From Jude Chinedu and Chidubem Ikechukwu
The gubernatorial candidate of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in Enugu State, Chief Chris Agu, has revealed why he dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) a few months after he declared his intention to vie for governorship position under the party.
Chief Agu who was a controller at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria had resigned from the establishment to contest the seat under the APC but surprisingly dumped the party and emerged as gubernatorial candidate.
In this interview, Chief Agu reveals why he dumped the main opposition party in the state and his plans to develop Enugu State.
Why did you leave APC after declaring your intention to vie for the gubernatorial seat under the party?
Yes, I left APC. After my declaration, I wrote them a letter of resignation. Part of what I saw that made me abandon APC was that I discovered that APC in Enugu State is being controlled by the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma through some cronies here in Enugu.
Also, I discovered that people of integrity like former governor Sullivan Chime, Senator Ayogu-Eze, the DG of VON, Osita Okechukwu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Legal Reform, Juliet Ibekaku and other responsible Enugu indigenes have been sidelined.
These were the people I saw in APC that made me say ok, based on this fact, let me join this party because I have seen men of integrity. I discovered that these people have been shortchanged; they are not even part of what is happening in APC in Enugu now.
Again, they fixed their price for N50 million to purchase the governorship form. I asked myself, yes I want to liberate Enugu State from the bondage they found themselves in, must I pay N50 million to do that? If I pay N50 million, then I am going to recover my money. Now, many people were eager to pay this N50 million for me but the conditions mentioned are not fit for me.
I said it in my letter of resignation that I am not prepared to sign any document with anybody or to enter into oath taking because I want to liberate my people. I would not want to enter into another bondage whereas my people are trying to come out of the bondage of PDP that has bedeviled and destroyed the state.
So, based on these facts, I said ok, and asked them to give me some time to think about it. The next thing I submitted my letter of resignation through my ward chairman of ward 12. I can no longer be part of APC. There is nothing wrong with any political party; it is the people that are in the party that have problems. I mentioned some of it when I spoke to you people some time ago that we have vultures and hawks in all the parties but if you allow them to manifest negatively to the detriment of the people, then you know they have succeeded. So, I had to look for a sound political party.
So, what attracted you to the PRP?
I looked at their history and discovered that the party is the oldest surviving political party in the country. It was formed in 1979 by Malam Aminu Kano, Sam Ikoku from Arochukwu, the son of Alvan Ikoku, Chief Arthur Nwankwo, a writer and Chief Austin Ezenwa, the Agbalanze of Abagana. The veteran labour leader, late Pa Micheal Abudu was the first National Chairman of PRP and S.G Ikoku was the party’s first National Secretary. Many people don’t even know how PRP came about. It is a very national political party aimed at reforming and redeeming the good people of Nigeria from their tormentors.
Moreover, you know my mentor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, first civilian Governor of Kaduna State, managed this party till his demise two years ago. I was the senior special assistant to Balarabe Musa on domestic affairs for over 25 years. So, it was my transfer from Radio Nigeria Kaduna to Enugu here 2010 that made me not to be close with the PRP. But thank God, I have returned to my original party founded on truth. That is PRP for you. “The public interest first before personal interest” is the party’s slogan.
Do you think the scheming out or ostracization of these notable persons in APC will affect the fortunes of the party in the coming election?
It has affected the party because people like me have left the party. APC as far as I am concerned in Enugu State is tasteless, baseless and nobody can control Enugu State from another state.
You hear people like Senator Ken Nnamani lamenting that Hope Uzodimma is controlling APC in Enugu from his own state. Go and see Imo State and tell me whether it is a good place for you to say Imo governor come and control Enugu. We are too big a fish to be caught with a pen hook. God forbid bad things!
What should we hope for as you have rejoined the gubernatorial race? What are you coming to change?
In Enugu as I speak to you, there is no water and I don’t make promises that I know I can’t fulfill. I have investigated the problem. For your information, sometime in the month of December, I wrote a letter to the Governor of Enugu State under the auspices of the Civil Society Group, South East. We met with the man and told him that Enugu has spoiled. When he was growing up, there was water in Enugu but today, you cannot get water. He said yes, that he will look into it and I remember asking him, what are you looking into, your aides don’t tell you that there is no water in the state. He asked us to give him one week to look into it.
I also remember telling him that the people of Enugu State are in pain. One, the teachers are being short-changed. He told me that the problem of primary school teachers is left to the local government chairmen. That we should also ask all the local government chairmen in the state. That he doesn’t touch their money.
I now said Your Excellency, I didn’t ask you if you touch their money but you are the supervising officer. You can direct them and tell them to pay these teachers because teachers are the bedrock of every growth.
When I become Governor, I will implement a policy that will make teachers payment easy and I will take good care of the teachers because I was a teacher. I taught for 12 years in Kaduna State before joining radio Nigeria.
All the children including mine and other children under my government will immediately come back to public school because our education started having problems when those in authority refused sending their kids to public schools. I attended a public school. If the children of those commissioners and ministers are in public school, they won’t steal the money that belongs to the teachers.
I will also make sure there is water in Enugu. I have investigated the water situation in the state. So, I have worked out a plan to make water available in Enugu State. For the road network, apart from the roads constructed by Sullivan Chime, I don’t think there is any major road that the government of Enugu has done. I will make use of the road map for the development of Enugu State which I have studied. For security, the ban on Keke NAPEP will be lifted because some of those Keke people are civil servants who make more money at night when they do shuttle business. Many people, when they close from work, won’t have enough vehicles to go home at night.
We developed a security network programme but the government doesn’t want to implement it. We are going to take care of that and the security agencies in Enugu will be well paid and they must have security outfits in Enugu State. We have the philosophy on how to build a better Enugu State. We have the vision for the creation of Enugu State.
This government in Enugu State has turned everything upside down and today they still believe that people will vote according to party; they don’t know that hardship has made our people to open their eyes to see anybody that comes in any political party. So far that person will deliver, we will cast our vote for that person. It is no longer PDP as usual.
What are your plans concerning industrialization of Enugu State?
There are industries that have been closed down and these industries, it doesn’t require much to put them back in place. Look at the Hotel Presidential, Enugu that was built by Late. Dr. Michael Okpara, the former Premier of Eastern region. He built in Enugu and Port-Harcourt. If you go to Port-Harcourt, their own is booming but here in Enugu they have killed and programmed to sell it.
I wrote sometime in one of the dailies that no one should buy it because we are coming on board. I didn’t even know I would contest for governor then. I am going to put Hotel Presidential in place. We also have a vegetable refinery in Nacho which has been abandoned after they set the place on fire. We also have the Oye cashew industry. We are going to reactivate all these.
Only the Oye cashew industry is enough to take care of the whole Enugu. So anybody that is supporting me as the governor of Enugu State should bear it in mind that I am not going to share money. So if you like, give me financial support but I won’t share money. But there will be jobs and contracts.
Look at Anambra State, they didn’t receive grants from the Federal Government in order to pay the pensioners. The pensioners in Enugu State have not received pensions since 2015. We are coming to change all these and right every wrong in Enugu State.