By Tony Adibe
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Enugu West Senatorial District, Prof. Nick Ezeh has said that with the new Electoral Act, he has the best chance to win the 2023 senatorial election in the zone.
Prof Ezeh also vowed that one of his key priorities if elected into the Senate would be to ensure justice, equity and fairness to all his constituents as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ezeh, who addressed a press conference in Enugu on Tuesday, is amongst candidates contesting to replace the a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the Senate.
NewsBits reports that the Enugu West Senatorial Zone comprises five Local Government Areas which include Aninri, Awgu,Ezeagu, Oji-River and Udi. For over 20 years, the Enugu West Senatorial Zone has been represented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ezeh, however, said that the PDP monopoly in the zone would end during next year’s poll, insisting that with the new electoral reform, it would not be business as usual for the PDP in Enugu State , because as he put it, the New Electoral Act would now make it easier for genuine politicians to win elections.
According to him, “The new electoral reform will be difficult for PDP in Enugu State. This is because they have truly not been winning elections. It makes it easier for genuine politicians to win elections and that’s the edge I have over my opponents”.
Ezeh, a professor of Political Economics, said that it is only the best candidate like him would win the election because of his track record, adding that he would deploy his international exposure to attract development to the district. Ezeh stated that he is offering to serve the people of the district because they deserved quality representation unlike what they had been getting in the past two decades.
He said: “Enugu West Senatorial District is majorly an agrarian community with so many investment and development potentials, but the zone has not witnessed the much-needed federal government presence in the form of infrastructural, educational and institutional facilities to boost these potentials.
“The very few federal institutions in the zone are mostly dilapidated, lacking infrastructure, most of which were developed in the colonial time, are all in state of disrepair. A typical example is the Oji River Power Plant which has been completely destroyed.” He insisted that the zone needed someone like him who would ask questions and get answers for the good of the people.
“I believe in my capacity to defeat all my opponents in the 2023 elections. Enugu State has been a one-party state since 1999 and you can see that that is not doing Enugu State any good. That’s why the people need change and they beckoned on me to come and represent them this time,” he said.
Ezeh promised to be irretrievably committed to the resuscitations of the failing facilities in the district in order to bring meaningful development to the zone, adding: “Also, at the heart of this campaign is bringing equity and justice to Enugu West through legislative actions, especially with regards to our labour laws, security laws, corporate laws, contract laws, etc so that people can fully benefit from the gains of our democratic provisions as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.”
