PDP's Abia gov candidate Anosike promises Aba leather, garment hub

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Abia State for the 2027 election, Dr Kelechi Anosike, has promised to build a Common Facility Centre in Aba for the leather and garment clusters if elected.

Anosike made the promise while meeting representatives of the clusters during his campaign tour of the commercial city, according to a report by Vanguard. The clusters say they have more than 200,000 members.

He said the centre would be solar-powered and equipped with modern machines, so that small businesses, especially young tailors and garment makers without capital, can produce finished goods to international standards.

Under the plan, he said, tailors would bring their materials, pay a small fee and use the machines to finish jobs for customers, keeping the proceeds. He pointed to a similar model run by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in Abuja, where the fee started at ₦5,000 and is now ₦10,000.

“I said we will set up a centre, solar powered, with all kinds of world best machines,” Anosike said.

Why it matters for Aba traders

Aba is one of Nigeria's biggest hubs for shoes, bags and clothing, mostly made by small workshops. Anosike said a similar centre built in the city in 2008 by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) with the federal and state governments was later vandalised and abandoned, defeating its purpose.

He said his government would also set up a Traders Microfinance Bank to give interest-free loans and grants to traders and clusters, and would scrap what he called anti-people taxes on the poor.

He argued that partnering with traders to make goods locally could create thousands of small businesses, noting that Nigeria spends billions of dollars importing items it has the raw materials to produce. He put the import bill at $10 billion to $20 billion a year.

Anosike described his approach as “productive welfarism”, with the slogan “Aruo Uzo, Aruo Afo” (build roads, build people). He said federal allocation to Abia had risen from about ₦3.5 billion to about ₦40 billion a month, but that there was “zero welfare” to cushion the effects of the removal of the fuel subsidy.

The National Secretary of the Aba Leather and Garment Clusters, Mr Ken Anyanwu, said the group came to introduce itself and to seek a detailed plan for upgrading the clusters. He said Aba's leather and garment products are number one in Africa, but that successive state governments had neglected the artisans.

PDP officials at the meeting, including the party's deputy chairman in Abia and Abia South senatorial candidate, Chinyere Onuoha, urged residents to vote for the PDP.

What happens next

The 2027 governorship election is still more than a year away, and Anosike's promises would only take effect if the PDP wins and he takes office. The clusters say they want a fuller discussion on how the upgrade would work.