.Advise Imolites Against Such Support
Ahead the 2023/2024 Governorship Election in Imo State, a Group by name Association of Imo State Concerned Citizens, resident in New Jersey United States of America USA and the Tri-States of America (AISCCA-NJ-TS), in collaboration with the Nigerian International Coalition for Advancement of Democracy (NICAD), have called on the incumbent Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to jettison his second term ambition for the good of State after his tenure.
The Groups in a public statement made available to newsmen, including Trumpeta Newspaper, requested that following the current situation in the State as it bothers on under development and series of insecurity challenges, the Governor was advised to shun the quest for a re-election in 2023.
The Groups, according to the statement signed by Dr. Uche Okechukwu noted that for Imo State to move forward from the current insecurity, economic decline, negative-IGR, Negative-FDI, , increased hunger, poverty rate, and massive unemployment believed to be an outcome of the few years Uzodinma-led APC administration, held sway, the governor needs to shelve his return to office for another tenure.
The groups further in the statement posited that the least minimum requirement for Imo to move forward with the way things are going on is for the Oru East born Governor to voluntarily withdraw all subtle moves targeted at the actualisation of his second missionary journey to Govt House, Owerri.
According to the Diasporan group, “In today’s Imo State, principles and structures of good governance are not in place, this has provided greater opportunity for all manners of illicit acts ravaging the State which reportedly promote corruption, insecurity and political crisis”
The group added “since his coming as Governor of Imo State courtesy of the Supreme Court, transparency, accountability and rule of law have grown wings while the recent revelation of alleged electoral voters’ registration padding/manipulation, exposed by a group in the governor’s Oru East LGA speaks volume of suspicion surrounding how the system is operating under his watch”.
“Ineffective APC administrations across the country, such as the one in Imo State has shown a complete lack of capacity to secure the lives and properties of citizens; and their incompetence and quixotic policies undermine the provision of public services such as health care, education and law enforcement”
Quoting directly from the United Nations’ statement on Corruption and Bad Governance, the groups while stating that “When public officials do not act as bureaucrats delivering services as they are expected to do, people can try to obtain these services in other ways, creating lawlessness” adding that “In many countries, people are usually able to access basic daily functional amenities and public services without having to engage in any form of underhand dealings but the same cannot be said for Imo State and largely Nigeria where innocent citizens are now turned to beggars and destitutes with many in IDP camps”.
“In a very vicious cycle, bad governance and corruption are linked together with a causal relationship, and we call on the Media in Imo State and Nigeria as a whole not to neglect or abandon their extremely essential role in promoting good governance and contributing to perceptions about the quality of governance at every stage”.
In the statement, Dr Uche, who is the Coordinating Servant Leader of the organization, also stated, “Imo State needs a clean breathe of fresh air from the current administration”
Lending his voice, NICAD Executive, Chief Bertrand Uzodimma called on other Associations around the globe to show courage and Join the call for Good Governance.
