Posted by Since the incumbent governor’s zone has held the governorship of Imo State for twenty years, the Owerri and Okigwe senatorial zones only have seven months and four years left to govern. This has prompted major stakeholders in the Owerri Senatorial Zone to criticize the charter of Equity.
In a statement received by BANKPAWA Owerri leaders under the auspices of the Coalition of Owerri Zone Socio-cultural Organizations and professional groups urged the people to resist the current effort to relegate their zone to the political waste bin of the Imo project.
Together with Sir Martin Opara, Secretary Planning Committee/President General, Olu Owerri, and seven other zone leaders, Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, wrote in a communique: “We stand on the CHARTER OF EQUITY which was propounded by Imo elders and founding fathers in good conscience, on the return of democracy in 1998.”
According to the communique, the people of the Owerri zone as a whole support all of the declaration’s claims that the Imo sociopolitical landscape has treated the Owerri zone, and by extension, its people, unfairly.
“After a careful and detailed analysis of the state of Imo today and the current position of the Owerri man in the Imo project, we urge the governor of Imo State to rededicate himself to the return of peace and security in our State and advice perpetrators of this strange plague in our land to shield their swords,” the document continues.
“We are worried at the increasing wave of insecurity in Imo State, which has resulted in the deaths of many innocent Imo indigenes, the destruction of numerous homes, and the displacement of many Imolites within their own state.
In the interest of peace, equity, and fairness, it is deeply regretted that “successive political actors” have continued to truncate this brotherly accord which recognized the tripod arrangement of Imo State and laid a foundation for power to rotate between the three sister Senatorial zones of Orlu, Owerri, and Okigwe.
We strongly denounce the destruction of the Nekede Zoe, an Imo cultural icon that has been a hub for education, pleasure, and tourism for generations of local youth and visitors.
“The rushed decision to demolish the monument, cart away all investments in the zoo, and propose to share the site without moving the facilities to a befitting location and transferring the zoo’s multi-billion species inhabitants is misguided, poorly intentioned, and deceitful.
To save our children’s future and preserve our ecology, we insist that the government reconsider its decision.
For a more powerful and successful showing on 11th November, 2023, we recommend that all of the candidates from the Owerri zone for governor of Imo work together and rally around a single candidate.
“We restate that there will be no better way to restore equity and fairness in Imo than supporting Owerri zone to produce the next governor of Imo State come 11th November, 2023,” the group wrote. “We urge Owerri electorates to wake up from slumber and vote for any credible Owerri zone Governorship candidate.”