The endorsement of governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the November 6, 2021 election, Akachukwu Nwankpo, by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is jolting opposition parties in the state.
The former President endorsed his one-time aide, who is running on the platform of ADC, saying Nwankpo is the type of self-contented governor without political baggage the state deserves.
Jonathan, who spoke when the governorship candidate of ADC visited him, said that Nwankpo is fit and proper and has all the qualities that a governor requires to govern a state.
“From the little I know him, Nwankpo is not a thief and he is not greedy. I know some governors who are greedy and go after public funds. Such governors tend to cut corners or misappropriate money in their care in the course of award of contracts, among others,” he asserted.
However, the endorsement, according to investigation by The Guardian, is jolting other parties that see Nwankpo not only as a candidate without political baggage, but also as a contestant who emerged through a seamless primary and without a court case.
The National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, in his reaction, said that the party remains the only credible alternative political party in Anambra State.
“African Democratic Congress ADC is on a mission to rescue Anambra State from the clutch of godfatherism, end political slavery, and give back the voice to the people. The new Anambra begins with you. Join hands with ADC and let’s make Anambra the Ijele of Africa,” he said.
Nwosu said that the superiority of the will of the people over the power of incumbency would be clearly demonstrated in the upcoming gubernatorial election on November 6, 2021.
ALSO, the State Secretary of ADC, Anthony Aniebue, said political propaganda had led the state into the mess of hopelessness, pointing that “Nwankpo has, going through his antecedents with Goodluck Jonathan while in office, convinces him of a better choice than other candidates.”
MEANWHILE, the ADC deputy governorship candidate, Pastor Law Ughamadu, has rejected tempting offers by some parties backed by billionaires to decamp from the party ahead of the election.
Ughamadu admitted receiving overtures and pressures to defect but said he was not moving anywhere.
He cited principles of loyalty and steadfastness, which was formed from childhood as his reasons.
Ughamadu, a renowned pastor of Dominion City Church, who is believed to have been anointed by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) bloc of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), equally wields enormous popularity among the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
A source that pleaded anonymity observed that Ughamadu’s records as a spirited speaks volumes, a virtue, he noted, has attracted so much attention across the state.
He stressed that Ughamadu refused to accept the invitation despite its coming with very attractive terms and conditions due to his principled character, adding: “Loyalty and principles, to him, come before everything, and that’s why he is still sticking in.