By Elizabeth Uwandu

Umuahia—Mr Ben Onyechere, a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain and former Special Assistant to Dr. Alex Ekwueme has said that Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is committed to conducting local government elections in the state.

According to him, there is need to disabuse any odd assumption about the forthcoming election in Abia which is the reason it is important to restate that the governor’s declaration of his intention to conduct election in local governments is a serious commitment to the entirety of Abia as part of his cardinal responsibility in providing responsiveness to the yearnings of the electorate.

His words: “It is a demonstration of his policy to provide a missing link between the rural and urban populace.

“The governor recognizes the cogent need to develop the rural economy which in effect will mitigate rural-urban migration as much as it could enhance living standards.

“The policy of agricultural revolution cannot be separated from ongoing massive reconstruction of urban and inland roads of the state so as to add value to agricultural produce which in turn will improve living standards of rural dwellers.

“It is pertinent here to re emphasize that the governor’s bond with the people to re-orientate their values and aspirations will be driven to fruition without let or hitch.”
Abia state is known to have the highest concentration of cottage industries most of which are domiciled in the rural areas and as such the establishment of statutory local governments as driving force is inevitable.

It is common knowledge that larger percentage of abia population reside in the rural areas which is why governance must be brought closer to the people for effective correlation of development.