Igbos resident in all parts of Nigeria have been urged to vote for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in next year’s general election in appreciation of his kind gesture to the race.
A former APC senatorial aspirant for Abia North, Prof Philips Nto made the clarion call on Thursday in a keynote address he delivered at the inauguration of the Presidential Campaign Council in Abia state.
He said in spite of the fact that Tinubu didn’t get an an appreciable number of votes from the South East in the last election, the president still went ahead to offer plum appointments to sons and daughters of region.
According to Prof Nto who is a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Abia State, for the first time in eight years, an Igboman was appointed a service chief and another the Minister of works.
He said the president granted the wish of Ndigbo by establishing the South East Development Commission as a means of rebuilding the collapsed infrastructure and economic structures in the region damaged during the civil war.
He said the president has demonstrated his readiness to continue to work with all parts of Nigeria through his inclusive governance model.
” The least we owe such a man who has shown us an unprecedented degree of love and accommodation is to return him to office,” he declared.
The former Provost of Abia State College of Education, Technical, Arochukwu further argued that Tinubu has accelerated the rebuilding of broken down infrastructure in the southeast including roads and bridges.
He said at the national level, the president has through his fiscal reforms strengthened the economic and empowered the states with more money for developmental projects.
Prof Nto noted that the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu has not only brought in more money to the country but totally curbed smuggling of petroleum products into neighbouring countries as well as abrogated scarcity of the products.
He said the money has also been channelled towards the development of critical sectors like health and education with the establishment of the education loans for students.
The former Abia Finance Commissioner commended the president for the bold reforms he initiated which has also ensured that the currency is firming up against other foreign currencies.
Coming down to Abia state, Nto pointed to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu as the greatest legacy the president has given to the state.
Prof Nto said Ben Kalu has rebuilt APC in Abia state by uniting the people and attracting the cream of the Abia society to the party.
He also credited the Deputy Speaker for attracting appointments and quality projects to Abia, including a university and a college of education.
The Former Senatorial Aspirant made it clear that with Kalu as the leader of APC in Abia state, the party will post a commendable performance during the election next year.
