.Promised to sponsor bills that have human face
Honorable Princewill Ugochukwu Amuchie, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Traffic Warehouse and founder of Convitech Nigeria Limited & Traffic Warehouse Limited is the candidate to the seat of Aboh Mbaise state constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with Victory Orimemi. He proffers solutions to some of the economic and societal challenges in the country as well as his mission to impact the lives of his constituents if elected.
In 2015 and 2019, you tried to contest to represent your constituency but you couldn’t clinch the ticket unfortunately and this year you’re trying to vie again, why have you been persistent?
I believe destiny can only be delayed but not be changed, I actually indicated interest almost 10 years ago and at that time, the political arrangement did not favor my aspiration. So, despite all the betrayals, I decided to keep faith in time and I believe that this is the right time and nothing will take it away from me this time. God has destined it this time, that’s what I believe.
Honestly, my motivation is to give my people quality representation and to ensure that through my input the people of my constituency would no longer be far from the government.
As an employer of labour, what would you do to help reduce unemployment in your constituency?
You know the level you’re vying for determines the level of impact you’ll make. As a house member in the State, you know the available resources for us to do what we have in mind but no matter the situation, we’ll still do something to see how to reduce the level of unemployment either through good legislation that can make the people to bring in investors or whichever capacity we can help to enable our people get engaged at all levels, it’s our responsibility to come up with enabling laws that will make that possible.
What do you think is the most pressing need in your constituency and what solution would you bring?
Yes, you’ve said it, unemployment is the major issue and we are working tirelessly and the issue of security, for us as a family, we have done something in that regard, we have reactivated the area command in Mbaise through our family’s philanthropic foundation. We were able to build one of the best ultra modern police station in the country, the Oke Ovoro police division which serves as the area command for my area. So, that has gone a long way in reducing the extent of criminality within the environment. We also intend to reduce the level of poverty by raising free loans for farmers and see how we can give small revolving loans that will enable people to raise the bar in terms of their standard of living. We pray when the time comes, God will provide a way to manage those situations.
Also, I promised to enliven the constituency with progress and development, taking care of the health of the elderly, widows, potholes on all roads, attending to schools and health centre problems in the constituency, using the Constituency Fund that would be administered by well dedicated men and women of honour if offered the ticket and voted in to represent the Constituency.
What kind of bills will you sponsor in the Assembly?
I will sponsor bills that have human face, bills that can touch on all these areas. I intend to do a lot for my people, I will sponsor bills that will cater to the needs of people in terms of school fees, scholarship, health care for the less privileged and all levels of empowerment.
I am in this race for the good of my people. Our people have lacked quality representation over the years. Year-in-year-out it appears we have nobody in the House. Issues that affect our people are not being brought to the fore. It is high time we changed that negative narrative, hence our mandate for ‘Greater Abor Mbaise,’
What do you think about the Nigerian political process and what can be done to improve the system?
Hopefully, with what government has done and what INEC told us they have on ground and the few experiments we have witnessed, I believe the political process is coming on board. If this BVAS is used to the level that it has been hyped and we see the result, then we can begin to say we have an electoral system that we can be proud of. For now, we keep hoping that things are going to change.
How far have you gone with your campaign?
The campaign started on the October, 12 and I have 212 polling booths to visit. In PDP Imo, we have a way we have a way we structure our campaign, we have the chapters, the wards and the LGA. We have been able to apportion the chapters and we are starting in ernest. For now, what we are doing is block by block consultations, moving from one kindred to the other. The election this time is no longer by mounting podium and interesting with people, you have to go directly and talk to the people.
Do you believe in the Nigerian project and what do you think the leaders of this Nation need to do to keep the Nigerian project moving?
I strongly believe in the Nigerian project, the only problem that has bedeviled this country is lack of purposeful leadership. I believe that if we get it right, we’ll be better off. To be honest, what my party has in store, if we are given the chance again, I think a lot of things will change. We have learnt our lessons overtime and we have come out to tell Nigerians that we have learnt our lessons, we hope to be given another chance to prove ourselves. It is going to be an interesting four years is PDP is given the opportunity.
A lot of people are calling for State Police and restructuring, what is your take?
I strongly believe in decentralizing our policing and security apparatus. Nigeria is highly under policed and if I have my local government police operating, the level of crime in that local government will reduce drastically because we know the people. So you cannot post somebody from Maiduguri to come to my State and identify who is a criminal. There is no other better time than now for Nigeria to introduce State police. For me, what I’m advocating more is regional police because of the capital involvement. States can come together to put resources and establish regional security outfits because I know that so many States are struggling to pay salaries, if you now put that burden on the State, we might be having a situation whereby police will now be going on strike in some states and then forming another insurgent group. So, it’s better we are prepared to implement it or we tarry a bit. We have to be really sure that we can actually fund State Police because it is capital intensive .
What do you think Government can do to reduce the level of criminality, insurgency and banditry in the Nation?
That calls for the issue of decentralizing security, that is the State police because presently we do not have the number of security officers that can match the level of people that have taken to the other side of the divide. We need to emphasize more on decentralizing the security system in the country, it is important but it has to be done with caution.
Do you have any word for INEC 2023?
Yes, I employ them to stand on what they have told Nigerians. They have told us that elections will be free and fair, they have told us that elections will be transmitted electronically with the use of BVAS, so we hope that the system is not manipulated, it’s not jeopardized so that we can beat our chest nd say yes, we have gotten it right for the fight time. I strongly have faith in INEC as an electoral umpire and I urge them to prove me right.
Do you think you are the most qualified for this job?
Of course, I am the most qualified based on competence and level of experience I’ve garnered overtime. As a former banker, I’ve put in years in the banking industry, left it to establish my own business and I’ve successfully ran my business to the level that I believe that I have what it takes to also contribute my own quota towards making my people happy, in terms of good leadership and quality representation.
