By Samson Ezea

Across the 17 local government areas and 260 wards in Enugu State, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) local government area chairmanship candidates, their deputies, councillors, party leaders and faithful have recently commenced their campaigns for votes and support ahead of the forthcoming local government election slated for September 21.

The campaigns, which will be gathering momentum, acceptance and traction across the length and breath of state in days ahead will diminish the remnants of the opposition in the state and the outcome of the election which will be surely in PDP's favour will put PDP in a good stead ahead of 2027 elections in the state. 

This is considering the quality and calibre of candidates PDP fielded in the the election, coupled with the stellar performance, integrated and multi-faceted giant strides of Governor Peter Mbah’s administration in the state since assuming office.

There is no doubt that with the way and manner, Governor Mbah has raised the bar of governance and leadership and innovatively disrupting governance and leadership and at the same time disruptively innovating good governance and leadership in the state and beyond, thereby earning for himself the poster boy of good governance and quality leadership in Nigeria, the PDP has a lot to campaign with and point at to convince the electorate and garner the massive support of the people for the election. 

It is of note that since 1999, PDP is the dominant and ruling party in the state with trackrecord of quality performance. The conspiracy and treachery of 2023 general elections, which nearly threatened the dominance and presence of PDP in the state had been downplayed and eliminated by Governor Mbah's hard-earned victory in the poll and people-oriented programmes, projects and policies of his administration, which have placed the state in a global map within a short period. 

These painstaking efforts and outstanding performances of Governor Mbah's administration are expected to be replicated, sustained and expanded by the incoming chairmen of the local government areas and their team at the grassroot level. This is putting into consideration their closeness to the people, especially the downtrodden and the rural dwellers that are in dire need of government's presence, support and meaningful impacts. 

As a matter of fact, there is nothing absolutely wrong for the incoming PDP chairmen of the local government areas and councillors to adopt the template and model of governance and leadership Governor Mbah's administration has established in the state that had brought about massive disruptive innovations in virtually all the sectors of the economy and turned the state into huge construction site and investment destination. 

Doing so in collaboration with the state government will definitely bring rapid and massive infrastructural and human capital development across the length and breath of the 17 council areas and reduce drastically the rate of rural-urban migration in the state.

This is especially in the light of the fact that Governor Mbah has so far proven that the best form of politics, leadership and governance is outstanding performance, provision of democracy dividends and good governance to the people especially the people on the streets, who are now the real and major stakeholders. 

Considering the importance and place of political party and loyalty in politics and governance in Nigeria today and what happened in the state in the 2023 elections, there is urgent need for the reinvention and repositioning of PDP in the state especially at the grassroot level. 

This is where the newly elected PDP leadership in the state at all levels should sincerely and committedly collaborate with the Governor Mbah’s government and local government areas chairmen to genuinely unite, recognize and reward the party faithful, particularly those who stood and identified with the party at the time of challenges, trials and difficulties.