Governor Uzodinma says more governors will defect to the APC.
The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has challenged Nigerians to give reasons his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), should not win the 2023 general elections in the country.
Mr Uzodinma, who spoke with reporters on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said Mr Buhari’s administration had performed well.
He was responding to a question whether more governors from the South-east would defect to the APC.
“Not just from the South-east, many governors in Nigeria will join the APC,” Mr Uzodinma said.
Apparently referring to the high rate of insecurity in the country, the governor told reporters, “Part of the problem of this government is the deliberate attempt by some group of people to pull (it) down.
“Because nobody is telling me that this government is not performing, that salaries are not being paid or that the roads are not being constructed or the railway is not going or the various intervention funds to empower our youths are not being given out.
“Nobody has come in concrete terms to accuse this government of one failure or the other. All we hear is that herdsmen and farmers are fighting and for that reason 200 people are kidnapped. People are shot down there, people are killed there.
“What do you want the government to do? We must be realistic. I believe in pragmatism. I believe in doing things right. Can anybody come and tell me one, two, three, four reasons why this APC should not win in the next election?
“All I hear is that because of insecurity this, insecurity that. But you send people out in the night to go and cause trouble and use it in the day to blame the government,” the governor said.
Mr Uzodinma’s view is in contrast with the belief held by many Nigerians that the country’s economy has deteriorated under Mr Buhari’s watch, besides the spate of killings in different parts of the country.
The administration’s suspension of Twitter, a social microblogging site, is also likely to render President Buhari unpopular among several Nigerians, especially the youth.