Congratulations to the Imo State Governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha for winning again at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal after the judiciary affirmed your victory in the last Imo Gubernatorial Election.
Like in other states of the federation where judgements have been delivered by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunals, the Imo State case was not different as the tribunal yesterday Saturday, September 21 validated your mandate to govern the Heartland State for the four years.
Expectedly, there is jubilation in the governor’s camp while there are gloom and sadness in the camps of the three opponents who took the case to the tribunal.
The trio of Mr. Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance (AA), Senators Ifeanyi Araraume of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Hope Uzodinma of All Progressive Congress (APC) had gone to the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Ihedioha as the winner of Imo State Governorship Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Imolites have waited for the latest tribunal’s judgement with much anxiety because the state would have been thrown into political confusion even as citizens are still reeling in the four years of bad governance of the immediate past administration.
The traumatised Imo electorates especially those who work or do businesses in the state cannot wait for Gov. Ihedioha to start delivering the dividends of Democracy which they voted for. Ndi Imo will want to see in concrete terms that the new government is embarking on human capital development programme and revatilization of the state critical infrastructures.
The citizens will urgently need the Governor to pay workers salaries, create employment opportunities, pay pensioners and create conducive environment for small and medium scale businesses to thrive.
He expected to fix collapsed public utilities, hospitals, roads and reposition Imo education sector which the last administration bastardised in the name of offering ‘Free Education’ programme.
Gov. Ihedioha, no doubt, has a Herculean task to Identify the immediate needs of Ndi Imo; Repair the dilapidated infrastructure and Undertake new challenges within the space of three years because he will use the fourth year to campaign for his re- election in 2023.
It is for this reason that every adult Imolite who has (Odinma Imo) the interest of Imolites at heart should come together to move our dear state forward.
But will Gov. Ihedioha’s three major challengers, Nwosu, Araraume and Uzodinma who came second, third and fourth in the last Imo Gubernatorial Election allow peace to reign in the land in the interest of development.
Can they bury their political ambitions for now and use the huge amount of money they will pay to their legal teams for charity work if they don’t have any other use for the money. I believe there are many of their close or distant relatives who are in dire need of money to survive. I dare say it.
Pursuing this matter upto the Supreme Court of Nigeria by the petitioners, (which is their right) can only add to the woes of ordinary citizens of Imo State. This is because the seating Governor will bother about how to survive the legal battles than settle down to govern.
This was the lot of the former Imo State Governor, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim whose administration from 2007 to 2011 suffered over 200 Governorship Election litigation with some of the petitioners going upto the Supreme Court.
Luckily, Ohakim defeated his main challenger and one of those challenging Ihedioha now in the Supreme Court but he was distracted for four years that he did not have much time to plan for his re-election and to deliver the dividend of democracy as he wanted.
I can bet with anybody that the “forces” who have held Imo State down political, economically and socially are at work against Gov. Ihedioha. They are like tse tse fly (odudu) which is perching dangerously on the man’s ‘engine room’.
Gov. Ihedioha and his camp should ask the drummers and praise-singers to go home for now so he can get on with the real job of governance. He has the task of clearing the debris left for him by the “Rescue Mission Government” that perfected the art of Iberiberism in the state.
Let Imo political elites stop the ‘Nshiko Politics’ where those who are not at helm of affairs do everything including protracted legal battles to distract the incumbent government.
Worse still, funds that will be used to Re-Build Imo State of our dreams will be used to service the legal team rather than fully being deployed to run the government.
Finally, let Imo political elites borrow a leaf from their four neighbouring states of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia where Governorship is religiously done on Zone by Zone basis every 8.years.
I rest my case.
