I’ve Got the Passion to Serve and Deliver

- Mgbeke

Abia State House of Assembly candidate of the PDP for Umunneochi State Constituency, BARR. CHIMA MGBEKE in this interview with Rommy Igboanugo-Imah, speaks about his reasons for joining the race and his preparations for the elections among other issues.

How are you preparing for the elections?

I am prepared and ready to go and represent Umunneochi State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly. By virtue of my professional background as a lawyer, my long standing experience in politics, and the vast contact I have all over the State, I believe I am more than qualified to represent Umunneochi people in the State House of Assembly. I am cut out for effective representation in the House and as well attract democracy dividends to the good people of Umunneochi.

Beyond contacts and experience, do you think you are at home with your would-be constituents?

I am a household name in the politics of Umunneochi. Like I told you, this is my 14^th year of uninterrupted active participation in Umunneochi and Abia politics. Don’t forget that I contested for the chairmanship position of Umunneochi Local Government Area in 2003. Even though I didn’t get the ticket, since that time till now, I have remained with my party, the PDP and of course, my people. I associate with the people, attend all manner of ceremonies, identify with the people and attend party functions. I have remained a loyal party member all through.

Go to all the zones that make up the local government or the constituency, you will be amazed at the level of love they show to me; you will be amazed at the level of acceptance I enjoy across. Only recently, all the traditional rulers and stakeholders in Umuchieze adopted me as their consensus candidate. I am convinced that by God’s grace, the people will massively translate

this love at the polls by ensuring that I win the election.

You have been in politics for some time now, would you say there was a point in this enterprise when you got frustrated and felt like calling it quits?

Actually, when I contested for the chairmanship position in 2003, I lost but in spite of that I remained in the party as a loyal party member. As a human being, I wanted to leave because I was disappointed with what really happened at that time. However, when I realized that politics is all about service to the people, I decided to stay put. Being something that runs in my vein, I said let me stay in the party and wait for the time I will be given the opportunity to serve my people.

Currently, I am a member of Abia State Basic Education Board representing Abia North. When I came in and discovered that there were some projects that were supposed to be executed in my local government, some delegates came from various zones in Umunneochi to meet with me on the possibility of attracting some of these projects to the areas. By His grace, through my contacts and relationship with the governor and the family, I was able to attract some of these projects to some communities in Umunneochi.

For instance, I used my contact and ensured the building of a classroom block in Akawa Primary School, Nneato. The State government also supplied chairs and desks in the school; this is verifiable.

When you come to Zone 1, where I hail from, two projects were attracted and executed through my contact and connection. One is at Uhude, where Senator Chukwumerije comes from. There is also a new classroom block at Ngodo Town School, furnished too with chairs and tables.

When you go to Zone 2, at Isuochi Secondary School precisely, a lot of renovations took place there through my contacts and connections with the authorities of Abia State government. The same thing I did in Zone 4, at Leru Primary School for instance, where I did a lot of renovation works.

I also have friends in SURE-P Board, and have had discussions with them with a view to help me in the renovation of some schools in Umunneochi. There was this particular classroom building at Umuaku Secondary School that lost its roof to thunder strike. Through my intervention and assistance by SURE-P, that building has since been renovated.

In the same SURE-P empowerment programme, I was able to attract five slots for Umunneochi LGA; this was done on autonomous community basis. And because I am a lawyer and I know what equity is all about, we distributed this to the four zones in the local government. Over 100 people from Umunneochi local government are already benefiting from this largesse of N10,000 monthly pay from SURE-P.

When you come to the Abia State Youth Empowerment programme, there was a time I was the Director of Administration, 220 slots were given to Umunneochi. The party executives such as Senator Chukwumerije, Hon Nkeiru Onyejeocha, and Hon Ikedichi Eze each brought their list and they shared this among themselves. But when I came on board as the Director of Administration, I went to the governor and said ‘Governor please, we need more slots for Umunneochi,’ and he was able to raise it to 300 slots. By this, a lot of people benefited from the exercise. I called all the party stakeholders who brought names and those names benefited from the N15,000 a month pay.

So when you look at my antecedents and what I have been able to do without a major political position in the State, you will not be in doubt that I have got the passion to serve the people. It gives me joy when the people around me are happy; when I realize that to an extent their problems have been solved, I feel happy. I know that any good position you find yourself, the right thing to do is to think about your people, the less privileged, the church, your little family and the people around you so that when you are asking God for something, He can easily give you knowing that you can use it to better the lives of others.

You know you are contesting against an incumbent, and to an extent, someone who left your party on allegations of injustice. What gives you this confidence that you will defeat the incumbent?

Well, the people of Umunneochi did not feel the impact of the incumbent for the over three years he has been in the House- no sponsored bills, no contributions and no dividends of democracy attracted to the local government. And his relationship with the people is questionable; he hardly stay around or come back home to interact with the people that voted him into the House. In fact, his four years in the House was a waste. The other day, I got a text he sent claiming that he couldn’t do enough for the constituency because the Governor couldn’t support him. Look, I have told you what I’ve been able to attract to Umunneochi as an ordinary party member and here, a legislator is giving excuses for non-performance.

First of all, he has never been a party man; he just came from Abuja where he said he was into farming and begged that he be accommodated in the party and he eventually got the party ticket. He is a business politician who believes that if he didn’t get it here, he will jump into the other one. He is going to lose the election right from his own polling booth. Let it be on record here that I said he is going to lose the election from his own Ward. If he is a true party man, he wouldn’t be fighting the party and the structure because the way he got his ticket the other time, is the way others got theirs this time.

The way the primaries went has bred some kind of disaffection among party members and there are threats of protest votes in the state. Don’t you think this might affect your chances too?

To start with, everything in the party went very well- from the congresses to the primaries. Assuming you are a politician, you will know how these things work. The Congress is a place where people are elected to qualify to vote at primary election. So, people that were elected at the Congress were the people that qualified to participate in the primaries. All the people that came out in my name, won the election and qualified for the primaries. There is a procedure for all of this. So, for people threatening protest votes, it’s just propaganda and distraction. PDP is going to win convincingly in both Umunneochi Local Government and Abia State.

What kind of bills will you be sponsoring when you get to the House?

I intend to sponsor in the house, bills that will help in empowering people just as the State has been doing. I intend to make it a permanent bill so that it becomes a law where it will stand no matter the government in power because with my experience as Director of Administration at Youth Empowerment, I discovered that people really enjoyed this particular service by government. There are other bills am working on which I will let you know soonest.

What do you think are the chances of PDP at the general elections in Abia State?

PDP will still retain the State 97 percent. You see all the governorship aspirants are back to the fold of the party. You were at the flag giving ceremony yesterday and you saw them in solidarity with the governorship candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu. We know the antecedents of the APGA flag-bearer. Meanwhile, don’t forget the man is from Arochukwu; the mother is from Isiala Ngwa. And Isiala Ngwa is in Abia Central whereas the party zoned the governorship to Abia South. So, ab initio, he did not qualify to contest for the post. His running mate is from Ohafia while himself is from Arochukwu. He has no structure; he just came in from the bank and wants to rule Abia State. Does he know the number of wards in the state? Anyway, PDP still remains the party to beat.

How do you describe the people you want to represent in the House?

Before I started this project, I prayed, I fasted and God told me that I should go, that I will succeed. I am convinced and believe in God that I am going to win the election. I am an Umunneochi man, and I know what and what the people need. An average Umunneochi person needs respect, recognition and attention. They do not demand much or expect much from you. The only thing you need to do as one privileged is to offer that help no matter how little. Don’t allow the person go back with the same problem; provide solution or offer some form of assistance. Am aware of all the infrastructural, economic and social challenges of our people- Isuochi, Nneato and Umuchieze. My membership of the House will help in solving these problems.