The Imo State government has reacted to the claim by the Labour Party that it would unseat the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in the state.
Njenje Media News reports that the Imo Government averred that the Labour Party in Imo State does not have the capacity to defeat the governor of the state, Hope Uzodimma, during the November 11, governorship election in the state.
The governor’s Special Adviser on Public Communications, Collins Ughalaa, in a statement in Owerri, said that a statement credited to the LP chairman in the state, Festus Onyekwulisi, wherein he boasted that LP would unseat Uzodimma at the polls in November was laughable.
Ughalaa advised LP In the state to first reconcile its differences within its ranks in the state before talking of defeating Uzodimma whom he described as a “performer”.
The statement read “As of yesterday, March 10, 2023, the supposed leaders of the Labour Party in Imo State were still fighting over the imposition of a caretaker committee. While those who think the imposition favours them insist it must stand, those who believe that imposition has no place in a constitutional democracy like ours say it must not stand. We are just watching from a distance.
“Backed by some other leaders in the party, the erstwhile Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Alvan Opara, issued a disclaimer, saying that the deposed chairman of the party, Ambrose Onyekwere, was on his own. He said the State Working Committee of the party remains intact and not dissolved and that members of the party should not attend any meeting convened by Festus Onyekwulisi and his cohorts.
“In another bizarre development, 18 notable leaders of the party, including nine governorship aspirants, rejected the imposition of a caretaker committee, describing it as
Ill-timed and lacking in proper consultation. In a protest letter signed by Senator Chris Anyanwu, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, Dr. Obinna Ibe, Hon. Nick Oparandudu, Hon. George Egu, Frank Nneji, Pascal Odibo, Hon. Mike Ndubuaku, Dr. Chinyere Okpara, Ike C. Ibe, Kelechi Nwagwu, David Mbamara, Charles Onyirimba, Humphrey Anumudu, TJ Ehirim, Martin Agbaso, Jack Ogunewe, and Chinedu Amadi, on Thursday, March 9, 2023, said the imposed caretaker committee “has been causing much consternation among party faithful” and causing damage to the party. They called for the immediate suspension of the imposed caretaker committee.
“The imposed caretaker committee chairman, Festus Onyekwulisi, in an effort to justify his imposition, boasted before journalists that the Labour Party would sack Governor Hope Uzodimma, during the next election, and such other mumbo-jumbo excited people could say. No doubt, Mr. Onyekwulisi is sleep-walking and not in tune with reality. If he had asked those who imposed him, they would have told him he was embarking on a journey of the impossible.
“There is no democracy in the Labour Party in Imo. The morning shows the day. Those who imposed a caretaker committee on the party say they already know the governorship candidate and insist it’s him or no one else. The imposition of the caretaker committee is just one of the many strategies to impose a governorship candidate on the party. The primary election in the Labour Party will be just a formality – to pretend to be democratic.
“There are perennial governorship aspirants in the party, and they see the November 2023 governorship election as their very last opportunity, and they are poised for a spoil. We wouldn’t name anyone yet, but the LP leaders in Imo say that only their anointed candidate would fly their flag and that others who are buying the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms are on their own. This fraud will further expose the faultlines in the party and hasten the implosion waiting to happen. If the party survives the looming self-destruction, then we will begin to listen to Mr. Onyekwulisi and the likes.
“By the special will of God, Governor Hope Uzodimma is seated like the Rock of Gibraltar, and no boastful claim made under exuberance can remove him. Hope Uzodimma and Imo people are like 5 and 6 – they are intertwined, like conjoined twins, and cannot be severed by mere hallucinations.
“Imo people needed a prudent, performing governor, and they got it all in Uzodimma. What has the governor not done? He has brought an infrastructure revolution in Imo, something never seen since 1999. In the midst of politically contrived insecurity, he is busy making a way where there used to be none. Mr. Onyekwulisi and his cohorts should ask people who live at MCC Road, Dick-Tiger Road, Chukwuma Nwaoha Road, Ihechiuwa Road, Relief Market Road, how they feel.
“They should ask those whose properties were saved from perennial flooding by Governor Uzodimma’s balloon technology, how they feel. They should ask those who ply the Owerri-Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe Road, Egbu-Mbaise-Umuahia Road, Port Harcourt Road, Muhammadu Buhari Road, and over 90 other roads, how they feel. They should ask Imo workers how they feel after the governor lifted a decades-long embargo on their promotions.
“These are the tasks the Labour Party should be doing now and not hallucinate before media cameras, and when they are done, we would be glad to welcome them into the ring. After their first baptism by failure, they can look back and see whether they have a party or not. For now, they should continue to enjoy their hallucinations. We will cross that bridge when we come to it, and they will see their cookies crumble before them.”
