By Jude Opara, Abuja

A House of Representatives aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Mark Ugorji has said that he perished his earlier ambition to contest for the state governorship election in order to support the aspirations of the state’s party leader, Chief Ikechi Emenike.

Ugorji who picked his expression of interest and nomination form at the National Secretariat of the APC on Wednesday said he was confident that Emenike could become the “messiah” Abians need at this point in time that the state has been in ruined.

He insisted that his quest for the position is to alleviate the  people whom he said have been buried in abject poverty by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has been in power for over 23 years.

He said; “Presently I am a strong member of the APC. I have done so much for the party and still doing. I was running for governorship position of the state but a time came when I saw the way things were going and took the decision to step down for Chief Emenike to run for the House of Representatives.

“Having seen that he is a pragmatic, intelligent, sincere and honest man decked with integrity, I jettisoned my ambition to allow my good people of Abia access to the dividends of democracy he is bringing on board. In Abia State we have gone through thick and thin in the hands of people not qualified to govern the state. We have gone through difficult situations. Our state is not developed. Our state appears to be the most undeveloped among the 36 states just because of the calibre of people governing the state.

“So today we have decided that somebody who can hand the dividends of democracy to our people should take over the reins of leadership. Someone who can give us infrastructure, quality education, take care of security, health, a lot of things that will bring joy to the people is the one we are giving our mandate to lead us and that person is Chief Emenike. If he becomes governor of Abia State come 2023, I Know for sure that Abia will not remain the same again.”

According to Ugorji, there is no faction in Abia APC because what people are calling faction is a group of people that has been misled or misinformed by those working for the PDP at night and become APC in the day.

He accused them of working tirelessly to endure the PDP retains the state and continue the destruction that has been there for 23 years but advised them to change because Abia people have become wiser and are ready to take back their state.

“I don’t want to discuss PDP here. I don’t want to discuss other parties or the people that have ruled the state over the years but the fact remains that if we elect Chief Emenike as our governor in 2023, Abia State will not be the same again. Leakages we have in our economy will be a thing of the past. He is a man who can make Abia great once again.”

Speaking further, the aspirant said as a national legislator, he needed a very solid home to fight for the dividends of democracy for his people at the centre.

“When I emerge as the lawmaker representing my constituency and by extension my state, I will definitely need a solid back up from my home state to fight for my people’s dividends of the democracy and that brings to bear the importance of a quality governor. A governor who will definitely stand by and for his people at all time.

“I will offer good representation to my people. I won’t be somebody that will be at the Chambers of the House of Representatives watching others make case for their people. I am bringing change in the aspect of representation. By interacting with me, you should know that I am very active politically and in governance.

“So, when I get there, the entire Abia will see the impact because I am going there to make sure that Abians are adequately and effectively represented, particularly the Ikwuano Umuahia federal Constituency.”