Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has urged Roman Catholics in the state to sustain the grip of their control on the politics of the state by ensuring that the next governor of the state remained a Catholic.

Speaking on Friday on behalf of the governor at the inauguration of the Widows and Less Privileged Members Foundation at the Holy Trinity Basilica, Onitsha, the Commissioner for Works, Mr. Callistus Ilozumba, said Roman Catholics must use the November 16 governorship election in the state to make a point that the church had come to be relevant in the politics of the state.

He recalled that the late Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, the Most Rev. Albert Obiefuna, had championed the involvement of knights of the church to take charge of the politics of the state, saying that the effort paid off when Obi was elected governor in 2003.

He said the first beneficiary of that effort would have been Prof. Alphonsus Nwosu, who was dropped as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju in 1998.

He said that it was after that the late archbishop advised on the need to have an alternative platform, and that came with the formation of APGA.

He said it was not an accident that the first national chairman of the party, Chief Chekwas Okorie, Obi, the current national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, and others are Catholics.

Ilozumba recalled that when Obi joined the race in 2003, both Knights of St. John, St. Mulumba and the Laity Council teamed up to support him in the election which he won.

He reminded knights of St. John International that they had the capacity to change the situation in the state as predicted by Obiefuna.

 -Punch