TQM report,
Disability community in Anambra State has congratulated the Anambra State Governor- elect, Prof Chukwuma Soludo on his victory at the just concluded November 6 gubernatorial election.
The group while briefing journalists in Awka, the state capital on Wednesday, stated that the election was a true reflection of the minds of the electorates in the state.
Speaking through the Special Adviser to the Governor on Disability Matters, Barr. Chuks Ezewuzie, the group expressed delight at the emergence of Prof. Charles Soludo as the governor of the state and noted that his emergence would bring more development to the state.
“We in the disabilities community in Anambra State react to the victory of our dear party and we paid our dues through our campaigns and voting”, he said. He also lauded APGA’s decision to create Directorate of Disabilities Community, which, according to him, gave enough platform for the disability group to participate fully in the politics of the state.
“We have won the battle. To win a battle is to emerge victorious in an election. We got what we wanted. The battle would be won when Soludo and his deputy is sworn in and everybody is on board.
“We thank Ndi Anambra for the success of the election as well as say bravo to APGA for fielding the right candidate. The election showed that politics had come to maturity in the state. Things are different in Anambra State and the state’s electorates can never be taken by surprise again by the money bags.
“The disabilities community are celebrating the outcome of the election because the winner would continue to do what the current administration had started doing for the disability community in Anambra state”, he added.
According to them, the duo of Soludo and Ibezim possessed the connections, loyalty, competence and creativity to usher air of development to the people and also thanked Governor, Chief Willie Obiano for moving issues of persons with disabilities from charity to a thing of right in line with United Nation’s convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
They maintained that the introduction of the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), was a step in the right direction towards achieving free, fair and credible elections in the country, and encouraged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to work on the functionality of the machine to achieve more success in future elections in the country.
The group however advised candidates of other political parties who may have been nursing hope of challenging the election result at the tribunal to have a rethink, stating that such action would amount to creating political prejudice in the minds of the electorates.
“The court is the last hope of the common man. Any aggrieved person has the constitutional right to seek redress in court in keeping with the legal principle of Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium (For every wrong,the law provides a remedy).
“A candidate who challenges a free and fair election in the court is engaging in litigation tinctured with frivolity. Challenging a popular mandate amounts to putting a death nail on the coffin of the candidate’s political ambition because the electorates will remember it in the next election.”
Contributing, Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and member of the Anambra State Capital Expenditure Bilateral Discussion Committee, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke, said persons with disabilities played active roles in the election because of the achievements of the outgoing governor on the disability community in the state.
“We don’t want to go backward from what our people have been enjoying in the state and that is why we voted massively for the continuation of APGA administration. We believed that the incoming governor will borrow a leaf from governor Obiano in not only ensuring inclusive governance but make the government accessible to persons with disabilities,” he remarked.
