The ACCORD Candidate for Abia 2023 Governorship election, Bishop Dr. Emeka Michael Nwankpa, has called on all the contestants for the position of number one citizen in Abia State to be objective and focus on only matters that will contribute to the growth and progress of the State without bitterness and rancor as that will be the only way to make sure that Abia state is refocused and her people offered better chances to emerge from the ashes of many years of instituted maladministration that has kept her in retrogression.

The clergyman, a senior pastor at Chapel of Faith International Bible Ministry, spoke on the BBC Igbo debate program where the candidates of the Abia gubernatorial race were allowed to sell their manifesto to the electorates. He did justice to his great plans centered on education, infrastructure, empowerment, health care, Agricultural Revolution, Security, industrialization, Tourism, Social Welfare, etc as the solution to the many challenges facing the well-blessed state.

Bishop Nwankpa also expressed shock at the death of the PDP Flag Bearer, Prof Ikonne whose demise he described as a terrible loss to the state, consoling the family at a trying time like this. He reiterated his call before the demise of the erudite scholar, that no politician should play politics with any opponents’ health, and maintained that if all the contestants like him were in the race to seek a better future for Abia citizens, then everyone should be circumspect in their pursuit and quest for power.

“We must eschew bitterness and make our political pursuit as issue-based as possible. No candidate has the right to stir the polity to score cheap political goals. Let our objectives be centered on offering workable options that will be backed by actions that will guarantee an alternative approach to find lasting solutions for Abia State.

“We must take this contest beyond entitlement mentality and crowd syndrome where competence is sacrificed on the alter of mediocrity to massage the ego of few elites at the expense of the masses. That time should be in the past, far behind us. Any serious contestant should be able to focus on telling Abians what he can offer as an individual so that he can be held responsible if fails.

“I am contesting as a concerned Abian who is no longer comfortable with the state of Abia, I am seeking to save her and I am banking on my words and ability to effect change. I am telling Abians to hold me to my word after 4 years, that is what I call an issue-based campaign, identifying the challenges and offering an answer that will solve them. Any candidate that is not ready for that should step aside. Enough is enough”, he said.

Meanwhile, the calculative and strategic contender has set aside 11th February 2023 as his campaign flag-off date after he had, in the penultimate week, unveiled his “ASSURED” campaign team for Abia Redemption.