The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has described as disastrous, the two years reign of Hope Uzodinma as the Governor of the state. PDP in a statement issued by its state publicity secretary, Emenike Nmeregini, on Monday, accessed the two year anniversary of Uzodiinma as governor and accused him of underperforming. The main opposition party said that within two years, the Uzodinma’s administration had politicised insecurity in the state and had allowed bandits, kidnappers and terrorists to overrun the state. It also alleged that the state was now the unemployment capital of the country, owing to bad governance. According to the PDP, the state is now the most indebted state in the South-East zone, owing to what it called bogus borrowing with improper utilisation of the funds by the Uzodinma’s administration. The statement read, “The people of Imo State and Nigerians will recall that on January 14, 2020, a bizarre and controversial Supreme Court judgement truncated the popular mandate which Imo people had freely given to our party through our flagbearer, His Excellency, Emeka Ihedioha CON, at the March 9, 2019 governorship election. That judgement also enthroned the generally disputed, illegitimate regime of Senator Hope Uzodinma. “Aside from the adverse implications of that ruling on the nation’s electoral jurisprudence and freedom of choice, the regime has in the last two years foisted the most reprehensible administration upon the people of Imo State. “The illegitimate regime of Senator Uzodinma has without remorse, abdicated the primary obligation of government as prescribed by the Constitution, which is the security of lives and property. Rather, it has politicised an unfortunate security situation in the state which has continued to gulp countless innocent lives, every day. Today, bandits, terrorists, cannibals, kidnappers and unknown gunmen are almost overrunning the state. “It is curious that Senator Uzodinma, until now, has yet to refute a very weighty allegation by the senator representing his own senatorial district who accused him of being the mastermind of a deadly hit squad that is backed by his administration. Most areas in Orlu Zone are currently under the firm grip of gunmen, a situation that has thousands of our citizens internally displaced. “Our party and indeed the people of Imo State regret that Senator Uzodinma suspended and summarily dismantled all the foundations and programmes our Rebuild Imo administration painstakingly put in place in all the sectors towards the rebuilding of Imo State. “Our government commenced the Treasury Single Account, autonomy for local government system, Technical and Skills Development Colleges, Automated Payment System for prompt payment of salaries and pensions, agricultural revolution, infrastructural revolution, civil service reform, the revival of ISOPADEC, technology and ICT development, qualitative free education etc. “These and other programmes of the Rebuild Imo Administration were dumped by Uzodinma even when he embarked on a borrowing spree, in most cases, nocturnally, which has placed Imo as the most indebted state in the entire South East. This is worrisome given that the regime still cannot point to any landmark project it has done in two years to justify the huge borrowings. “Last year alone, the regime accessed over N59 billion loans from foreign and domestic sources. This year, 2022, Senator Uzodinma has perfected plans to borrow an additional N61 billion. When added to well over N103 billion which has come to the local government areas from FAAC under Uzodinma, the N105 billion which has come to the State, the N24 billion which the State has internally generated and the N10 billion which represents the 13% Oil Derivation, it is heartbreaking that there is nothing in Imo to show for the monies. “This is obviously not the Imo State we envisioned for our children. Within the years under review, Senator Uzodinma has had neither a well-researched policy nor direction in the various sectors of the state. This is the calamity that has befallen our state. “Our party notes with great pain that within two years, Senator Uzodinma has made our state, Imo, the unemployment capital of Nigeria. It is noteworthy that the relevant rating board, the Presidential Business Enabling Environment Council, has consistently placed Imo at the lowest rung of the ladder in terms of ease of doing business in Nigeria. Worse still, within two years, our state ranks highest in the South-East in terms of infant and maternal mortality rates. “Imo has collapsed under Gov. Uzodinma. In the past two years, Senator Uzodinma has wilfully denied workers and retirees their salaries and pensions. When workers stage protests, they are tagged fake and brutalised by agents of the government. Also, the local government system has been completely emasculated, defunded and stripped of autonomy, thus, giving way for mass misery at the grassroots. “We wish to encourage the people of Imo State to keep the spirit alive. This regime must expire very soon to give way for a PDP led government for the good of the people.” When contacted for reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, dismissed the PDP’s claims and disclosed that he would officially respond to the allegations “in the next two hours”.

Governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC rose from their meeting Sunday night in Abuja with a resolution to go ahead with the national convention of the party in February. No fewer than 20 of the governors were at the meeting which took place behind closed doors at the Kebbi state Governor’s Lodge in the Asokoro District of Abuja. The meeting ended at about 11:30 pm. The governors were said to be divided as to whether to go on with the convention in February shift it to a later date. Among governors in attendance at the meeting were Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Mohammed Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi). Others were Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Babajide Sanwoolu (Lagos), Simon Bako Lalong (Plateau), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Ben Ayade (Cross River), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti). Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, Chairman of the Forum and Kebbi state Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said the forum passed a vote on confidence on Gov. Buni and two other governors in the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee – Abubakar Sani Bello and Gboyega Oyetola. He said the governors also agreed to go ahead with the national convention slated for February. He however did not give a specific date, saying the CECPC would have to consult with other stakeholders so harmonize all positions and announce a suitable date.

The National Assembly should not override the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over the stalemate on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has cautioned. According to him, since 2010, the country have not had any substantive improvement on electoral laws, while in the 2021 Electoral Bill, there were a lot of substantive things. Jega said this on Sunday night Abuja during a Citizens’ Town Hall meeting on Electoral Bill 2021 organised by Yiaga Africa and development partners. At the event, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State highlighted the position of governors saying they were not against direct primaries. Jega said, “With the way the provisions of the bill stand, the National Assembly should do the needful, rather than contemplating overriding the President by removing the contentious provisions.” He said that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill contained quite a lot of good things that could enhance electoral integrity. According to him, what was key was to give INEC the law to improve ahead of the 2023 general election and also the off-season elections before the 2023 polls. He said, “The challenge is what the National Assembly introduced in the Electoral Bill which is without serious contemplation. It is very important that we have a lot of legal framework. “I think clearly that the electoral process would have better integrity if we do direct primaries appropriately. “Any governor that manipulates direct primaries can also manipulate the primaries indirectly.” He also said that INEC made 31 recommendations to the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act to conduct credible elections, but the National Assembly only approved 25 of the recommendations. On his part, Sule said the 36 state governors “are not afraid of direct primaries as being alleged by some Nigerians.” He said what they opposed was limiting the choices of the people. “In the APC constitution, we have three options: consensus, direct primaries and indirect primaries. “The option should be left open and it will not be a surprise that some parties may even adopt direct primaries,” Sule said. He said that governors were happy with the contributions made into the bill and from what he had heard, everyone was saying the same thing, thus the issue of the direct primaries should be removed. Sule said, “I am not the closest (person) to the President but working with the President all this while, I can say that President Buhari would sign the bill into law once the right things are done.” Also, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Apata, said, “I am so disappointed with the way things have turned up. Everything about the Electoral Bill spelt progress but we can’t get it right if steps are not taken. “Everything about the bill spells progress for the country. The bill should have been passed long ago. The President and the National Assembly being of the same party should have ironed this out to avoid this logjam.” The NBA president also said that the booby trap set may catch up with the nation and send the country back to square zero. He, therefore, urged the National Assembly to take out the provision of direct primaries and transmit immediately to the President for assent, who should be given the benefit of the doubt. The Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said the timely passage of the bill would be in the interest of deepening democracy and national development. Itodo said the non-passage of the bill into law had robbed Nigerians the opportunity of implementing important innovations for the forthcoming FCT council election and the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states. On her part, Samuela Isopi, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said getting the electoral laws right was in the interest of democratic development. “What is good for Nigeria is good for the world”, she said. On his part, the Executive Director, The Albino Foundation, Jake Ekpelle, said he had never voted till he was 58 years and now that he is 61, meaning that he had been disenfranchised for 58 years because the electoral law put it as INEC may not have taken care of PWDs’ interest. He said, “Now that the new bill put “is” as ‘shall’, it means that INEC is being mandated to ensure that the PWDs are mainstreamed into the nation’s electoral system. “I hope to see a time the PWDs would be elected deputy governors, governors, vice president and one day be elected the president of Nigeria,” he said. Also, the National Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani, said the National Assembly didn’t carry political parties and other stakeholders along. He said despite the advancement of democracy in the United States, it still operated delegate system and not direct primaries, hence the lawmakers should remove the contentious clauses. On her part, a former presidential candidate, KOWA Party, Prof. Remi Sonaiya, said, “We should look beyond the letter and look at the spirit of the conduct of elections itself. I would like to join the cause to remove direct primaries clause, if that is the problem so the bill can be passed.” The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said that time was running out and that the National Assembly must remove the controversial bits of the electoral bill, and get everything ready ahead of the 2023 elections. He wondered why Nigeria was not keying into the ECOWAS and African Union resolutions that electoral law should be ready one year before elections. Also, the Chairman of the Partners for Electoral Reform, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said, “There are some elite conspiracy around not giving Nigerians a law that can strengthen electoral integrity. “The way it was done in the past was to delay the passage till when it was too late and Nigerians would be forced to say, after all we have something on the ground and the old law that didn’t help the nation’s democracy would be used”, Nwagwu said.