George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Emeka Ihedioha, has alleged that the administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha has left the state prostrate.
Ihedioha said in spite of the over trillion naira, which the Okorocha government received between 2011 and 2018, the state is bedevilled with rapid decay of public infrastructure, crippling debt burden of over N100 billion without any meaningful infrastructure to show for it.
Ihedioha, who said this yesterday, at Ubomiri in Mbaitoli Council of the state, during his campaign rally, said Imo State has lately become a laughing stock among the comity of states in Nigeria, as the once thriving economy of the state is now in ruins, following alleged purposeless leadership and greed.
“The last seven years of the APC maladministration, characterised by flagrant disregard to principles of rule of law and good governance, has completely destroyed the foundations laid by our founding fathers, dis-articulated a thriving economy; eroded the significance of our vibrant civil service; lowered the educational standards; chased away investors through policy inconsistencies; confiscated our lands, expropriated/misappropriated our commonwealth and systematically reduced our collective esteem as a people.”
The former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, who promised to rebuild the state if elected as the next governor of the state come March 2, lamented that the health sector “is in a complete state of decay” as Umuguma General Hospital is the only functional general hospital in the state.
He also said the education sector has equally collapsed as there are lack of qualified teachers in mathematics, physics, chemistry and technical drawing, while, according to him, the state owned tertiary institutions have also collapsed as a result of lack of funding.
Ihedioha urged Imo people to cast their votes for him and all PDP candidates, including the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, “to reclaim both the state and the country from the rudderless leadership that has impoverished the people.”
He said: “My mission is to rebuild, reposition and transform Imo into a modern ecosystem for education, agriculture, industry, tourism, culture, sports, entertainment, human capital development, science and technology. I will introduce due process, openness, transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business, unlike the current opaque system, which has been the hallmark of the Okorocha led APC government.”
The PDP candidate also promised to revisit and review the current distortions in the Owerri master plan and that his administration will re-introduce transparency in the management of land as it pertains acquisition, allocation, compensation and dispossession.