…Imo needs my experience, says Ohakim

Stanley Uzoaru and George Onyejiuwa, Owerri

Imo State Deputy  Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, has said he is most experienced and qualified than other aspirants who have lined up to succeed his boss, Governor  Rochas Okorocha in 2019.
Madumere, who made this known yesterday in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Uche Onwuchekwa, said he has learnt more from his boss to pilot the affairs of the state and consolidate on the achievements of the Rescue Mission administration.
Madumere said he has the right spirit and well prepared to take over the mantle of leadership, adding that he has the right temperament and experience to steer the ship of the state.
The deputy governor said he has “equally gathered more experience on the job than any aspirant, coupled with his exposure to the world best standards in governance.”
Madumere has continued to receive endorsements from various political groups across the state,  including women and youth organisations.
In a related development, immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim has declared that he will be contesting the gubernatorial election in 2019 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He said the state needs an experienced person to rebuild its battered economy, saying the biggest business in the state now is mortuary business as people are dying on daily basis because of the extreme hardship.
Ohakim, who stated this at the weekend during an interactive session with newsmen in the state, said he has decided to contest the governorship of the state for a second time, based on the enormous pressure on him by well meaning Imo citizens, who have realised the grave mistake the people made in 2011.
“I want to formally declare my intention to contest the governorship of the state for a second time because of the enormous pressure brought on me by well meaning citizens after realizing the grave mistake of 2011. I am not an aspirant but a contestant. I am not desperate to become a governor, but today, Imo State does not need somebody who is coming to experiment with the state like we have had in the last six and half years now, but an experienced person to rebuild the enormous damage done to the state by the current administration, otherwise, the state will sink deeper into the economic morass that it has already found itself. ”
Meanwhile, the state Chairman of the PDP, Charles Ekekwem, has declared that there would be no automatic ticket for anybody, whether for those who are currently at the National or State Assemblies.
He said all positions will be contested for.
This was just as member of the party’ Board of Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has appealed to members of the party who had left over one disagreement or the other to return to the party and join other stakeholders to reclaim the Government House in 2019.

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Ekekwem, who made the declaration at the stakeholders meeting held at the party`s secretariat in Owerri, stated  emphatically that nobody will be given special consideration, whether the person is currently serving as a member of the National or State Assembly as all positions must  be determined by the primaries.
He also dismissed the insinuations in some quarters that the state PDP has been hijacked by a cabal who now tele -guides the state executive on who should be given the party tickets.
“I want to state categorically that this state executive under my humble leadership will not , I repeat give any special consideration to any aspirant for any position in 2019 general election it does not matter whether they are serving members of the National Assembly or State Assembly every position must be contested at the primaries and it is the result that announced on the ground of the primaries that would be transmitted to Abuja.”

“I want to formally declare my intention to contest for the governorship of the state for a second time because of the enormous pressure brought on me by well meaning citizens of the state after realising the grave mistake of 2011. I am not an aspirant but a contestant.
He added, I am not desperate to become a governor, but today, Imo State does not need somebody who is coming to experiment with the state like we have had in the last six and half years now, but an experienced person to rebuild the enormous damage done to the state by the current administration, otherwise, the state will sink deeper into the economic morass that it has already found itself.”
The former governor said governance is not business but service to the people, noting that every sector in the state has been destroyed as the economy of the state has completely collapsed and that citizens of the state especially civil servants are finding it extremely difficult to feed their families.
“ People have always asked me what I forgot in the government house and my reply is that I am the only person who forgot something in the government house, because  governance is not business, like what we are seeing today, but service to the people.
Today, the biggest business in the state is mortuary business because people are dying on daily basis because of severe hardship. The private sector has collapsed in the state as most of the local contractors have packed up, the civil service has been destroyed and worst of all, state judges are owed about 18 months salaries, which is scandalous. I have written to the governor that if the judges are not paid by March, then I will lead a protest.
Continuing, if we do not have a regime change in 2019 it will be calamitous because security in the state will not be guaranteed because already kidnapping has become a daily affairs in the state”.
He said that as a governor he never allocated a plot of land to himself and he has only one house in Owerri which said he built in 1993 as a commissioner under the administration of late Evans Enwerem, stressing that the primary objective of governor of any state is the welfare of the people not turning the state into a private business empire while the people are left to starve.
“ No Imo people can say that his or her life is now better than it was between 2007 and 2011 during my tenure as the governor of the state because all the policies of my administration were tailored for the benefit of the people not for my personal acquisition. As a governor I never allocated a plot of land to myself and I have only house in Owerri which I had built as a commissioner under the administration of Evans Enwerem. So , my intention to be a governor for a second term is not because of material acquisition because I am satisfied with what I have. Today I pay myself N5 Million every month from my business and that it enough for me”.