By Onyekachi Eze
A former Commissioner for Labour in Imo State, Prince Ford Ozumba has been reinstated to office after some months of being away from the Imo State Executive Council.
Ozumba held sway as the Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity under the Hope Uzodimma’s led administration in Imo State until sometime earlier this year.
In a latest press statement from the Government House, Owerri, yesterday, obtained by Trumpeta Newspaper, the erstwhile Commissioner from Orsu Council Area of the State was reinstated to continue from where he stopped under the same Ministry.
Following some unconfirmed reasons behind his ouster ab initio, Uzodimma has made a U-turn in having the Prince of Orsu Kingdom back to his Cabinet.
Although, reports had it that Ozumba’s ordeal may not be unconnected to the botched Media Awards which the Governor was absent due to in-house misunderstanding among the Commissioner and Governor’s eye in the system.
Another straw that broke the camel’s back was linked to the Labour Union and Imo Government imbroglio which resulted to halt most of the State’s economy.
In public fora, it was expected that as Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, he should have doused all tension before the strike action by the Petroleum Marketer’s Association that escalated between NLC National President and Imo Government. This resulted to petrol scarcity across the twenty-seven LGAs of the State.
However, jubilation has once more erupted among the fans of the sacked Commissioner for his reinstatement in the Labour Ministry.
In most of the social media platforms monitored by this Newspaper, especially the Senator Osita Izunaso’s camp where Prince Ford Ozumba serves as the Campaign Director General, felicitations have trailed his reinstatement.
To others, they considered his involvement back to Uzodimma’s government as a welcome development following his many years of active service in successive Governments.
In a related development, Ozumba’s return, as most political pundits predict, would benefit the Governor Hope Uzodimma’s second term chances in Orsu LGA.
Recall that amongst the most troubled LGAs in the State with cases of the unknown gunmen mayhem, Orsu LGA is worse.
Being a strong political actor from the area, Uzodimma may have considered the gains from reinstating Prince Ozumba, hence the action.
