abia said it would develop a 25-year development plan that could facilitate good governance and overall transformation of the state.
The Chairman of the council, Mr Ceekay Igara, said this on Wednesday when he unveiled the newly elected officials of the council to newsmen in Umuahia.
Igara said that as the name implied, IPAC should advise the ruling Peoples Democratic Party on the best ways to administer the state.
“We want to join hands with the ruling party to develop the major cities of Umuahia, Aba and Ohafia with the development plan we shall produce.
“We cannot continue to do one thing the same way and expect a different result.
“IPAC is not supposed to play the role of opposition. Our role is advisory and we shall be advising rather than fighting the government.
“If we fight the government, then the citizenry will suffer because fighting will stall development, ” Igara said.
He said that his leadership was determined to do things differently from what obtained in the past, using different strategies to achieve the result.
He said that as a major stakeholder in the affairs of the state, IPAC would evolve a robust plan to guide the government to ensure that it delivered the dividend of democracy to the people.
He said that the new leadership would devise new techniques of getting its advice across and acceptable to the government.
Igara said that IPAC under his watch would educate and reorientate the chairmen of all the political parties on ways to meet the people’s expectations.
He said that the council would establish effective communication with traditional institutions and religious organisations to sensitise and mobilise the citizenry for their active participation in the electoral process.
He wondered why less than half-a-million of the two million registered voters in the state voted in the 2019 polls.
He blamed the development on people’s apathy and lack of confidence in the ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission to discharge its duties creditably.