Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that Anambra State has a special place in President Muhammadu Buhari’s heart.
The vice president said this at an All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders meeting in Awka, the state capital, on Friday.
He said the victory of President Buhari at the last general election, nomination of persons from Anambra State into the cabinet and the execution of “important” projects in the south-east is ushering a new beginning for the region.
According to him, the president has demonstrated enough commitment to support the development of the south-east and Anambra in particular.
In the words of the vice president, “In 2015, people were saying don’t join APC, it is a northern party or south-west party. So, some were not convinced that they should belong. It is time for a new beginning; it is time for a new vision, it is time for a new direction,” he said.
“I believe strongly that Anambra has a special place in Mr President’s heart. First, in his political career, the first two times he ran for president, his vice-presidential nominees were from this state – Senator Dr. Chuba Okadigbo (from Ekwueme Ogbunike) and Barr. Edwin Ume-Ezeoke (Amichi).
“Aside from that, I am glad that the chairman of our party has already noted that the president has ensured that he has not failed to appoint Anambra indigenes and to do projects. The Second Niger Bridge, Zik Mausoleum, (contract originally awarded 1996, completed and commissioned by Buhari administration).
“The 18km stretch of Onitsha-Awka road, ongoing Onitsha-Enugu Expressway (Sukuk-funded), electrification project at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (making the campus one of the first Nigerian Universities to be given its own independent power supply provided by the Federal Government).
“Anambra State is, today, one of the seven states that has two ministers in the present cabinet. In the Social Investment Programme – under the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, the number of school pupils currently being fed is put at 119,760 in 869 schools while 1,045 cooks have been engaged.”
Osinbajo said the social investment programmes (SIPs), especially the N-Power programme, “are not executed along party lines.”
“It is for Nigerians irrespective of which party you belong, under the N-Power, candidates have to fill the form online, you do not need to belong to our party,” he said.
“Under the N-Power scheme, Anambra has 16,348 beneficiaries while under the TraderMoni loan scheme, 30,774 loans have been disbursed. Under MarketMoni 4,340 persons have benefitted, while 7,207 have been paid under the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.
“I am here to open a fresh chapter. Life is dynamic. Things are moving on every day. Standing still or not moving is not an option.
“Anyone or group that fails to move in a dynamic environment will find that you are actually going backwards. Anambra state must move on.”
