By Amby Uneze
Following the fresh legal moves to sack Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State by some individuals, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has accused the governor of coercing traditional rulers of the state to embark on public protest as a prelude to seek public sympathy.
The PDP also accused the governor of receiving about N175.7 billion in the past seven months as a combination of revenue from various sources without any projects to show for it.
Speaking during a press conference in Owerri yesterday, the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Martin Ejiogu, said the party was constrained to react to such posture by the Uzodinma administration, “which exposes the traditional institution in the state to undue ridicule.”
According to the party, “we feel our royal fathers must not be coerced and compelled into such conduct as public protest for a matter that is purely that of Senator Uzodinma, that is capable of bringing shame and disgrace to not only them but also to the state. The cries of Imo pensioners have not only reached the ears of God Almighty, but also the ears of opposition class in the state.
“Therefore, it is understandable that by the high status of the traditional institution in our state, this regime must not force Ndieze Imo to embark on an unconscionable, self-ridiculing public protest over what they know nothing about.”
On the governance of the state, Ejiogu also alleged that “from our investigations and findings, this regime has received the total sum of N175.7 billion as a combination of revenue from the federation account for the state and local governments, as loans borrowed by the regime so far, as savings from ghost workers and pensioners uncovered by this regime, and as internally generated revenue by this regime.
“The point of worry is that much as the N175.7 billion revenue accrued to Imo State within the seven months of this is now known, the whereabouts of that Imo money is not known. It is not clear whether the money has been utilised.”
