Prof Jude Njoku, former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, FUTO, Owerri and governorship aspirant of the People Democratic Party PDP, Imo State says only his candidature can guarantee the party victory in 2019.
The astute administrator and manager also made it categorically clear that financial restructuring remains the best possible option to hit the ground running after 2019 election going by states huge debt burden and near bankruptcy under the present government.
The Ngor Okpala born academic turned politician stated this yesterday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ Press Centre during a press briefing to announce plans for his formal declaration for governorship tomorrow, May 5 2018 at the PDP state secretariat, Owerri.
Speaking on why he sees himself as the best chance for his party to return to Douglas House in 2019 Prof Njoku explained that came to that conclusion because the electorate in the state are already rooting for a technocrat and competent administrator and not a professional politician to emerge as governor next year.
This mood of the people he argued favours him most in PDP and even across all parties as he stands heads and shoulders above all other aspirants in the state on experience ,competence, humility, administrative and managerial acumen as well as knowledge.
These qualities,he further posited, would give him and his party an edge that would make it possible for them to have easy and convincing victory over other political parties next year.
He, therefore, called on his party not make the mistake of not putting its best foot forward in 2019 by choosing him as flag bearer as the consequence of losing another governorship election
will be unimaginable.
Prof Njoku who bemoaned the parlous financial condition of the state, which he noted is reeling under a heavy debt burden, assured that he has devised a strategy that would make his adminstration to hit the ground running irrespective of the bleak financial status of the state.
According him he will constitute a panel made up of financial and economic experts to restructure the finances of the state on assumption of office so that his adminstration would not have the empty treasury experience lack of funds to steer the ship of state.
The best Vice Chancellor in Nigeria in 1994 also decried the abysmally low intake of the states JAMB subscribers which he put at below 30%, at a time government touts free education as its key programme.
Describing the situation as highly unacceptable and retrogressive, the guber hopeful said he has mapped out strategies to attract and partner private investors and churches to build more universities in the state to expand university education opportunity for students of the state.
He stressed that being a member of the largest constituency in the state which is the education sector that boasts well over one and fifty thousand voters, he is sure of winning next year if his party does the needful by giving him its governorship ticket.