Members of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu made up of leaders and representatives of the Catholic Men Organisation (CMO), Catholic Women Organisation (CWO), Catholic Youths Organization of Nigeria (CYON), among others, otherwise known as the Catholic laity, from different parishes in the diocese, have converged on the state capital to declare their support and adopt the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Peter Mbah, as their preferred flagbearer ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The decision to support the candidacy of Dr. Mbah was disclosed on Wednesday at the Holy Cathedral at an interactive session which afforded hundreds of the Catholic leaders the opportunity to listen to the governorship hopeful and his agenda for the people of the state.
The members who expressed satisfaction with the impressive and robust manifesto exhaustively presented by the PDP gubernatorial flagbearer, lavished encomiums on him as a man with a generous heart who will fulfill God’s purposes for the state by championing the right moral values, lifting people out of poverty and catering for the general welfare of the citizens.
While adopting Dr. Mbah as their collective choice in the entire diocese, the Chairman of the CWO, Professor Okechukwu Adonai, the CWO Chair Lady, Mrs. Juliet Ani, youth leaders, Engr. Maxwell Okwudiri and Okonkwo Anthonia presented a gift of the Holy Bible to him as a symbol of authority to lead the state.
They further reiterated their unalloyed commitment to take the message of Mbah’s excellent manifesto to their various parishes and communities, promising to mobilize all eligible voters for his electoral victory at the March 2023 poll.
“We are promising you on behalf of our men, women, and youths that you are our collective project. We don’t have anywhere else to go. We commit you to the hands of our Mother Mary in this journey, which we have taken as our own,” they said.
Describing Mbah as a man with a generous heart who had been going about doing good, helping the needy and reaching out to the church, the Director of Politics/Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Very Rev. Dr. Donatus Onuigbo said the business mogul remains a dedicated Christian who has the fear of God, and who has been supporting the church long before thinking of vying for the position of governor.
“Barr. Mbah is a dedicated Christian well known across the state for his support for the church. He has been the pillar of the church in terms of his good works. Mbah has a generous heart and when our Bishop told us to be following him, it wasn’t borne out of selfishness because he has been kind to the church and people before his political aspiration,” the priest added.
On his part, Mbah expressed gratitude to the church for identifying with the cause to change the face of humanity, bring succour to the state, eradicate poverty, address the lingering national economic challenges and work for the sustainable peace of the state.
Dr. Mbah who highlighted his development plans for the people, insisted that thinking outside the box by creating alternative sources of revenues that would see the state being less dependent on the dwindling federal allocations was possible with the right persons, which, according to him, his candidacy fits into.
He further disclosed his integrated development programmes which will be driven by the private sector and moving the state current economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion in terms of the gross domestic product, saying that more employments will be created for the youths through special interventions in the agro-allied processing industry, mineral and energy resources sector, infusion of information and communication technology (ICT) in the education system, skills acquisition and vocational training centres and 100,000 billion naira revolving loans.
Mbah reiterated his resolve to launch industrial revolution through integrated sector based productivity by identifying a number of sectors that will boost the economy with the collaboration of the private sector, stressing that his administration will create an enabling and friendly environment that will be attractive to investors.
He promised that over 10,000 kilometers of road will be constructed in the state to bridge the rural urban dichotomy, allow farmers access to their farmlands and scale up production.
He equally re-emphasized his commitment to tackle water scarcity, address environmental issues, build a robust health system that will discourage medical tourism, and strengthen the state’s institutions through technology, digitalization and automation of public service delivery.