The continuous absence of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma at the meetings of the South East and the entire Southern governors where issues affecting the zone are discussed with a view to proffering solutions, has elicited curiosity and given rise to unhealthy speculations and insinuations by concerned Imo people who are not comfortable with the development, including the Peoples Democratic Party PDP which described the development as not only perplexing but also an exhibition of guilt and inferiority complex.
The major opposition party stated this in a release issued by its Director General New Media, Collins Opuruzor in a release dated July 6, 2021.
According to the release, “the People’s Democratic Party, Imo State Chapter, and indeed the people of Imo State are embarrassed and worried that Senator Hope Uzodinma has become notorious for his unexplained absence from all fora where Governors of the seventeen States in the Southern Nigeria gather to deliberate on very critical issues affecting the region and Nigeria.
When the Southern Governors’ Forum, at the peak of national security crisis, met in Asaba, Delta State two months ago, Senator Uzodinma was conspicuously absent. Even when far-reaching decisions – ban on open grazing, rejigging of the country’s security architecture, etcetera – were taken, Senator Uzodinma was absent and has till date kept mum.
Senator Uzodinma, again, chose to distance himself from the meeting of Southeast Governors’ Forum held last month in Enugu, Enugu State.
Just yesterday, Monday, 5th July, 2021, Southern Governors’ Forum again, had an all-important meeting in Lagos State, hosted by Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu, a member of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, yet Uzodinma was nowhere to be found.
It is further perplexing that while Senator Uzodinma has maintained a suspicious distance from gatherings of duly elected governors to brainstorm on burning regional and national issues with a view to finding lasting solutions to the challenges, he has instead saddled himself with parties with expensive wines and champagnes.
