Ekere
Laud NDDC boss over Ikot Akpaden-Okorette road completion
Christian Youths Leaders Assembly in Akwa Ibom State at the weekend endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 presidential election.They also endorsed the managing director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere, for governorship of the state.
Buhari and Ekere, both All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, were presented with symbolic keys to State House and Government House, Uyo, during a solemn assembly attended by members of the organisation drawn from 329 wards and 2,273 villages in the state at Uyo Township Stadium.
Accepting the endorsement, President Buhari, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly (Senate) Matters, Senator Ita Enang, appreciated the youths and urged them to take advantage of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill, which he recently signed into law, to participate more actively in politics.He said his government was addressing the security challenges in the country, which have wrongly been given religious colouration, assuring that he would not do anything to make one religion look superior to others.
President Buhari said he was adopting all proper measures to free Leah Sharibu, the Christian girl still in Boko Haram captivity.In his speech, Ekere commended the youths for choosing a different path from some Christian leaders in the state.
“Today, you have redeemed Christianity. Before I came here, I heard all sorts of stories about Christian leaders turning themselves into a political organisation and going from church to church, preaching hate. Christianity teaches us that we should love one another. I think it is not Christianity for a father to choose a child over another. The Spirit of God will go with us and will be our enabler, our strength,” he said.
The governorship aspirant lauded Buhari for fighting the ills of Nigeria and putting the country on the path of progress.Chief Don Etiebet, the Akwa Ibom State leader and caucus chairman of the APC, thanked the youths for the endorsement of Buhari who, he said, loves all Nigerians including Akwa Ibom people.He also appreciated the endorsement of Ekere to run for the governorship of Akwa Ibom on the APC ticket.
Former senate minority leader, Godswill Akpabio, who was honoured as the grand patron of the organisation, criticised the politicisation of religion.Meanwhile, youths of Eastern Obolo, an Ijaw-speaking Local Council in Akwa Ibom State, have commended Ekere for the completing the Ikot Akpaden-Okoroette Road, which is the only access road to their area.
The youths, coming on the platform of ONE Sure Project and drawn from all 10 wards of Eastern Obolo, made the commendation during a solidarity visit to Ekere at his residence in Uyo at the weekend.The leader of the group, Mr. Ama Williams, who spoke on behalf of the youths, also appreciated the NDDC boss for the ongoing construction of the Okoroette-Amadaka Road, internal roads in Okoroette, the local council headquarters, and Iko town as well as Okoroette Health Centre.
They urged him to contest the 2019 gubernatorial election in Akwa Ibom State, promising him total support in Eastern Obolo as grassroots’ mobilisers in the creeks. “This is an opportunity we don’t want you to miss,” Williams said.Responding, Ekere disclosed that more projects were allocated for Eastern Obolo in the 2018 NDDC budget in recognition of its importance as a major oil-producing area and to redress the neglect by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in the state.
“We will triple all the projects we are doing in Eastern Obolo,” he promised.Present during the visit were the member representing Essien Udim State Constituency in the House of Assembly, Nse Ntuen; the immediate past Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, Ibanga Akpabio and the State Welfare Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Sunny Ibanga.
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