Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah has described the victory of incumbent governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano in the just concluded governorship election as an end to impunity in the state.
Speaking in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Oduah congratulated Obiano for the victory which she described as a victory for all Anambra people.
Oduah, a senator under the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) commended all Anambra indigenes for saying no to impunity and making sure that their votes counted.
Recall that the Senator had been in the race to be the standard bearer of the PDP in the elections but boycotted the primary election along with some other contender who alleging that the process had been marred with irregularities to impose a candidate, Mr Esoloka Obaze, who “was not qualified to contest” in the first place.
She therefore congratulated Anambra people for saying no to imposition and politics of godfatherism by ensuring that they voted the right candidate irrespective of the party such candidate belonged to.
“I want to congratulated the governor for the victory, I also want to congratulate Mr President, INEC and the Security agencies that ensured that they had intelligence sorted out to ensure the safety of Anambra people during the election.
“I want to congratulate everybody that contributed to the smooth conduct of the Anambra election.
“The best part of the election is the fact that for the first time, Anambra people spoke against impunity, this victory signifies liberation.
“Anambra people have for the first time been politically liberated, the issue of godfatherism has been put to death finally, the issue of imposition by any party or group has also been put to death.
“This victory is a victory of hope for Anambra people, it is a victory of progress for Anambra people and it is a victory for development.
“The joy among the people has no bounds, you can feel it and you can hear it.
“From the onset i had always said that what we need above every other thing is not about party, it is about who will give us the development that we require,
“It is about who will restore the hope of security, governance and the hope that Anambra will have a place in Nigeria where it is supposed to be,” she said.
While congratulating the governor, Oduah charged him to speed up the developmental projects which he had started in the state.
She particularly urged the governor to focus on agriculture, infrastructural development and growing the state economy.
“For the governor, i congratulate him once more and charge him to accelerate the initiatives that he has put in place in the areas of agriculture, infrastructural development, human capital development and repositioning of Anambra economy to become a regional economy.
She urged the governor to spur economic development in the state by immediately re-launching the “Aku lue uno” (Our wealth should get to our home) campaign.
“Our people must invest in our state. The governor must urgently re-launch this program.
“Let us start at home to create a bottom up economy that will bring development to the rural areas and put an end to urban migration.
“We should have access to the global market so this is the time to push for the Federal Government to establish an inland container terminal in the state.
“If we do these, a lot of jobs will be created and unemployment will be further reduced in the state,” she said.
Governor Willie Obiano recorded a landslide victory in the governorship election, winning all 21 local government areas of the state.
Declaring the result in Awka on Sunday, the Returning Officer, Prof. Zana Akpagu, said Obiano polled 234, 071 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Tony Nwoye of All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 98, 752 votes.
The PDP candidate Mr Oseloka Obaze trailed behind in third place with 70,293 votes.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Dr Ukwachukwu Orji, commended the people of the state for exhibiting good behaviour, saying “no bloodshed was recorded”.
