By Desmond T Ugwumba
On 10th of November, 2022 Gov Hope Uzodimma APC led government inaugurated 305 persons as government laison officials according to the governor, the people would serve as his eyes in the 305 political wards in the state. On the same note, few months ago the same governor inaugurated Sole administrators for all the 27 local government areas of the state.
It would also be recalled that the governor has been erratically appointing and inaugurating commissioners without portfolios in the recent time. According to a reliable information, the governor will on January unveil polling units special assistants that would comprise 6 persons for each electoral booth and the government will cough out N50,000 every month as salary for each of them whereas he is yet to conduct local poll in the last 3 years of his administration.
The governor at a parley with APC stakeholders at government house recently boasted that he would work and deliver all the APC candidates in the upcoming general election and wondered why he would not return to government house on November 11th Imo gubernatorial election. According to the Omuma born politician, he shall show his political wizandry against the election that would ursher in his second tenure.
An APC chieftain and a notable politician in Imo state that works closely with the governor whom the writer does not want his name in print at a forum recently posited that His Excellency Senator Hope Uzodinma was seriously working to diffuse the possible influence of Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha on Imo voters against the forthcoming 2023 Imo governorship election. The politician inadvertently made the people around to understand that the recent unimaginable political appointments by Gov Hope Uzodimma is geared towards possible contest against Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha who is likely to pick the governorship ticket of PDP in 2023.
Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha has obviously become the nightmare of Imo state governor Sen Hope Uzodinma having made landmark achievements in the area of health care, education, agriculture, critical infrastructures, sports, payment of pensions and salaries, easy of doing business, resuscitation of moribund industries and restoration of confidence in government barely 7 months he assumed office.
A grapevine source informed that the intelligence report the governor has been receiving in respect of Imo governorship election is not favourable which necessitated his action as he is flooding Imo state with bogus political appointments believing that the appointees would summarily work for him in galvanising Imo voters despite his unpopularity amongst the people.
According to the leaked intelligence report, Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha is the only governorship candidate that can defeat the governor and Sen Hope Uzodimma has allegedly concluded plans to heavily sponsor someone else in Imo PDP to destabilise Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha’s chances to win the PDP gubernatorial ticket. The governor has also mapped out several strategies to compete Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha if he eventually clinched the PDP governorship ticket which include massive appointment of SSAs, Commissioners, Laison Officials, award of contracts to many individuals of Mbaise extraction and payment of N20,000 to 10 persons at each electoral booth in Imo state prior to the election.
On the contrary, indications in Imo state show that Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha is still enjoying soaring popularity amongst the people of Imo state for his previous sterling performances in the midst of the current poorly managed insecurity challenges , bad governance, poor leadership in several sectors of the state economy and the alleged untold suffering many Imolites are experiencing in the hands of local vigilantees codenamed Ebubeagu.
