The governorship candidates of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah and his counterpart in the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr Frank Nweke Jnr, have presented their manifestos to the people of the state with a promise to make the state attractive to investors. They also vowed to end the perennial water crisis in the state if they were elected as governor in 2023.
The duo, who unveiled their manifestos for the development of the state, also promised to concentrate on human capital and infrastructural development as key steps to growing the economy of the state.
Nweke Jnr, who is former information and communications minister, said his administration would restore trust in the government and block all leakages in expenditure. He said: “My team and I will restore trust in government and dedicate ourselves to the fundamentals – building a stable and prosperous state where every citizen is economically empowered, has access to potable water, excellent healthcare and quality education, a place where every life is secure and treated with respect and dignity.”
The former minister said his plan would ignite the Coal City state to live up to its expectation as the hub of the defunct Eastern Region. To achieve adequate water supply, he said that he would unbundle the state water corporation into three parts that include production, treatment and reticulation and that it would not augur well to entrust the provision of water on only one body.
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The PDP governorship candidate, Peter Mbah declared his determination to replicate modern facilities, new infrastructures and meaningful lifestyles often associated with the developed societies in Enugu State, if he becomes governor next year. He said the provision of water would be one of the priority projects of his administration.
His words: “The challenges posed by the scarcity of potable water have received the attention of the present state government. Because of the importance of water to life, we will embark on an aggressive campaign to provide water to our city and rural dwellers. We will seek the collaboration of experts to tackle once and for all the water issues in our state.
“The water resource sector has three arms; upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream has to do with the water supply. The midstream focuses on how pipelines convey water from source to storage. We understand that this needs a sufficient power supply to function effectively.
“The downstream will require us to replace the faulty pipes to address the challenges there. We will set up boreholes in the rural areas. The proximity between the boreholes and the residents’ houses will not exceed five minutes’ walk. Enugu State has the capacity to produce 130,000 cubits of water and this would be enough for Ndi Enugu. We plan to aggressively bring in private sector investment to revive the water sector, by addressing the mechanical and electrical concerns.”
Mbah, who said he was on a mission “to deliver quality, people-focused governance by making Enugu the preferred destination for investment, business, tourism and living”, declared that his vision was “to make Enugu one of the top three states in Nigeria in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and achieve a zero per cent rate in the poverty headcount index.”
He explained that these would entail moving the state’s GDP from the current $4.4 billion to at least $30 billion in the next eight years. To actualize these, the PDP candidate said that he has already fashioned out well-researched, robust, dynamic and strategic programmes and policies that will enhance inclusive economic development and sustainable prosperity for all citizens of the state.