Community leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ukwa West Local Government Area have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint their son, Mr Odinakachi Enyeribe Nwankwo, to the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The appeal was made during a solidarity rally in Ukwa West on Monday, where party members said Nwankwo had the capacity to deliver for the oil-producing council.
Speaking at the event, Chief Uju Nwaire, former APC Chairman of Ukwa West, said the gathering was organised to thank the President for his good works and to show support for Nwankwo.
He said Nwankwo had supported the party in many ways and always reached out to know the happenings in Ukwa West, adding that whenever he had financial difficulties as chairman, Nwankwo supported him and the party structure. He described Nwankwo as humble, loyal, friendly, and a grassroots politician who had invested heavily to sustain the APC in Ukwa West.
Nwaire urged the President to carry Nwankwo along, saying his appointment would bring rapid development to Ukwa West within six months.
He lamented that despite being Abia State’s only oil-producing LGA, Ukwa West lacked good roads, markets and other basic infrastructure, and that residents did not know where NDDC funds allocated to the area were being channelled.
He alleged that projects meant for the area were being diverted to non-oil-producing areas, particularly Bende Division, while Ukwa West remained neglected. He said Nwankwo is a man of the people who enjoyed massive support, and promised that Ukwa would deliver more votes to Tinubu in 2027 if he was carried along, surpassing previous records.
Mr Innocent Chiuwa, leader of the Solidarity Movement, said the gathering was organised by Nwankwo’s political structure to thank Tinubu for restoring equity to Ukwa West. He noted that the President had returned the House of Representatives ticket to Ukwa West for 2027, with Chief Samuel Okezie Nwogu as the APC flagbearer, and had given the Abia South senatorial ticket to Prince Paul Ikonne of Aba South.
He said many people had joined the APC because of Nwankwo, describing him as a peace advocate of unquestionable character, and pleaded with the President to remove the influence of certain cabals in NDDC appointments.
He said Ukwa West had no NDDC roads, school projects, scholarships or adequate solar lighting despite having 36 villages, and urged the President to personally appoint Nwankwo as commissioner, noting that he had been tested and trusted since 2019.
Mrs Chinyere Oguguo, women’s leader for the Nwankwo structure, said the women of Ukwa West are behind Tinubu and his wife for 2027 and sought greater inclusion for Ukwa West women. She said women lacked many things and appealed to the President to remember them in his programmes and appointments by naming Mr Nwankwo as the next Abia NDDC representative.
Mr Felix Chidubem Ambition, an illustrious son of Ugwuati-Asa, thanked the President for his love for the Asa and Ukwa people in restoring equity in the Ukwa Federal Constituency, and expressed optimism about Nwankwo’s appointment.
He said the crowd was a demonstration of support for Tinubu’s re-election bid and for Nwankwo’s emergence as NDDC commissioner, adding that onboarding him as the next NDDC Abia representative would attract visible projects to the area.
He called on the President to remove what he described as “invisible hands” from the Abia North political bloc in the process of selecting Abia’s NDDC representatives.
A community leader, Chief Onyekaozuru Nwankwo, said Ukwa West had been fully marginalised and expressed belief that Nwankwo’s appointment would benefit grassroots people in the area.
The crowd carried placards urging Tinubu to consider Nwankwo for the NDDC position and pledging support for his 2027 re-election bid.
