Elias Mbam, chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has joined the Ebonyi governorship race for the 2023 general elections.

This is contained in a statement issued on Friday in Abakaliki by his media aide Obinna Udenwe. According to the statement, Mr Mbam who obtained the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship and expression of interest forms on Thursday in Abuja became the first APC aspirant in Ebonyi to buy the N50 million form.

This was despite Governor Dave Umahi’s endorsement of Francis Nwifuru, speaker of the House of Assembly as his successor.

Mr Umahi had on Saturday at the burial of Dandy Igweomoke, father of Chioma Nweze, the commissioner for trade and investment, announced the endorsement of Mr Nwifuru.

The speaker along with other 16 members of the Ebonyi parliament was sacked by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court presided by Justice Inyang Ekwo for  defecting to APC from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2020.

According to the statement, Mr Mbam, in a message to his supporters, said he had developed a blueprint titled ‘The Ebonyi Dream’ to lift the state out of its present poverty level.

Mr Mbam explained that the 2019 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Poverty Index of states that scored Ebonyi 87.02 per cent with poor citizens revealed a startling reality of the state’s poverty level.

He promised that he would work to ensure that this was reversed within two to four years of his administration as governor.

“For all Mbam’s supporters, APC faithful and Ebonyi people in general, we wish to inform you that it is official; Mbam has today purchased the nomination form to run for governor of Ebonyi. This past week has been a wonderful one for us, filled with heart warming news everywhere; even though to many bystanders in Ebonyi concerned about what was going on, there seemed to be darkness, but for us, we knew that everything was working for good,” the statement explained. 

It added, “We assure Ebonyi people, especially those who were thrown into despondency with the recent events of past days, to put a smile on their faces, for the ‘Egyptians’ we see today, we shall see no more.”

(NAN)