By Joshua Chibuzo Andrew, Owerri
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma has been accused of creating insecurity, poverty, lacking credibility and unfit to re-contest the November 11, 2023 governorship election in the State.
The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday, advised the governor to forget his second term bid for turning the State into the valley of death where killings, terrorism, kidnapping, maiming of citizens on a daily basis thrive as if the there is a prize for killing.
This reaction was made by the State PDP Publicity Secretary, Collins Opuruozor in a press briefing with Journalists in Owerri who countered Governor Uzodimma’s claim that when he assumed office as governor in 2020 he met a moribund state that was in the cemetery, and he exhumed the body.
The party insisted that Imo State was a paradise before Uzodinma assumed office, reminding the governor that during an appearance on national television, he had vowed to continue with all the lofty initiatives of the past PDP administration.
The PDP, however, stated that unfortunately, the governor had now plunged Imo into a cemetery.
PDP statement reads, “More than half of Imo territory is presently under the occupation of bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, and other non-state actors who levy death upon Imo people day after day. Farmers have abandoned their farmlands and the logical outcome has been an unprecedented rise in poverty and starvation, including crime.
“It is shameful that while Imo people are slaughtered daily by terrorists, the only thing Senator Uzodinma thinks of is how to politicize and profit from the unfortunate situation. It is irresponsible that a government would seek to frame its perceived foes with insecurity, which it has an obligation to solve.
“Equity demands that Senator Uzodinma should not present himself as a candidate in the forthcoming governorship election, since he hails from Orlu Zone, which has held power for twenty years in the last twenty-four years. Those backing his inordinate ambition do not mean well for the state, and they must stop forthwith.
“Worse still, the local government system, which is a mechanism put in place by law to expand and sustain the democratic space and to spread democratic values, has been destroyed in Imo. This is a huge tragedy! Imo is a state that has over seventy percent of its entire population living in rural areas. Yet, the only channel through which governance can be delivered to the people has been completely run aground.
“Senator Uzodinma must, without any further delay, tell the people the whereabouts of the N206 billion he has received that belong to the local governments.
“Furthermore, this government, which has made incessant borrowings a state policy, has now sent Imo into irredeemable debt slavery. Make no mistake, debt instruments are supposed to be development tools that governments deploy to raise the financial and socio-economic well-being of their entities.
“The implication is that loans are invariably obtained to invest in those programs, initiatives, and projects which have the prospect of turning around the economic circumstances of the borrowing entities and affording them the capacity not just to repay in the future but also to create sustainable growth,” the party stated.
