Ugwu: PDP Is Party to Beat in November Imo Guber Poll

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State, Charles Ugwu, in this interview with Chuks Okocha, talks about the preparedness of the party to wrestle power from incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma during the November 11, 2023 gubernatorial poll in the state.

The ban on politics has been lifted in Imo State. How are the political parties preparing for the Nov. 11 governorship poll in thr state?

As far as I know all the political parties have selected their candidates; the PDP, APC, APGA, Labour party. These are the front runners and have selected their candidates and filled their ticket holders. But as far as campaigns are concerned, only PDP has started. I haven’t seen any campaigns yet from the ruling APC. They are busy trying to buy up opinion leaders by dangling pieces of carrot to them.

So only the PDP has started campaigns. Our candidate, Senator Sam Anyanwu, has moved on to talk to people at the local government level, preparing them for a more aggressive campaign. We are going to mobilize the LG structures and the ward structures. So he is the only one I know that has actually started the campaign.

APGA has no campaign that I have heard of. Labour Party has been in a great deal of squabbles and confusion as to who the candidate is and they are in court trying to resolve who flies their flag.

As I speak to you now, I don’t know who is the official candidate of Labour party.

So I will say that PDP has started campaign, our candidate is going round within the party structure. Once that is finished, he will embark on a wider campaign, asking people to vote for him, providing his programme and agenda and defining his strategy for some of the things he’s planning to do.

From the events we have seen, it looks like Governor Hope Uzodimma deliberately started buying and putting candidates in these other parties and that is why there is so much conflict in there. The other subterfuge and strategy he is using is buying up certain elders to speak out in favour of him. How that will work against the poor performance that people are experiencing, I don’t know?

How prepared is PDP for the November election.

 The PDP is preparing seriously for victory in the election. First of all we are working on uniting the party and heal from the setback of the general elections. There is despondency all over the place and it affected Imo. So we are making serious attempt at winning the governorship election in Imo state. That is the internal thing we are doing in the party prior to going to launch a big public campaign to the populace all over the state.

There are so much concerns on security, infrastructure in your state. What is your party offering the people as solution to those challenges?

The PDP is approaching the people on the basis of the changes we propose to make on the polity in terms of stability, peace and security. That is a very important element in the campaign.

So far, Governor Uzodimma is taking advantage of the high level of poverty in the state, talking to the political class and trying to entice them with the resources he is able to garner from the federal allocation.

He is using the loans to buy his way into the populace. The populace is depressed, there are so much hunger and anguish in the land, so he is taking an advantage of that.

But we are confident and we know that the people will vote for PDP. People want good governance; they know that Hope Uzodimma is not providing good governance.

In the last election, what the APC did was a gun boat fight and going with Armored Personnel Carriers that brought fear into people; they drove away those that are managing the elections and wrote the results.

That was the approach they used during the last election. They are attacking individuals and harassing the people. So there is some level of despondency and agony about that. The people are saying alright, let’s pray that the election runs well so that there will be a change. So, if we were to get good policing, secured democratic election process here, I believe that PDP will win hands down.

What is the alternative the PDP is offering to the people in the face of insecurity?

Our alternative is to vote out this government and bring in good government for the state. That is why the people are yearning for a free and fair election. They are determined to vote out this government and install a government that will do the right thing.

How would rate the Hope Uzodimma administration since its inception?

The resources of the state are not being properly managed. Everybody knows that his government is not doing well. The government is a failure in terms of infrastructure delivery , in terms of education, in terms of industrial environment.

For example, entrepreneurs that have set up several industries here in Imo, there are no roads to pass to your factory. You can’t go from here to Enugu just like that, you have to plan it. You have to put in some subterfuge that will enable you to disguise, so the situation is awful.

You can go round to Nekede to see road that he said that he has built. I have an industry in Nekede, I am not able to reach there. The vehicles I have to go there are trucks, you can’t go with your car to Nekede. The road is flooded and unpassable. There is security and infrastructure issues and businesses are collapsing. So the environment is depressing and virtually all the productive industries in Imo state are paralyzed.

Gov Uzodimma is not accountable to anybody. Most of the young entrepreneurs in the state have exited. All the industries are down. There is no infrastructure, there is nothing that will make you hope that tomorrow, business will improve.

I want you to move around and see whether there is any construction going on because it is those economic activities that lead to job creation. There is real agony here and that is why we are appealing to the government to allow us to have free and fair election here so that people can express their will and their choice of governance.

Looking at the infrastructural deficit in the state, do you think that Senator Samuel Anyanwu has what it takes to fix Imo?

Of course. our candidate, Senator Sam Anyanwu has what it takes to fix Imo State.

A PDP government in Imo state will bring in the right ideas and that is what we are offering; good governance based on our manifesto and determination to work for the people, improve the economy, uplift education and dealing with issues of security. That is what the people are waiting for.

So, I think that PDP has a lot more to offer to Imo State in terms of general development, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of peace and security. But to get that good governance, we first have to deal with the issue of election. We have to make sure that the election is conducted in a free and fair manner. That is what we are hoping that the federal government should do. In a fair environment, we expect that PDP will deliver better facilities and better opportunities for the people of Imo state.

On the issue to power rotation and equity, does you candidate fit into that arrangement?

 If you follow the unwritten understanding, it is the turn of Owerri Zone to present a candidate in the simple rotation we have because we had Governor Achike Udenwa, we had Governor  Ohakim and Governor Rochas Okorocha who is from Orlu and then Governor Uzodimma came on board from a suspect system. He did not win the election but he was awarded the election through processes we don’t consider to be fair and just and therefore to impose himself now, he is struggling to show that he is popular by buying his way and muscling the people to give him a chance to rewrite the election.

PDP governors in their last election called for free and fair election in the off-season elections. In view of the security inadequacies in the state, what is your message to INEC, Police, Army?

We demand that the environment be made conducive for us to have free and fair election. If this is democracy, then let the people choose. Hope Uzodimma maintains a fleet of Armored Personnel Carriers which he uses  during the election. He showed it in the last election, it was clear.

How come that Hope Uzodimma is able to take 26 LGAs, 26 State Assembly positions in Imo state. How did he do it?  They wrote results, people didn’t vote for him.

So what the governors said is the truth and the federal government must act and ensure adequate security for the people to come out and vote freely. There has to be a change in attitude.

The current situation in Imo is not a pleasant one and that is why we are saying the election process must be reformed and improved upon so that there will be free and fair election. But despite these, the PDP is strong in Imo. We are strengthened because we have the people behind us.

You alleged that the Resident Electoral Commissioner is working closely with the State governor. Will you be calling on INEC to do something drastic about the situation?

Yes, we have called for the REC to be removed. We matched to the INEC office, we wrote strongly to Abuja, we spoke severally to the election monitors and we are insisting on our position.

 From observation, people are comfortable with your candidate and they seem not to be afraid of the armored tank. They believe your candidate is popular.

Yes, the people believe in our candidate. They have very high hopes and expectations and desire for better circumstances. That is why we want them to remove any interference and allow the people to come and vote freely and ensure that the will of the people prevailed.

You are saying that PDP is fully prepared for this election?

Yes we are. We believe that we shall win the election and we ask the Federal Government to do all they need to do to prepare a fair ground for free and fair poll to take place.