By Tony Adibe
Enugu State is blessed with great potential but sadly the state is suffering due to the lack of good, quality leadership which has become a major impediment against her development.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Governorship candidate in Enugu State, Chief Frank Nweke made the assertion on Thursday at a town hall meeting with the business community in Enugu.
According to him, a proactive step ought to be taken by the people to save the state from “drifting to the potential abyss of a failed state.”
Nweke, a former Information Minister, said that it was time people recovered the state and voted individuals with the capability to transform it. He said: “With the right leadership, we can leverage on the rich potentials in Enugu State to bring transformational leadership and make life better for our people.”
Nweke, who was also a former Director-General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, said the 2023 general election was another good opportunity for the citizens to elect who had shown great passion to serve, maintaining that if they failed to act fast, development might continue to elude the state.
The politician said, if elected into office, his government would focus on creating wealth and harnessing the state comparative advantage towards enabling the people and their businesses to thrive well.
He said: “One thing we will focus significantly is the issue of Economic Transformation, we will make a conscious departure from the politics of managing poverty to creating wealth, we will change the ideology.”
Commenting on the geographical advantages Enugu has to be able to succeed economically, Nweke said, “all that is needed to harness them is a leadership characterized with vision and direction.”
On the goal of his administration to ease ways of doing business if elected, the former Minister of Information acknowledged access to land, saying it was difficult to access landed property in the state.
On taxation, the APGA governorship candidate promised to simplify the system through digitization while further revealing that his leadership would curb the unlawful and unnecessary harassment of small-scale traders in the state.
According to him, “We are going to work with the state board of internal revenue to digitize the taxation system in the state. we are going to expand it, make it more open and more transparent. We know about the multiplicity of taxation and levies administered by multiple agencies, am I lying? There is no way business can strive under such circumstances.”
He vowed to restore trust in government and block all leakages in expenditure, as well as strengthen the judiciary, and improve the conditions of service of the judges. He declared that his administration would have no tolerance for corruption and corrupt practices, assuring that public resources would be used for public good. The politician promised to harness the young population in Enugu State and provide the enabling environment for them to achieve their purpose and potentials.
