Buhari assures Southeast of more patronage, as Nwoye receives APC flag for Anambra poll

Representative of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, stormed Onitsha for the flag-off the campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 18 poll, Tony Nwoye.

He used the occasion to reassure the people of the Southeast of more patronages in his administration.Osinbajo, speaking at the All Saints Anglican Church’s field, Onitsha, venue of the ceremony, said Buhari had demonstrated his love for the people of the zone, especially Anambra, several times by picking his running mates in the past from the area, in the persons of the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, respectively.

Osibanjo, who spoke along same line with other chieftains, including Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi) and Nasir el’Rufai (Kaduna), urged the Anambra electorate to vote APC “to connect the state to the national political grid.”

They said this is the time for youthful leaders to emerge in the political scene, and Nwoye represents just that.He said: “The governments before us did not include the Southeast in their plans for rail transport, but the APC government has almost all the states in the Southeast connected in our rail transport network projects and called on the people of the state to make a wise choice in the election.

While handing over the flag to Nwoye, APC’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, tasked the youths to take their destiny in their hands by voting for their fellow youth in the election.

He said: “The Anambra election is a challenge to the youths of this country. It is a time for youths of this country to make a loud statement by showing that they are capable to lead, if given the opportunity,” restating that the surest path for the Igbo to national leadership is to join the APC.

Okorocha and el-Rufai, in their respective speeches, charged the people not to allow the opportunity offered by the November poll for them to join the “national grid” to slip off their hands, saying Anambra, as the heart of Igboland, should grow beyond playing regional politics.

Okorocha said: “ Please, give me Tony Nwoye as a brother governor. I need a brother that would be reinforcing my demands in Abuja. I need a brother that would be accompanying me to meetings in Abuja. Anambra, please give me Tony Nwoye.”About 12 APC governors, 17 ministers, 10 senators and other top members of the party were in attendance.