PWDs in Abia adopt Greg Ibe as guber candidate
By Steve Oko
Persons With Disabilities, PWDs, in Abia State, have adopted the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Greg Ibe, as their consensus candidate in the forthcoming March 18 poll.

The PWDs who made the declaration when they visited Ibe at his Campaign Office in Umuahia, described him as well equipped and prepared to reposition the state.
Speaking on behalf of the PWDs, the State Chairman of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, JONPAD, Comrade Wisdom Kalu, said Ibe had demonstrated capacity and competence to lead the state.
He noted that his great achievements in the private sector plus his robust economic blueprint compelled them to choose him above other contenders.
Comrade Kalu who assured him of the decision of PWDs in the state to canvass support for him, appealed to Abia voters to vote Ibe who he said had the vision to transform the state.
He, however, bemoaned the plight of PWDs in the face of the excruciating economic hardship occasioned by the Naira re-design policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
“We are the worst hit of the policy”, he yelled, saying that they hardly gain access to banks to cash their money.

According to him, some PWDs have sustained injuries while struggling to gain access to banks.
Kalu who said their members were passing through horrible times, also complained of exclusion of PWDs in the political space and policy making bodies in the state.
He, however, applauded Professor Ibe for his continuous empathy and support to PWDs and less privileged in the state.
He recalled how the APGA governorship flag bearer’s food and medical interventions during Covid-19 pandemic saved his members from hunger, sickness and death.
Kalu also acknowledged that PWDs benefited from the just-concluded free medical outreaches sponsored by Prof. Ibe across the 17 Councils in the state.
He appealed to Ibe to sustain his kind gestures to PWDs, and to also prominently feature the members of JONPAD in his administration if voted into power.
The JONPAD boss who described his members unique and enterprising, wondered why government and private employers discriminate against them.
He applauded Professor Ibe for his track records and successes in the private sector, and announced him as the consensus candidate of PWDs.
In his response, Prof. Ibe thanked the PDWs for endorsing his candidature, and promised not to disappoint them.
He assured them that his emergence as Abia Governor would mark the end of all forms of discrimination against them.
The APGA candidate noted with concern the plights of PWDs particularly in the wake of the biting economic hardship, and promised to give them new hope.
Professor Ibe who regretted that Government was not harnessing the various potential in PWDs, promised to give them special consideration in his administration.
” I will give you special attention. Government is losing a lot by not investing in you but the story will be different because I will work with you “.
Ibe also promised to include the members of JONPAD in the next round of his university scholarship.
He, solicited their massive support at the March 18 governorship poll, saying he is on a mission to rescue and rebuild Abia for the good of all.
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