The people of Imo State have once more insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) remains the only platform that can guarantee a sense of belonging to the Igbos.
The people’s call followed the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state last weekend.
A cross-section of people who spoke to our reporter maintained that with the level of development achieved so far in Imo State under Governor Rochas Okorocha-led APC government, the people would follow the party to continue to enjoy the good things of life which had eluded them before the coming of the current administration.
According to Chief James Nwoha, President Jonathan’s visit to the state simply justified the cry against the marginalization of the Igbos by the federal government despite “our support for PDP and him over the years.
“President Jonathan and his bunch of PDP fellows know that they have nothing to offer for us, that’s why they told us they did not come for campaign. They know they can no longer ask our people to vote for them because the one we voted was in vain as we cannot beat our chest and point to what the PDP and their federal government did for us.
“Our simple consolation is that Igbos and the people of Imo State have become wiser. We now know better,” he said.
Chief Nwoha who hails from Oru East, lampooned Senator Hope Uzodinma for attracting no federal presence in Orlu Zone, saying “Senator Uzodinma’s only achievement so far is that he organized the visit of president Jonathan to Imo State with nothing to show for it”, calling on Orlu people to ensure such characters do not represent them anymore.
Also speaking, Mr. Magnus Okwara said the president’s visit simply exposed the fact that the PDP has no grassroots support.
“They cannot have grassroots support in Imo State because they cannot convince a community that is seeing a tarred road for the first time in their history. They cannot convince a man who has stopped spending money on his children’s school fees because Governor Okorocha had made it so.
“My take is that this is Imo State and we know where we are – APC. My happiness is that there is no community you visit today in Imo State that you won’t see people calling for the return of APC government in Imo and Nigeria at large”.
Mr. Okwara asserted that the leadership of the PDP in Imo State was mainly Abuja-based politicians who have lost touch with the grassroots and as such lacked the support of the masses in the state.
“These Abuja-based politicians are the ones who deceived President Jonathan by telling him that PDP has popular support in Imo. But the truth is that despite the crowd they hired mainly from Abia and Anambra States to deceive the president, these people do not have the support of the masses because they have lost touch with the grassroots”, Okwara said.
For Ambrose Egeole, “these people are not able to convince us that Rochas and his APC are not performing because they will be put to shame if they say so. But their problem is that the usual allocation they were receiving from local government fund is no longer being given to them. Rather the money is seen in every community where new schools are built in addition to general hospitals”.
He advised the people of the state not to yield to the blackmail of the PDP but continue to collect their money anytime they bring it.
“I can tell you that I know those who collected the sum of N2000 given to each of them to come to Owerri and I encourage people to collect the money. If they come here next time, we will collect the money and still do what we like which is APC”.
