Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Imo State, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has promised to create over 23,000 jobs in his first 100 days if elected.
Also, Anyanwu said he will give amnesty to agitating youths in Imo to checkmate insecurity in the state, just like the late former President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, did in the Niger Delta in 2009.
The decision by the President restored peace in the region and improved crude oil production.
Anyanwu, stated this while addressing Imo indigenes and Spare Parts Dealers in Port Harcourt on Friday.
He said, “The former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is my friend. He was part of the people who enabled my emergence as the National Secretary of the PDP.
“In the next few days, Imo State will wear a new look. Imo State will work. Go to Rivers State, you can see physical developmental infrastructure, Rivers State is an oil-producing state just like Imo State.
“But where are the infrastructures in Imo State from oil derivatives? Imo State gets an allocation of over N5 billion every month and there is nothing to show for it.
“Over 2,000 youths have been killed in Imo State, in Orsu LGA, Oru East LGA young men are being killed every day in the name of IPOB and ESN. Every young boy is been killed there and tagged IPOB and ESN.
“From January 15 when I am sworn in, I will live in Imo State to solve the problem of tge state. Within six months, I will conduct the LGA election, people will be employed.
“I will give amnesty to our brothers in the bush, I will dialogue with them and reintegrate them into the society. That is what the late Yar’adua did in the Niger Delta. You don’t use bombings to fight crime, you use dialogue and peace.”
Anyanwu who is the incumbent National Secretary of the PDP, lamented that local government election has not been conducted in Imo State for the past eight years. No employment for the people.”
While noting that 2009 was the last time medical doctors were employed in Imo, he said, “Those 10,000 civil servants that Ikedi Ohakim employed and were later sacked, I will re-employ them.
“We are going to train and re-trained our public school teachers and ensure that our public schools compete with private schools.
“Today we have less than 30 doctors in Imo State. I will take care of the primary health centres, I will employ doctors. No community in Imo doesn’t have at least one doctor, but because there has been no employment, many of them have gone abroad.
He decried the insecurity in Imo State, saying Information and Communication Technology hubs will be set up to encourage people to set up businesses at home.
“And when you bring your business home, I am assuring you that there will be no multiple taxation and there will be security.
“Before now, at weekends all the hotels in Imo State used to be booked. But today, once it’s 6 pm nobody comes into the state again, either from Anambra, Enugu, Abia or Port Harcourt.
“Today 40 percent of hotels in Imo State are up for sale. All the people who were employed in these hotels and eateries have been sacked. A hungry man is an angry man.”
He said there will be no rigging in the coming poll, saying, “If they are popular, let them allow a free and fair election. I am going to win them under a free and fair election.
While pledging to invest in Agriculture, the PDP governorship hopeful said, “Imo has a very fertile land to cultivate both food crops and cash crops.”
In his remarks, the National President of Ikoku Spare Parts Dealers, Mr Festus Onyekwe, assured that the body will mobilise massively to vote for the PDP candidate next Saturday.
Onyekwe said, “We are going to vote for Sam Anyanwu. From Thursday, buses will be available to take people home (Imo).
“There is so much insecurity and killings in Imo State, and that is why we’re supporting him so that he can put an end to the endless killings because we are tired.
“We also going to mobilise our people at home to ensure the vote out insecurity next Saturday.”
On his part, the Igbo Youth Leader in Rivers State, Mr Charles Ibekwe, assured Igbo youths of electing the governorship candidate next Saturday.
