BY ABUCHI IFESINACHI, AWKA
The Chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Oliswarren Associate, Mr. Olisa Aniunoh has called on electorate to be wary of political scavengers and Maradonnas and avoid voting people with questionable characters into power during the 2015 general elections even as he warned against money politics.
The APGA stakeholder, who stated this while briefing newsmen in Awka when he led over 3000 supporters of his elder brother Honourable Patrick Aniunoh who was aspiring to represent Onitsha South l constituency at the Anambra State House of Assembly, to APGA State secretariat for the screening of candidates exercise, said the time has come for decent men to take up governmental positions and expressed the hope that his brother would come out of the screening unscathed.
Mr. Aniunoh, a renowned ICT consultant who described his elder brother as a man of proven integrity and sound moral, appealed to Onitsha South l constituents to vote massively for him if eventually emerged the party flag bearer.
Mr. Aniunoh who also the Vice Chairman of Phillip Smith security outfit said Hon. Patrick Aniunoh was a very successful businessman who had his houses and businesses in Fegge, comes from a respectable Catholic family background and was born and bred in his constituency.
In his own words, ' You must be sure you know who you are voting for. If you vote for someone that lives outside your community, the tendency for that person to go back to where they came from is high. They are coming to reap where they have not sown. So, he lives in fegge - Patterson street premises. We grew up there; raised from a very good Catholic background, our parents widely respected in the community.
You can't come to our street and ask for us twice. My mother still lives there and I don't believe he will go to the state house and forget that my mother's street needs to be built, or that some youths in fegge are suffering. I have worked with many youths and will not support anything that will not promote their well are, 'Oliswarren GMD said.
Earlier during an interaction with newsmen, the unassuming Hon. Patrick Aniunoh disclosed he had made periodic philanthropy towards people of his community his lifestyle. He revealed that six months earlier he had empowered 35 youths of his community with tricycles (keke Napep) and motorcycles.
He also said he intends to carry out the same exercise in a couple of weeks for another 50 members of his constituency this time including the female folks whom he will empower with hair dressing salon kits and power generating sets.
Speaking on why he chose APGA as his platform for contesting the election, Hon. Aniunoh proudly declared he loved the party for their transparency. He recounted how he spent 3-4 years in PDP without gaining anything good hence his decision to join APGA, noting that it had been fair weather all the way.
Hon.Patrick bemoaned the societal trend of allowing fraudsters to take up the helm of affairs in Nigeria and called on the Code of Conduct Bureau to wake up to their responsibility of properly screening individuals who express intention to serve the public so as to put a stop to this trend. Quoting him, 'if a criminal is allowed to take up the position of counsellorship, he has the chance of becoming president in the next 10 years or so. What becomes of a country when a criminal is allowed to become president?,' he said.
The business mogul, concluded that if he emerges winner, he would help pass laws in the state that will fast track the security project of the state government and equip the security personnel with gadgets that would facilitate their job.
He observed that his constituency, Onitsha South l, as cosmopolitan city was made up of people from all parts of the state and beyond and added that he plans on holding town hall meetings for them to sensitize them if given the mandate.
He observed that his constituency, Onitsha South l, as cosmopolitan city was made up of people from all parts of the state and beyond and added that he plans on holding town hall meetings for them to sensitize them if given the mandate.