BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – Ahead of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Imo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of the State, Ikedi Ohakim, have described the much-touted Imo Charter of Equity as ‘seriously misleading’.
Anyanwu, who addressed his campaign team, the Divine Mandate Movement (DMM), at the PDP Secretariat along Okigwe road in Owerri, the Imo State capital, told newsmen that the immediate past Governor Emeka Ihedioha, flagged off the Imo Charter of Equity but the arrangement was allegedly disrupted by incumbent Governor Hope Uzodimma.
According to Anyanwu, who represented Imo East Senatorial district in the Eighth (8th) Senate, if Governor Uzodimma, now canvassing the position had believed in the Imo Charter of Equity, he should have allowed Ihedioha to finish his tenure as governor.
He said; “Imo Charter of equity started when Ihedioha was in power. We are out to bring it back. Uzodimma destroyed it and he is talking of the charter of equity. He should have allowed Ihedioha to continue if he believed in it.
“On November 11, our votes must count. We are going to be the governor and deputy governor. You will see it. Do not be afraid. Go and vote. Leave the rest for me. They cannot do anything. They want to scare you. Do not be afraid. I will face them.
“The Imo people are tired. I am going to make Imo safe again. The Government House is waiting for us the PDP to take over. Look at our local governments. No Local Government Council Chairman, no counsellor. How do you create employment for the people?
“When the PDP was in government, things were moving on well. I will govern Imo from Imo State and not from outside.”
Towing the same path of rejecting the Imo Charter of Equity, former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, told newsmen in Owerri that the said document was not only misleading but also fell short of some expectations by the people.
He said the noticeable gaps were part of the reasons it was difficult to convince the people to embrace it as a working document for the State’s political structure going forward.
