An aspirant, Mr. Egbe Emmanuel Ekoro has declared to contest for the chairmanship election under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State in 2020.

Egbe, who declared his interest to run for the chairmanship post at a briefing held in Abuja, titled “My contract with Abi” said he would return the local government to a better position if he emerged the candidate of the party and wins the chairmanship election.

While rolling out his five-point agenda, he commended the former chairmen of Abi local government, who made laudable achievements and impact in building the local government and taken the LGA to the highest level in governance.

“My dear good people of Abi. I feel highly privileged and to stand before you all today to publicly declare my intention to serve you as chief steward of Abi local government area in 2020. I am very much aware of the enormity of work to be done in order to place our dear LGA which has produced so many first and bright minds in the spheres of education, civil service, military, literature, health, politics, entrepreneurship, sports, administration among others.

On education, Egbe said that he would introduce free and compulsory primary and secondary education in the local government to enable the less privileged to go to school.

“My administration will make quality education its top priority as designated as in the fourth goal of SDGs.We will make sure that there are adequate facilities and an enabling environment to assist pupils and students in their studies. School rehabilitation, recruitment of qualified teachers will be one of our core Pringles of good governance, ” Egbe stated.

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He also said that he would create jobs, “We have an economic plan for Abi, a plan to help small businesses grow and create job growth. Small and medium enterprises employ almost half of the national workforce, by unshackling the SME sector we will unleash the potential of small businesses to grow and create more jobs.

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While on security Egbe added: “we will support and empower the police and special local vigilantes to ensure that law and order are maintained in the LGA at all times.

Egbe, who also emphasize on improving access and innovations in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the local government promised to make sure that  ICT is introduced to the people irrespective of their gender, age. He further observed that the world is becoming a global village and thus the need for the people of Abi to have knowledge about information technology.

He promised Abi a holistic health care system that will be accessible, affordable and effective and drastically at a reduced cost. Egbe pledged to accord priority to the health sector, which is crucial for securing the economy.

Said he:” The overarching goal of healthcare will be to provide health assurance to all Abi sons and daughters and with the help of the state government. We will call for radical reforms in the healthcare system with regards to national healthcare programmes and delivery, medical education and training and financing of healthcare.”

He also revealed that his administration ail lay emphasis on the agriculture sector, stating that ”agriculture is the engine of every nation’s economic growth and the largest employer, and we commit the highest priority to agricultural growth, increase in farmer’s income and rural development.”.

The chairmanship aspirant said he will set up a food processing industry that will boost the income of farmers and create jobs, ”we aim to set up ‘agro-food processing clusters’ with high value, export-quality, and vacuum-packed food processing facilities.”