TheCable

Oseloka Obaze, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra, says the state is “badly broken”.

In an interview with NAN on Thursday, Obaze said he made himself available to be the chief servant of the state in order to offer his “wealth of experience”.

He said he desires to transform the state to have “a semblance of what is seen in Western world”.

The PDP candidate, however, stressed that he was not desperate to achieve his mandate in a cruel manner as “politics is not a do-or-die affair”.

“I need your votes so that we can embark on the process of re-building Anambra. Anambra deserves better things, presently, it is badly broken, we need to fix it,” he said.

“This is a democratic process and I am totally committed to playing the game by the rules. I have also committed myself to honouring the results of the election.

‘’It does not augur well for us to engage in any form of violence. Democracy is a peaceful process; politics is not a do or die affair.

“If at the end of the day, the voters in their wisdom decide to cast their votes in favour of any of my co-contestants, including the incumbent, I will congratulate the winner and move on.

‘’On the other hand, if I win I hope the other candidates will treat me with that same attitude of sportsmanship.

‘’To me, it is not a do or die affair. I’m in this because I sincerely believe that Anambra deserves better than it currently gets, but the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the electorate.”

While recalling that he had served the state as the secretary to the state government, Obaze said he was in the governorship race because he had better policies that would yield fast development results.

He added: “We must prioritise education and human capital development of our people. That is the only way we can thrive in this highly competitive 21st century global marketplace.

‘’To that effect, I’m proposing to devote 26 per cent of our budget to education as against the paltry three per cent it currently receives, if I win the election.

”The difference between what I’m offering the voters in Anambra and what other candidates are offering them is manifestly clear.

‘’Moreover, in the interest of rotational power shift, I have undertaken to serve for only one term and no more, if given the mandate.”