By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka—THE national chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, has said that only serious-minded people were good for the next Nigerian senate.

According to him, the senate is where the resolutions of the national conference will be debated for implementation by the President.

Addressing officials of Anambra State wing of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, from the 21 local government areas of Anambra State in Awka, who adopted him as their preferred candidate for Anambra Central senatorial zone, Umeh said having been part of the recommendations of the confab resolutions, he knew exactly the importance of going to the National Assembly as an Igbo senator.

According to him, some of the recommendations that are of Igbo interest include the creation of an additional state for the South East geo-political zone and the removal of the local government as a federating unit.

He informed the NULGE officials that Igbo was badly marginalized in the present system where the South East had only 95 local governments, while Kano and Jigawa have almost the same number..

Umeh observed that virtually every ruler of the country before 2007 was a soldier that fought against the Igbo during the civil war, adding that for that reason, most policies were skewed against Ndigbo. He expressed the hope that the outcome of the national conference would address the injustices meted out to Ndigbo over the years.

The APGA national chairman predicted that the Igbo would once more take their pride of place in Nigeria, noting that true federal system was properly followed; the political fortunes of the Igbo would improve.

He said Igbo would no longer continue to watch the trend of events which started after the Nigerian civil war when, he noted, Igbo were consigned to minority in Nigeria and relegated to the background.

State president of NULGE, Comrade Jerry Nnubia, said the union looked at all the candidates for the senate and came to the conclusion that Umeh stood head above others, hence the decision to adopt him as its candidate.