Anambra polls: Obaze preaches peace, democracy

Mr Oseloka Obaze, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Nov.18 governorship election in Anambra has restated his total commitment to a peaceful election.

Obaze said this on Thursday in an interview with our reporter in Awka.

He said he made himself available to be the chief servant of the state in order to offer his wealthy of experience for the development and well being of the entire people of the state.

Obaze said that he desired to transform the state in its entirety for it to have ”a semblance of what is seen in Western world.”

The governorship, however, stressed that he was not desperate to achieve his mandate in a cruel manner, adding that ‘’politics is not a do-or-die affair.’’

Obaze said the society would suffer if democratic processes were allowed to degenerate into violence.

“I need your votes so that we can embark on the process of re-building Anambra.

‘’Anambra deserves better things, presently, it is badly broken, we need to fix it,” he said.

He, however, advised electorate against hate speech, mudslinging and violence.

‘’It does not augur well for us to engage in any form of violence. Democracy is a peaceful process; politics is not a do or die affair.

“This is a democratic process and I am totally committed to playing the game by the rules. I have also committed myself to honouring the results of the election.

“If at the end of the day, the voters in their wisdom decide to cast their votes in favour of any of my co-contestants, including the incumbent, I will congratulate the winner and move on.

‘’On the other hand, if I win I hope the other candidates will treat me with that same attitude of sportsmanship.

‘’To me, it is not a do or die affair. I’m in this because I sincerely believe that Anambra deserves better than it currently gets, but the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the electorate.”

He reminded the electorate that he had served the state as the Secretary to the State Government, adding that his records spoke for him while serving in that capacity.

Obaze said that he was in the race of governorship because he had better policies that would yield fast development results.

“We must prioritise education and human capital development of our people. That is the only way we can thrive in this highly competitive 21st century global marketplace.

‘’To that effect, I’m proposing to devote 26 per cent of our budget to education as against the paltry 3 per cent it currently receives, if I win the election.

”The difference between what I’m offering the voters in Anambra and what other candidates are offering them is manifestly clear.

‘’Moreover, in the interest of rotational power shift, I have undertaken to serve for only one term and no more, if given the mandate.”