Anambra needs an all-rounder as Obiano’s successor, says PDP chieftain

• Ozigbo urges FG to embrace dialogue to end violence
• Monarch preaches peace, cautions youths against violence
• ZLP appoints Nwafor-Orizu as campaign council DG

A chieftain and former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Chief Sam Ikefuna, has said that what the state needs at the moment was a versatile all-rounder with a demonstrable record of achievements in corporate administration and management as Governor Willie Obiano’s successor to uplift the state.

According to him: “Ozigbo is humble, smart and articulate. These are clearly deducible from his track records. The evidence abounds in the offices he had held and the high-profile offices he had successfully managed. He is always focused on where he is going.”

HOWEVER, Ozigbo has charged the Federal Government on the need to engage agitators of self-determination in dialogue as a means to end growing deadly violence across not only Anambra State but also the entire South-East zone.

Ozigbo, who stated this in a statement to felicitate with Nigerians as the country marked its 61st Independence Anniversary, lamented the fresh deadly escalation of violence that enveloped the state, which claimed the lives of Dr. Chike Akunyili, the husband of former Minister for Information, the late Prof. Dora Akunyili; Dr. Ezenwa and others.

ALSO, worried by the high crime wave rocking Anambra State, the traditional ruler of Nnobi Kingdom in Idemili South Local Council of the state, His Royal Majesty (HRM) Igwe Nick Obi, has urged the candidates and their supporters to embrace peace.

Igwe Obi, who stated this while addressing newsmen in his palace during the Ashiaolu festival of Nnobi community, reminded that the governorship election is a contest between brothers and sisters and as such should not generate any form of bad blood.

The monarch, therefore, appealed to the youths to allow peaceful conduct of the election to avoid creating lacuna or vacuum in the governance of Anambra State.

MEANWHILE, the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has appointed Dame Esom Nwafor-Orizu as the Director-General of the Campaign Council for the Anambra State governorship election.

The governorship candidate of the party for the election, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, who disclosed this during a one-day training session for officials of the party at Ogidi in Idemili North Local Council in the state, described Nwafor-Orizu as a very competent woman who can handle such a sensitive position and help ZLP to take over the Agu Awka Government House.