Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, has endorsed Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and President Bola Tinubu for a second term in office, saying the governor has done exceedingly well.
Nnaji announced the endorsement while fielding questions from Government House correspondents during a visit to Mbah on Monday, citing several landmark achievements of the governor in just three years.
The former Minister said he was unavoidably absent at the weekend when the people of Enugu East Senatorial District endorsed Mbah and President Tinubu at a massive rally, but maintained that politics was about lineup and he was fully in support of the president’s endorsement and reelection.
Prof Barth Nnaji and Gov Peter Mbah
“It should not be a surprise that I am in support of my younger brother. You may not be aware that during the run-up to the 2023 election, I led a group of key stakeholders in Nkanu East to campaign, going to all the key stakeholders in Enugu State, asking them to, please, consider Nkanu East; that we had not had the opportunity of holding this position. And because of that lack of opportunity, Nkanu East was about the only local government that did not have any real government presence.
“If you are in, say, the Idodo area where the governor and I come from, you had to go through four local governments before you got to the headquarters of our own LGA. This needed to change. And so now all that is changing because of the work of His Excellency, our governor. And you can see that to go from that Idodo area to Amagunze, our local government headquarters, is now a matter of a few minutes. That has totally changed the calculation,” he stated.
Continuing, he lauded the governor’s strides in the areas of security, infrastructure, and healthcare, which he said were not only critical enablers of economic growth, but also key to reversing brain drain and overseas medical tourism.
“There are so many other reasons why we have to all come and encourage our governor for what he is doing and to do more.
Gov Peter Mbah and Prof Barth Nnaji
“I was just talking with him about the two major criteria for people to come back to Nigeria instead of the ‘Japa’ syndrome of running away. Those two would be security, and the second is high-quality healthcare. So, the development of the Enugu International Hospital, which will have the sort of equipment that people run elsewhere to access, is something that is quite innovative for Nigeria.
“We are not lacking in high-quality doctors because we have them, except that many of them have run away. So, this hospital here will bring them back and begin to reverse healthcare tourism.
“Then there are all the infrastructure projects, the roads of standard quality that have been built or are ongoing across the state, and so on.
“Therefore, my presence here is to encourage him and support him so that by the next term, we should be able to see a lot more. That is the point,” he added.
Nnaji urged other people jostling for the office of governor in 2027 to join hands with the governor to consolidate on his achievements and actualise his lofty vision for the state.
Citing his personal experiences, he described Mbah as a listening leader and called on other stakeholders in the state to offer their advice where necessary.
“The whole idea is for all of us to join together to support the governor for the next term. It is okay for people to run for office, but you have to look at the future. What are we really trying to gain?
“If we are doing well, then the thing is to encourage the governor and his government to do more for the people.
“The other thing is that key stakeholders in the state should be able to come and be part of advising for the better. I mean, a governor is not God. A governor is a person of excellence who should be able to move the state forward. But in doing so, wherever there are things that are not going the way people want, we should be able to tell him. And he will listen. I believe he absolutely listens. From all the discussions that we have been having, I know he listens,” he concluded.
On Tinubu’s reelection, he asserted, “On the support for the President, there is a lineup for the office. And that lineup is very important – both the up-ballot and down-ballot candidates usually have to be supported by clear-thinking people. That is what we are doing.”
