Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Hausa community in Imo State on Tuesday pledged to support former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim to win the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Speaking during a meeting held at the Bolton Hotel, Owerri, the leader of the community in the state, Alhaji Audi Ajara, assured that every Hausa person in the state would vote for Ohakim in the governorship election, recalling that they had it rosy when he was governor between 2007 and 2011.
He lamented that they began to suffer when Ohakim lost the election in 2011, stressing that Ohakim was the only governor who supported, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua during his time of crisis and president of Nigeria.
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According to him, Ohakim was ganged up against and removed as governor in 2011 because of his support for Yar’Adua, noting that there was no governor so nice and committed like Ohakim.
He said: “When Ikedi Ohakim was governor we enjoyed so much. We did not have any problems. But when he lost the election in 2011 we knew what we suffered. We believe that when he becomes governor again one of us will become commissioner or S.A.
“We have never seen a governor so nice and committed like ex-governor Ohakim. We love him so much. He was the only governor who supported our brother, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. When Yar’Adua was sick and they wanted to remove him, it was Ohakim who said that Jonathan should answer acting president and not substantive president because Yar’Adua was still alive. They used that against him and that was why they ganged up and removed him in 2011, because of his ardent love and support for Yar’Adua.
“We know exactly what happened. That is why we have decided to stand by him also, coupled with how he treated us when he was governor. So, every Hausa person in Imo State will vote for Ohakim for the governorship election,” Ajara said.