Says I can't be anybody's stooge
AMID a tight campaign schedule,
the Abia State Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP)
Governorship Candidate, Dr.
Okezie Ikpeazu, in this encounter
spoke among others on his plans
for Abia and how to actualise
them, if elected. He admitted that
Governor Orji has set a hurdle in
terms of achievements but said
he will run faster because he is
younger.

His take on comments that he is
a neophyte and stooge of
Governor Theodore Orji
I had my doctorate degree
before my 30th birthday. I have
taught in four universities,
including being the external
examiner of master's degree
students of University of Nigeria,
Nsukka. It is not possible for
someone to think of me as a
stooge. All this can only exist
within the realms of political
propaganda. Almost every
candidate in the race was once
in the PDP, so apparently they all
wanted to be stooges. They
started singing different tunes
when the PDP people said, "we
want change but we want to
change into certainty not into
darkness' and the civil servants
said, "we want someone who
can keep our jobs and pay us,
not someone who will do right-
sizing or down-sizing and
retrench us at the end of the
day."
There is no governor in Nigeria
that is anybody's stooge. And if
you played a role in canvassing
for votes or helped a governor to
be elected, you can't expect the
governor to be your stooge. You
can only bring ideas that are
beautiful on the table and if its
falls into the main frame of a
focused administration.
Superior logic
Abia people know that I am the
only person that is humble
enough to entertain all shades of
opinion, logic and suggestions. If
your logic is superior we will go
and test it. If mine is superior
you go with me. I am not coming
with any airs of arrogance. I am
humble enough to say that I
need the support of the people
of Abia and hopeful that they will
give me.
The challenge of taking over and
matching Governor Orji's
records?
The governor has enormous
goodwill and he has carried
himself as a gentleman. He has a
lot of respect among the elders,
and the common people of Abia.
He is a huge challenge. But I
know that by the time the people
understand my style, the
difference will show. I will try to
be as meticulous as Orji but I will
run faster because I am younger.
His plans: The first plan is our
people. Abia is peopled by people
with capacity in various areas.
Our human capital is second to
none and we are the best traders
and very good in commerce. We
are also very good with the
things we can do with our
hands. So in the years ahead we
want to leverage on these
advantages that God has given
us to make sure that the
economy of Abia rests on strong
pillars of trade and commerce,
small and medium scale
enterprises.
Of course we are in oil and gas
but we want to let the advantage
of oil and gas recede to the
background because we are just
marginal producers. So oil will
not be on the front burner of our
economic decisions in the days
ahead.
We have another advantage. If
you look at Aba for example, the
city is at the confluence of about
seven other cities in the South-
East and South-South. The city is
about 30 minutes drive to Ikot
Ekpene, Port Harcourt, Owerri
and Umuahia among others. The
strategic location of this city
makes it what sugar is to ants
and it attracts people. So we
must leverage this strategic
geographical location of Aba to
place world class infrastructure
around Aba so that we can
return trade and commerce and
build industrial clusters using the
German model.

Lol