Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has regretted that Nigeria has in recent times drifted into a worst situation where her citizens are more concerned on how to be alive, especially with the rate of insecurity across the country.
Speaking when he received a former Vice President and Presidential hopeful under the platform of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his entourage who came on a consultation visit at Government House Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu said citizens of the country are no longer thinking of infrastructure and other basic necessities of life but on how to survive the insecurity and economic quagmire ravaging the country.
He said: “Nigeria had drifted further down the line from where we were in 2019.
“This country has come under serious challenges in recent times. The issues today in Nigeria is not about good life, we are no longer talking about infrastructure, we are asking for the opportunity to live.
“We just want to be alive, if we like we can be hungry but let us be alive. Good life is out of the picture, we are not talking about power generation, we are not talking about sliding Dollar to Naira, we are not talking about good schools or University education, we are asking; can we just be breathing, can we have a country where we can stay and be alive”, Ikpeazu queried.
The Governor who described the PDP presidential hopeful as one of the founding fathers of the party, saluted his doggedness and courage in the quest to rescue and redefine Nigeria.
He noted that the Former Vice President is still playing a major role in the Nigerian polity and expressed hope that he would have a successful deliberation with Abia delegates.
In his speech, the Presidential hopeful and former Vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said that as a person who has a long standing relationship with Abia, he is in the State to consult Abia delegates as regards the forthcoming delegate primaries talking place on the 28th and 29th of this month.
He noted that the PDP has been out of power for almost 8 years and stressed the need for all Nigerians to rally round him with a view to rescuing Nigeria from its present predicament.
Earlier, the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, Chief Raymond Dokpesi said they are in Abia to seek the support of the Governor and that of the PDP members.
Dokpesi, while appealing for the support of Abia delegates noted that Atiku is ready to deliver democracy dividends to Nigerians adding that the PDP presidential hopeful believes in democracy and is ready to take Nigeria out of its present predicament.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar later met with Abia delegates at the Banquet Hall Government House where he sought the support their support in the forthcoming Presidential primaries.
Former Governor of Adamawa state Alhaji Bony Haruna Among others were in the entourage of the former Vice President while members of the Abia state executive council including the SSG, Mr Chris Ezem, Chief of Staff to the Governor Chief Okey Ahaiwe, Commissioner for information Dr Eze Chikamnayo, Commissioner for Special Duties and Vulnerable Groups, Hon. Chisom Nwachukwu among other government functionaries were present during the visit.