Imo Guber: LP Candidate Alleges Conspiracy against Him

Amby Uneze in Owerri

The Imo State Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the November 11 governorship election, Senator Athan Achonu, has cried out over alleged conspiracy by successive administrations in the state to cripple his investments as a result of his vow to contest for the governorship position.

Achonu particularly pointed that while a  multi-billionaire ultra-modern hotel project he began in Owerri had been halted from completion, his refinery and an industrial park whose license he had secured from the appropriate quarters for  construction at Ohaji/Egbema to create jobs and wealth for the people have been blocked with a road.

Achonu, who spoke to newsmen at his campaign office in Owerri during which he unfolded part of his manifestos, said that he had lost N3 billion he invested in the project with a profit loss of over N9 billion from such unwarranted government policy, saying that “only former Governor Emeka Ihedioha apologised to me and begged me to complete it before he was ousted from office by the Supreme Court.”

With a slogan “Let’s Take Back Imo,” Achonu, who is a member of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), dismissed the notion that Imo State is a painted sepulchere that is bereft of basic infrastructure and reliable security.

He assured that if he is elected governor, he would place premium on maximum security for the protection of lives and properties, qualitative education, investment and meaningful development.

The Labour Party standard bearer who claimed to have contributed enormously towards the construction of the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport regretted that no single cargo aircraft had landed at the airport due to lack of reactivation.

He noted that while a number of businessmen of the state origin had their investments in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country with none in the state, he chose to make heavy investments at home but only to be frustrated by the government that is apprehensive of his towering personality and societal status because of partisan politics and to the detriment of the masses wallowing in hunger and starvation.

Boasting that he has no skeleton in the cupboard in respect of the execution of contracts awarded to him by the federal government, the politician who recently floated a Newspaper outfit dubbed “Ekwurekwu” with a license to establish a television station, advised journalists to always shun praise singing, sycophancy and desperation to make money in order not to compromise their professional ethics.

Achonu also dismissed as funny, baseless and an insult to his personality an insinuation in some quarters that he is being sponsored by Governor Hope Uzodinma to rock the boat for the Labour Party.

He said: “It is an insult for anybody to imagine or assume that somebody like me who has spent millions of dollars in investment would be sponsored by somebody.”

He explained that he was in the race as a result of pressures from individuals who believed in his capacity to change the narrative and take the state to a higher developmental horizon, transformation and growth, even as he advised the electorate to always hold their leaders accountable for their inability to live up to  expectation.

As a friend of the NLC and other trade unions who have the capacity to bring about the desired change, Senator Achonu recalled that he won his senatorial election some years back based on his credibility and acceptability to the electorate and the masses at large and without offering money to the voters while his opponents spent fortunes but still lost their deposits.