The Senatorial candidate of the Action Peoples Party (APP) for Imo East Senatorial District (Owerri Zone), Mazi Chima Matthew Amadi, has declared the party’s readiness for the commencement of open campaigns.

Amadi said the contest for the Senate must be decided on ideas, character, competence and the capacity to deliver meaningful representation to the people.

He spoke at a press conference held at St. Kevin’s Catholic Church, Ogbaku in Mbaitoli  local government area of Imo state, marking the official commencement of  his campaign.

According to the Umuekwenne- Ngor Okpala-born University of Warwick research fellow, the APP would take its message to every ward and community across Owerri Zone.

In a statement issued Thursday by the campaign team, he said the party would confront the issues that define the daily experiences of the people — deplorable roads, insecurity, unemployment, poor healthcare, declining public education and the urgent need to make representation at the National Assembly deliver tangible benefits to communities.

“We are ready — not with empty slogans, but with ideas. Not with bags of rice at election time, but with a plan for all time. While others perfected the politics of deceit, we walked the streets of Owerri, sat with traders in Relief Market, listened to farmers in Ngor Okpala, artisans in Mbaise and our young people whose talents waste for lack of opportunity. Their cries have become our manifesto. Their hopes have become our covenant,” Amadi declared.

He said his engagements across Owerri Zone have reinforced his conviction that the people are not asking for the impossible; “they want roads they can travel on, communities where they can live without fear, opportunities for their children, functional healthcare and schools, and a senator who understands that representation must produce results beyond speeches in Abuja.”

He said these concerns would form the heart of his campaign and ultimately define his priorities in the Senate.

To his fellow contestants, Amadi  said: “Let us tell the people what we have done, what we stand for and what we intend to do. Let us debate our roads, jobs, security, healthcare, education and the opportunities available to our young people. Let the people listen to us, interrogate our records and decide who deserves their mandate.”

The APP candidate, however, warned that his commitment to peaceful and issue-based campaigning should never be mistaken for weakness. 

“We will not run, we will not bow and we will not be silenced. Gburugburu means everywhere — and everywhere in Owerri Zone, our people have the right to hear us, support us and make their choice without fear,” he declared.

Amadi was equally emphatic on the integrity of the election, declaring that every lawful vote cast by the people must count and warning against any attempt to manipulate the electoral process. 

He disclosed that the campaign would train and deploy vigilant agents across polling units and collation centres to monitor proceedings and follow the votes from the ballot box through every stage of collation to the final declaration.

“The era of writing results in hotel rooms is over. Every ballot lawfully cast by the people of Imo East must count — nothing more, nothing less. We will watch, we will record and we will follow every vote from the polling unit to the final declaration. Anyone dreaming of subverting the will of Ndi Imo East should bury that dream today. We will defend the mandate of our people lawfully, firmly and to the very end,” Amadi stated.

He, therefore, charged APP members, supporters and campaign volunteers to go into the communities with courage, discipline and respect for the people.

Amadi urged them to campaign with dignity, persuade with facts and refuse every invitation to violence or needless provocation.

Addressing the electorate directly,  he said: “Judge me by my ideas, my character and my record. We did not come this far to be frightened out of history. Imo East has buried too many dreams under bad leadership; we will not bury our courage too. When the day comes, let your vote thunder louder than any threat. The campaign begins today. Mazi Ggburugburu is ready. The APP is ready. Imo East is ready. Forward ever, backward never!”