2023 Presidency: What Amaechi Told Hope Uzodinma, South East Party Delegates
As the consultations and interactions with stakeholders ahead of the 2023 general elections continues to gather momentum, current Minister of Transportation, and former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has met with the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma over his presidential bid.
Amaechi, a presidential aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), also met with his party delegates from the five South Eastern states to seek their support and votes during the the APC presidential primaries.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi Media Office said the consultation visit, hosted by Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, at the APC Secretariat in Owerri on Tuesday, had party chairmen, state executives, local government executives and delegates from Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states.
The former Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Amaechi, pledged that if given the opportunity, his experience in dealing with insecurity as governor of Rivers State, will count in tackling the same in the country.
He said, “If you ask ‘why will they support us?’ I’m a young man, a bridge between the young and the old, a son of the soil, and I am approachable.
“I may be one of the youngest, but I’m the most experienced. As governor of Rivers State, what you’re currently facing here now, I faced in Port Harcourt, and I dealt with it and overcame it. Be rest assured that if we are given this power, we will overcome this crisis by God’s grace.”
While clarifying that he is not a sectional but a Nigerian candidate, Amaechi recounted his recommendations for appointments as being spread out to different parts of the country.
He added, “And when I was given those recommendations, I never thought I would go for presidential consultations. I just felt there was a need for balancing because we are Nigerians, and if you see my team, it’s made of nearly every zone in the country.
“Give me this opportunity and you will see the difference. Trust me. Once you give me this opportunity, I will be sincere to you and to everybody.
“We will do our best to make sure that the Igbos are protected, the Yourubas will be protected, the Hausa/Fulani will be protected, everybody will be protected.”
The Transportation Minister also assured the people that the ongoing reconstruction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Rail Line would have been completed up to Enugu before the end of the year, adding that he included Owerri in the plan, which was not part of the old line.
He further thanked Governor Uzodinma for his support and for bringing the South-East delegates together.
“No presidential aspirant will win the primary election or the general elections without the support of the governors, so we are not taking your (Uzodimma) support for granted.
“This is my introduction. We will come back again to see you, to plead with you, to plead with the party in the whole of South-East, the chairmen, the national and zonal officers to support us,” Amaechi said.
On his part, Governor Uzodinma assured Amaechi that the South-East stands united to ensure that the APC wins the 2023 presidential election.
He said, “You will come again by the grace of God, either as an aspirant or as a candidate. One strong message I want to give is that there is a new spirit in the South-East for our great party, we have done all the necessary political engineering. APC in the South-East is united. South- East APC is one.”
“We have two governors of APC in the South-East. You must have also heard that our second Governor (David Umahi of Ebonyi State) has also declared interest to be president. But this is a contest between a brother and a brother, and when we enter the bedroom, we will resolve it.
“We are determined to win. The message we are sending to Nigerians, both members of our party, both those who are not of our party, is that the most important thing for our dear party APC is win-ability. We want to win. Why? Because we are already doing well”, Governor Hope Uzodinma said.
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