The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, has issued a quit notice to Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Ihedioha, who spoke at a public lecture in Owerri, the Imo State capital, at the weekend, said his emergence as the PDP candidate for the 2015 governorship election in the state meant an end to the reign of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
He asked Okorocha to prepare his handover note as “PDP will reclaim the state come May 29, 2015.”
He said Imo State under his watch would become a model of democracy, promising to bring his 12 years of legislative experience to bear in the governance of the state.
He said Imo would witness peace and rancour- free relationship among all its three arms of government.
Ihedioha also promised Imo citizens free and qualitative education if elected next year.
According to him, “If I am elected Governor of Imo State, education will be qualitative. We will reverse the recent poor result of Imo indigenes in WAEC and NECO Examinations.
“In the 2013 WAEC examination, Imo State scored an average of 46%, “whereas our neighboring states of Anambra and Abia scored 67% and 65% respectively.
This is unacceptable and must be reversed for the sake of the future of our children” he said.
He disclosed that the proposed constitution amendment makes basic education not just free and compulsory but a constitutional right. We believe that free education should not be a political gimmick”.
The Deputy House Speaker also slammed Okorocha for allegedly abolishing local government system in the state, saying the governor’s substitution of the council system with community development government was “strange to the Nigerian constitution.”
He accused Okorocha of “executive impunity” and that he had insulted the intelligence of the people of the state through “his various policies and programmes which are neither here or there.”
Ihedioha said, “He (Okorocha) said he is building new hospitals. What has happened to all the General Hospitals in the state? Why not rehabilitate them instead of building new ones on the roads or does he want vehicle to knock down our people as they go for medical attention?”
He accused the governor of maladministration and promised to reverse his “ill- advised policies” if voted into power. – Punch.
We are at a cross-road in Imo State. Ihedioha is good, Okorocha has projects he must complete, especially roads.