We have to win Anambra gov’ship — Okorie

The National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has urged the people of Anambra State to vote massively for the party in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

He described election as “political war,” which would not be fought with gun but with voters’ card, and urged the party faithful to be ready for the battle through the instrumentality of their cards.

Addressing a mammoth crowd at the weekend, in Amorka in Ihiala Local Government of the state, during the flag off of the party’s campaign, Okorie said the party could not afford to lose the election, as anything short of winning the poll would be akin to losing another war.

He said the choice of Amorka as the venue for the event was informed by its historic significance, being the location where the aircraft that supplied relief materials to Biafrans landed.

“It was in Amorka that the Biafran warlord, Chief Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, took off to Ivory Coast in search for peace. The same plane has landed in Amorka and has brought peace to Anambra.

“History is being made again as we stage this rally today to remember Amorka which has since been forgotten since war ended,” he said.

Okorie, who officially handed over the flag of the party to the governorship candidate and his deputy, said, “Anambra demanded for a young man, we present to you the young man, upright man, presidential material for the governor.”

In his speech, the party flagbearer and the former Aviation Minister, Chief Osita Chidoka, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to lift the proscription order on the Indigenous People of Biafra, describing it “as presumptuous and unnecessary.”

He maintained that the average Igbo man had no trace of terrorism in their history, saying they have always actively participated in the Nigerian project.

If elected governor, the former FRSC corps marshal pledged to secure a new state for the South East to bridge the disparity the zone faced.