A’Ibom NUJ Chairman Joins Assembly Race

The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Akwa Ibom,  Elder Ephraim Etti, has joined the race for the state House of Assembly ticket to represent Eket Constituency in 2011.

Etti made his ambition known to supporters and party faithfuls at the Eket Local Government Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday.

Speaking to a PDP stakeholders meeting, the aspirant appealed to them to support his candidature and work together to ensure that he picked the party’s ticket during the primaries.

Etti said that he was compelled by the numerous problems faced by Eket people to join the race to enable him provide relief and empowerment to the people.

“On personal levels we’ve tried to empower as many people; but we realise that as an individual I cannot carry the load.

“So it therefore becomes obvious that if I represent them at the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly level, I’ll attract more benefits that will help me empower them.

“For instance, we have the constituency projects at that level. You also can network with a lot of agencies, government ministries, departments and agencies.

“You can network with donor agencies like the United Nations, the European Union for instance. I was able to attract European Union project to a primary school in my community.

“We can also work with other Federal Government agencies like the NDDC and other bodies to empower our people.

“My stewardship at the professional level as the state Chairman of NUJ is there for all to see and if I can achieve such feat in an organisation that is not funded by government, it means that I can do more as a legislator,” he said.

He added that he would take advantage of his professional exposure to network with relevant bodies and organisations to attract development projects to Eket.

Eket constituency is currently represented by Mr Jack Udoda who is seeking a third term at the state House of Assembly.

In his remarks, Eket Chapter Chairman of PDP, Chief Godwin David said that the party had not zoned any office to any section of the area.

“In the party, zoning is a policy that we practice but we have not arrived at any conclusions yet. We are still consulting; the rumour that we have zoned certain positions is untrue, very soon we shall make the party’s position public,” the chairman said.