By Ifeyinwa Ogwo :
The former State House of Assembly Member who represented Ihiala 1 Constituency during the regime of Gov. Peter Obi and Willie Obiano, Hon. Chito Modestus Ohazulike has emerged the winner of the Anambra Restaurant/Bar Owners Association (ARBOA)’s election as the President-elect with 30 votes to defeat the incumbent president, Jude Obianisi who had 22 votes; making him the Vice President of the Association.
Accreditation of eligible voters drawn from the different zones in the 21 Local Government Areas began by 11:38 a.m, afterwards, the voting commenced. Some delegates from the Ministry of Culture, Entertainment, and Tourism were present to monitor the exercise and ensure it was free and fair.
The election which was conducted on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at the Conference Hall in Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka, was free, fair, and credible.
The post of Secretary was won by Chinwe Elechi who had 29 votes, the second runner-up, Kingsley Okoye emerged as the Assistant Secretary with 23 votes while Dikeocha Obioma had no vote. On the other hand, the post of Treasurer was clenched by Chinedu Akulia with 44 votes whereas his counterpart, Nkiru Omelu had only 8 votes.
For the post of Financial Secretary, Ifeanyi Okoye scored 31 votes to emerge the winner while Sabina Ejidike became his assistant with 21 votes. The Provost position was clenched by Ndu Ogbonna who had 32 votes, defeating Chioma Ozoemena who had 20 votes. The position of Public Relations Officer (PRO) went to Chika Okeke unopposed.
In his address, the Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Mr. Don Onyenji congratulated the newly elected ARBOA executives for their victories and praised the voters for carrying out a peaceful, credible, free, and fair election, noting that a new dawn is opened for them.
“All the prayers we rendered yesterday for a peaceful election during the signing of the peace accord have manifested today. We thank God Almighty for the smooth conduct of this election and encourage you to move your union to a greater height.”
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Laz Okafor told them to maintain the peace and harmony established among them, nothing that they can attain greater height when they work together.
“Whenever we are organizing any state function that requires your services, we will invite you to be part of it. The government of Prof. Charles Soludo is ready to support and promote every sector in the state, to make Anambra a business and investment hub.”
Then, the commissioner enjoined them to meet with the previous executive members for a proper handover and afterward come to the ministry for official presentation.
Earlier in his speech, the newly elected president of ARBOA, Hon. Chito Modestus Ohazulike thanked the Commissioner, Permanent Secretary and the staff of the ministry for monitoring the election process, and his members for their peaceful conduct during the election.
He stated; “I joined the race to correct what has been happening in our association in the past and to create a good mutual relationship with the state government so that our interest will be protected and we on our part, will support and adhere to their directives.
“Today is a historical day for us and our new government will be a government of inclusiveness whether you voted or not, we must work together as one to promote the interests of our association.
“We are good cooks who take hygiene seriously and we do not apply synthetic spices in our food but rather utilize our local and much healthier spices such as ” ogiri” and “okpai” to prepare our food,” he said.
President Ohazulike then announced that they would like to organize a workshop to teach people how to use healthy local spices to cook their meals.
A day before the election, members of ARBOA signed a peace accord at the Conference Hall in the Ministry of Culture, Entertainment, and Tourism, to ensure the election is free, fair, and credible.
(MOI)
