By Charles Adingupu
As the November Governorship election draws near for a number of states, the Imo Governor, Hope Uzodimma who plans to run a second term had disclosed that the state was completely bereft of any development when he assumed office on 15th January, 2020.
Uzodimma who likened the abysmal under-development in the state orchestrated by his immediate Predecessor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, to a cemetery, said he had had to exhumed it from the grave.
He disclosed that he was able to inject life into the state after harvesting information from “official and unofficial quarters.”
The Governor on Wednesday, said the state was in a state of disrepair when he took over the mantle of leadership.
“Given the situation in Imo State before 2020 when I became the governor and it’s current situation today, 2023, three years after, a lot of things are there for people to now know that there is a huge difference,” Uzodimma said during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“When I came to Imo State, I met a moribund state that was in distress. A state, I can even say, that was in the cemetery; I exhumed the body.
“Can you imagine a state where I came as the governor and everybody absconded? No handover note. There was no compass for me to navigate the aircraft.”
Uzodimma added that he “re-established” the civil service, created a payroll, and began to rehabilitate all the infrastructure which he described as dilapidated.
“The infrastructure deficit was so huge, all the roads were not motorable, all the hospitals were not working. I started,” he said.
As the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, the governor is seeking re-election in the state’s governorship election scheduled for November 11, 2023.
Other candidates include Samuel Anyawu (PDP), Senator Athan Achonu (Labour Party), Anthony Ejiogu (All Progressives Grand Alliance), and Ikenga Okere (Accord Party).
