State of State Address: PDP faults Uzodimma, bemoans devastating insecurity, infrastructure decay in Imo
BY: EMMANUEL CHUKWUMA, ENUGU.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Imo State chapter has challenged the governor, Hope Uzodimma, on the spate of insecurity and infrastructure decay ravaging the state.
This is even as they urged him to put adequate mechanisms in place, to arrest this ugly situation and stop playing to the gallery.
The party submitted that the address represents the same old empty rhetoric, highlighting that Uzodinma falsely claimed his administration had subdued the issue of insecurity.
This was made known through a statement made available to newsmen by the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Hon. Lancelot Obiaku.
The party highlighted that the governor’s address represents a dull, uninspiring moment and not different from the one he delivered a year and a half ago.
The party explained that Uzodinma essentially repeated the same script with an edited version containing a new set of lies and make-believe.
The publicity Secretary revealed that the governor once more spent considerable time blaming an unnamed opposition for the insecurity that has plagued the state since his alleged controversial rise to power in 2020.
“In reality, many areas, including Okigwe, Onuimo, Ihitte-Uboma, Owerri West, Oguta, Ngor-Okpala, Orsu, and Orlu LGAs, remain under siege from hoodlums, kidnappers, terrorists, and organ harvesters.”
The PDP revealed that the governor conveniently forgot the tragic incident that occurred on May 6, 2025, when 26 passengers were kidnapped on the Owerri-Aba road, and one of them was reportedly shot dead on the spot by suspected Fulani terrorists. The whereabouts of the remaining 25 are still unknown.
“Furthermore, on May 8, in what has become a routine attack in the LGA, unknown gunmen targeted Umuna in the Okigwe LGA, burning over 20 trucks, destroying shops, and reportedly taking more than 20 innocent lives, leaving many families in mourning.
“The party also recalled the numerous lives lost in the Agwa community in Oguta, where over 100 people have fallen victim to attacks by suspected Fulani terrorists. Amakohia-Ubi in Owerri West LGA has been experiencing constant lethal attacks from similar sources lately. In that community, many cases of kidnapping by the same sect have been recorded.
“This is the situation in some parts of Avu, Obinze and Okuku, and it is clear that the cases of kidnapping, ritual killings and terrorist attacks on communities are spreading like wildfire across Imo State with many communities now captured by the terrorists.”
The party indicated that Uzodinma’s denial could be described as tantamount to, he saw these recent deadly attacks and deliberately turned a blind eye just to pretend that his administration has not failed to secure the lives and property of the citizenry.
“This is not just the height of his irresponsibility but also beastly callousness. He does not feel the pain and agony of the people, he claims to have been elected to serve. What a failure”.
Hon. Obiaku stressed that to crown it all, after spending over an hour massaging his ego and reeling off his purported achievements, Uzodinma did not tell Imo people how much has accrued to the state, both as federal allocation to the state, local governments, intervention funds and internally generated revenue, in the last five years, and how they were spent.
PDP explained that, it is disturbing the governor feels that being accountable means to spend taxpayers’ money every 18 months to organise an expensive state address, to blame people and exalt himself as though the governance of the state is his private business while neglecting the nitty-gritty of such an activity.
“To the party, Uzodimma could not answer questions about contract claims by his administration, to say to whom they were awarded, when, how, and for how much. Where lies accountability and transparency?”
The party emphasized that the address by Uzodimma like the previous ones is a mere jamboree, worthless and designed to showcase emptiness.
