Former executive vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Chief Ernest Ndukwe, one of the nation’s most respected telecom technocrats has thrown his hat into the political ring.

Having joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, recently, Ndukwe has opted to further deepen his public service record by contesting for a seat in the Senate on the platform of APGA.

The nation’s former telecoms regulator yesterday formally picked APGA’s nomination forms for Anambra South Senatorial District.

Ndukwe, a relative newcomer into politics, from Oraifite in Ekwusigo LGA, will be contesting the seat with some battle-tested politicians including incumbent, Dr Andy Uba, who was former senior special assistant to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo before becoming governor of Anambra State for 17 days.

Other contestants Ndukwe will be slugging it out with are Dr Okey Udeh, a former deputy governor of the state while Dr Chris Ngige was governor, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu of the ruling PDP, and Maja Umeh, also of APGA.

But Ndukwe is joining the race with a rich pedigree of service excellence from both the private and public sectors.

Nigeria’s telecoms revolution took off and consolidated under his watch as executive vice-chairman of NCC, overseeing the growth of telephony in the country from a mere 400,000 lines in 2001 to nearly 90 million by the time he left.

Many Nigerians, especially those in telecoms and allied businesses feel that someone like Ernest Ndukwe in the hallowed chambers of the Senate will increase the confidence of Nigerians in the upper legislative house.