What is Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State always looking for at the Presidential Villa? This is one question many analysts asked when he was spotted in a photograph with President Muhammadu Buhari last weekend during a courtesy visit.
The Imo State governor is accused by his political opponents of not concentrating on governing the state. They have wondered why he can’t he always stay back and solve the security challenges confronting the state, and also save his state the huge resources associated with his frequent trips to the Villa.
Since Uzodimma became governor in January 2020, his state has become the hotbed of insecurity in the South-east with news of killings, arson, abductions and ritualist-related killings dominating the media. Consistently, he has always blamed the opposition and exonerated himself.
Initially, the governor had blamed insecurity in the state on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). But after being tackled by the group, he recanted and shifted the blame to a former governor of the state and senator representing Imo West senatorial district, Rochas Okorocha.
But Okorocha and other stakeholders, including separatist agitators accused the governor of being behind the insecurity in the state, accusing him of attempts to silence those who are not happy with his style of governance.
It is not in doubt that once in while governors visit the president to brief him on issues concerning their states. But Uzodimma’s trip to the Villa has become too frequent. Even the governors of terrorist-ravaged states in the North such as Kaduna, Niger, Zamfara and Borno who are also in the same political party with the president, do not visit the Presidential Villa like Uzodimma.
Even Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State who manages the biggest economy in the country, and equally in the same political party with the president does not run to the Presidential Villa like Uzodimma. This is why many are wondering what he is always looking for.
As the 2023 general election is approaching, many are concerned that the governor may soon add members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to his list of those sponsoring mayhem in the state.
