Nothing short of total rejection of the current government in Anambra State would create the atmosphere the people have been yearning for, John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in the November 8 governorship election admonished for the umpteenth time on Tuesday, as he weighed in on what he described as the parlous state of affairs in the state.

Nwosu, who has increased the tempo of his campaigns for the number one job in the state, particularly bemoaned the complete lack of accountability that has become the imprimatur of the government of Charles Chukwuma Soludo, which has resulted in the economy practically lying low on its bellies and lowest-performing in the country.

Like a singsong, the ADC candidate repeated the message he has been delivering at the various locations he had taken the campaign trail to within the last weeks, insisting that the present government has not only posted a clearly underwhelming performance, but has also not maintain a clean bill of health in terms of transparency.

Delivering a captivating speech to a motley crowd of party supporters and voters, who practically mobbed him at Isulo, Ihiala and Ozubulu, Orumba South, Ihiala and Ekwusigo Local Government Areas of the state, where he visited on Tuesday, Nwosu maintained a single line of message to his audience – Anambra has suffered in the hands of Soludo and must never reinforce failure.

Dwelling on the impact of corruption in the system he cited example with the Internally Generated Revenue profile of the state, where it currently posted 17th position in the country, despite being one of the strong economic base of the country, attributing it to lack of accountability in government operations.

Hear him: “Just imagine, last year, Anambra State recorded N42.5billion in IGR throughout last year, coming a distant position of 17, while Enugu State posted a whopping N180.40billion. Is Enugu more endowed than Anambra? No! The difference lies in the computerisation of the operation of revenue collection in that state which Anambra doesn’t have.

“What we do in Anambra is “gawu-gawu” – kill and share. Most of the revenues go into private pockets. That is the reason of chasing people with aka-odo (pestles), because people are desperate to get money for themselves and not the government. Government is about three Es – Empathy, you must have sympathy for the citizens, which is welfare – second is Equity, all of us are equal before God and the third is Efficiency.

“It is here that we have E-government. So, our template as ADC government is E-Governance. We are going to operate E-Security, E-Agriculture, E-Education, E-Health, E-Tax. That is going to be the difference. That is how we are going to change the face of our security. We are going to build a new security architecture that will be based on ICT.

“The first step is even to conduct an audit of those in charge of our security, profile them, interview them for us to separate the good from the bad eggs. We then conduct serious training for them and then ensure that their welfare is taken care of adequately. Then we’ll cover the entire state with AI-powered CCT cameras with a command-and-control centre at the state capital, making sure that all the entry and exit points are manned by competent hands using modern equipment to monitor and capture the entry and exit movements.

“With this, it will almost be impossible for anyone to carry out criminal operations and escape through our borders, because it will be too tight. By the time one or two operations are foiled through this means, criminals will think twice before operating here. We must do things differently. There is so much corruption in the system.

“Where is it heard that government is buying fairly-used vehicles? How do you account for them in terms of cost. How can you guarantee their efficiency. Would you chase a criminal using brand new vehicles with Tokumbo cars and hope to catch them. Don’t you see that the whole thing reeks of corruption?

“So, in all, we are going to change the face of Anambra if you will give us the opportunity by voting out corruption and installing efficiency and transparency, which is what the ADC stands for. All we have said is summarised under our Seven-Point agenda of good governance represented by an acronym – SHEEEMS, where S-stands for Security, H-stands for Health, the first E-stands Education, the second E-stands for Economy, the third E-stands for Environment, M-stands for Markets and S-stands for Social Welfare.

“So, if you believe that you made a mistake four years ago, this is the opportunity you have to change it. You must help to change your destiny by voting in ADC. Remember they will come with loads of money to buy your votes. The first option is to reject their money. But if you don’t want to reject, collect it and vote your conscience, because it is your money that they are offering you. And if you collect it and do their bidding, they will return and steal more, this time offering you nothing because they’re not coming back. So, all we’re asking is wisdom. Let this government go. Show them the way out.”