From Kenneth Udeh
The arrival of Senator representing Anambra Central, Uche Ekwunife ignited excitement amongst thousands of electorates gathered at the Independent National Electoral Commission Headquarters (INEC) in Awka, the Capital of Anambra State on Friday.
Ekwunife upon her arrival was greeted with a rousing ovation from the registrants, who upon sighting her disengaged from their queues and surged towards the Red Chamber parliamentarian. Amidst intermittent chants of “Ekwunife for continuity, Ekwunife Carry Go!” Ekwunife who was dressed in the customised Peoples Democratic Party, Ankara and White coloured hat addressed the electorates on the importance of registration in order to obtain their permanent voters card (PVC).
According to reports, the majority of the new and old PVC registrants were characterised by both direct and indirect beneficiaries of Uche Ekwunife’s vocational skill , employment and educational scholarship programmes. During the course of rallying around her as she disembarked from her vehicle, the electorates while chanting solidarity songs as a form of gratitude also reeled out her numerous achievements in their Senatorial constituency including her impact on their lives.
The rousing ovation given to Ekwunife aspiring for reelection under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) , forced the Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji and INEC security personnels to call for calm and orderliness.
One of the new registrants who gave her name as Okechukwu Obasi disclosed that the performance of Ekwunife motivated her to register for the ongoing PVC registration. According to her she was one of the numerous beneficiaries of Uche Ekwunife’s employment facilitation scheme into one of the Federal Government agencies which she pleaded anonymity.
In her words “ This is the first time I would be registering to vote, because through our performing Senator I was able to secure employment into one of the Federal Government agencies. For so many years I was jobless and I almost gave up because I was so depressed,but through her intervention I was able to get gainfully employed. Since then I have been able to assist my family. There are so many people like me gathered here, that is why you see how we all left our queues and ran toward her , we are indeed very happy . Some have benefitted from her violation skill empowerment, transport businesses, education scholarships or should we talk about the roads , schools , houses that she has built for people especially widows. The only better way we can say thank you is to ensure that she returns to the Senate to continue her good works.
Responding, Ekwunife said that though she was gladdened and humbled by the electrifying reception as well as the acknowledgement of her achievements, she would however implore the crowd to remain orderly and focus on getting their PVC’s. She stressed that as a lawmaker she’ll respect the electoral laws by not campaigning at the INEC office.
During her engagements with INEC officials Ekwunife assured them of the support of the National Assembly to ensure that exercise will be hitch free . She also disclosed her efforts at ensuring that more machines were provided for INEC to meet up with the teeming crowd of registrants composed mainly of the youths.