Sophia Michaels
The PDP member of the House of Representatives for Ideato South and North seat, Ikenga Ugochinyere, has pointed accusing fingers at the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, for allegedly attacking him before the 2023 general elections.
In an interview with Arise Nicki swift on Thursday, Ugochinyere alleged that Uzodinma sent hoodlums after him which led to the eventual death of his uncle and other people.
Ugochinyere said that he had no issues with Uzodinma until the issue of the compromise of the voters’ register was raised that the governor started to threaten him and brought different lawsuits against him.
He said, “Come November, our people are going to vote, and we are going to vote in the line of what is morally right, what is sustainable, what will make our people in Imo to sleep with two eyes closed. And I must say it categorically, what the governor of Imo State did to me was wrong, was unfair, was morally bad, was even to some extent, criminal.
“I didn’t do anything to him, I didn’t have any issue with him, this is somebody I have known for a very long time, and all of a sudden, you declare war on a young man that did not do anything to you. Almost over 15 charges that is made up of treason, murder, rape, arson, and so on and so forth. I never killed anybody, I never bombed anywhere. That I raised the issue of the voter register compromise has nothing to do with you unless you are the one that is involved, maybe that’s why you’re finding it very uncomfortable and you started attacking.”
The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed that he had been continually threatened during this time, but nobody had come to his aid when he reported the issue.
Ugochinyere then referred to the incident in which his convoy was allegedly attacked by one of Uzodinma’s underlings.
He said: “On January 14th, fire and bomb were brought to our doorstep,” as he recounted the deaths of several people, including his uncle.
“I escaped because God wants me to be alive, and then all he could say what to say that I brought it upon myself. How do you call yourself a leader? Those that took oath of office to protect lives and property and you say that you are aware that some people were coming to bomb and execute me and you kept quiet so that you can carry it.”
Speaking on the lawsuits against him and the fact that he had been declared persona non grata in Imo state, he said, “I think that those issues of declaring me persona non grata has gone through the process of the court up to about 12 or 14 litigations where the court quashed most of those allegations and most of those declarations, especially from the controversial commissioner of police, who you are aware was the same man who went to Adamawa to try to overthrow to democratic process by trying to announce a woman that did not win the governorship election the winner of an election even when election has not ended, it was that same commissioner of police.
“So, you need to understand the kind of people that are declaring me persona non grata, these are people who are supposed to be in jail for what they did in Adamawa. So, I don’t think I have anything to fear because the law is on our side. We have gotten judgements of the court that, you know, quashed all those baseless and fabricated charges and we will be going home more often to be able to unite with our people. There is nothing that is going to stop me from going home, nobody can stop me from going home.”
