By Chuks Ehirim
Assistant Editor, North
Both Orji Uzor Kalu and Victor Umeh have been endorsed by the South East Revival Group (SERG) in the Senate ballot reruns in Abia and Anambra.
Kalu, former Abia governor, is contesting for Abia North under the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).
Umeh, former All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), is vying for Anambra Central.
SERG Coordinator, Willy Ezugwu, explained in Enugu that both men are the only ones who have actively pursued the interest of the Igbo among all the candidates.
He said Umeh and Kalu “have demonstrated that they will go “beyond the tokenism of constituency projects when they get to the Senate since they have earlier demonstrated the power of ideas and capacity to mobilise the people for a common cause.
“Umeh has consistently demonstrated his commitment to the Igbo cause as he sacrificed his comfort and opportunities for material gain to develop APGA as a platform that has the interest of the South East at heart.
“He had several opportunities to sell out his people but never did but instead continually demanded accountability and good governance at the grassroots level being the most relevant tier of government to the people.
“On his part, Orji Kalu has a wealth of experience that he has repeatedly placed at the disposal of the people whom he has served dedicatedly even in the face of persecution in some instances.
“He has in the past successfully articulated a workable blueprint on how to industrialise not just the South East but the entire Nigeria.
“These are qualities the Senate desperately needs.
“Unfortunately, SERG cannot say half of this for the other candidates who are likely to become ‘Abuja senators’ should the electorate in the two districts make the mistake of electing them.
“Representation in the National Assembly is about the constituents and must never be left in the hands of people who have a track record of having no understanding of what the South East or their constituents need.”
SERG urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to allow a repeat of the electoral fraud that necessitated the reruns.
“The freeness, fairness and acceptability of the senatorial reruns in Anambra Central and Abia North will go on to form part of the dossier of the current INEC leadership and will thus define the extent of trust Nigerians will have in the electoral umpire in the next general elections.”
SERG also warned the security agencies not to allow themselves to be used for partisan purposes because there will always be reckoning at some point in the future.
