In her bid to represent the voice of her people from Anambra state, former information and communications minister have told the people of her constituency never to recall her back from the senate but to agitate for her resignation if she fails to deliver the peoples mandate when she get to the hallow chamber. And for those who think former NAFDAC gaffer only joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to achieve her senatorial ambition, and would return to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) afterwards are wrong, Mrs Akunyili said yesterday in Awka.
After a meeting with traditional rulers to mark the end of her tour of her constituency, the former minister described APGA as a party of the future and one through which her people will realise their potentials.
Because of this, she said, there was no need for her to think of dumping the party especially when one of her purposes of joining it and running for senate was to help the state governor, Peter Obi in the good work he is doing.
“I came into APGA to help the governor. I’ve not discussed with any PDP member about switching over to the party after I’m elected as a senator,” Akunyili said.
She however said that since politics was dynamic, no one could foretell the future. “If anyone had told members of the defunct NRC and SDP then that the parties would not be in existence today, they would not have believed him, but today where are the parties?” she said.
She said what was paramount is for leaders to serve the people and that any action she would take in her political journey must be in consultation with the governor, the traditional rulers and her constituents.
Answering a traditional ruler who asked why she was contesting for the Senate when she is from the same town as the incumbent governor, the aspirant expressed her disappointment with such sentiments.
Why is mine different?
She said that when Chris Ngige was governor, Mike Ajaegbo (a senator) also came from the same zone as Ngige and nobody talked. After him she said the incumbent senator, Annie Okonkwo also emerged from the same zone as the governor.
“Why then should my own be different?” she said. “I cannot be influenced by such sentiments but will concentrate on delivering service to my people. That is what matters,” she said.
Mrs Akunyili expressed satisfaction with the response she got from her constituents during her maiden tour, which she described as unprecedented. “All the local government people are endorsing me. It’s very encouraging. They showered me with a lot of love and support. It’s actually unprecedented in this part of Nigeria,” she said.
During the two-day tour of her constituency, crowds of enthusiastic party supporters had cheered her at every turn, with the various local government executives pledging their support for her.
Support from chairmen
Indeed, any doubts as to where the loyalty of the party executives lay were set aside when she visited Njikoka local government chapter of the party. There the chairman, Paul Anaekwe, told her plainly that the party was committed to no other candidate but her.
“We in Njikoka believe in the best and you are the best and we shall support you. We are not committed to any other candidate but you.
We are making it categorically clear that it is you we support,” Mr Anaekwe said.
Similar assurances were given in Dunukofia, Anaocha, and Awka North and South, and Idemili North and South local government chapters of the party where she visited.
But Mrs Akunyili told party supporters that her ambition to represent them at the Senate was not a do or die affair. “I’m not aiming to win at all costs. This is why I have come to you to ask your support for me to represent you in the senate,” she said.
“As soon as I get into the Senate I will hit the ground running. I’m touched by the poor quality of life in the villages where I have also lived,” she said.
She said she had always been given appointments, but now wanted her people to send her to serve them.
“I will not go to the Senate unless you agree. I’m not going there for myself. I will make sure you get the type of representation you have never had before and at every turn I will tell the world that you sent me.” She also promised to hold regular town hall meetings to acquaint the people with developments in the Senate.
She said the people can ask for her resignation if within one year in the Senate she fails to bring clear changes. “Don’t recall me because that is a long process; just ask me to resign,” Akunyili told her constituents.
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