*Imo State Governor-elect, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha CON, has restated his resolve to run an inclusive and transparent government targeted at giving meaning to life for the people of Imo State.
According to a statement by his media aide, Chibuike Omyeukwu, the Governor Elect spoke after being declared winner of the governorship contest by Prof. Francis Otonta, Imo State Returning Officer for the Saturday’s governorship election.
He said, “I will put Imo back to life. We shall get Imo working again. We will get the system functioning and running again. We shall reintroduce in our state, a deliberate administration and by the grace of God, get back to the basics and revive our cultural heritage to give meaning to life. We shall revive our ethical system and reinvigorate our infrastructure. I can assure you that Imo people made the right choice and we will prove it in the coming months.
On his message for his fellow contestants, he said, “quite honestly for my co-contestants, I congratulate and thank all of them for a very good race that brought the best of all of us. For me, Imo is one and under my watch, we will unite everybody. I want to assure also that under my watch, there will be no Okigwe zone, no Orlu zone, no Owerri zone. It does not matter where one comes from. Under my watch as the Governor of the state, we will try to incorporate everybody because I believe that my compatriots who contested for governorship in other political parties have ideas that will benefit the state. We shall work together for the benefit of Imo State. I will make efforts to invite and incorporate them in my government. I believe anyone who has anything to offer to our state is welcomed irrespective of party affiliation.
While answering questions on the specific areas of focus for his administration, he said, “Good governance will be fundamental, because we basically have not had good governance in Imo state for such a long time. We are going to look at institutional and infrastructural development. Fundamentally, we are going to look at areas of job and wealth creation which will define our future. We shall respect the rule of law, revive the public and civil service sector, with deliberate attention to education and health care delivery system. Agriculture will be a major stake-holding sector in our economy and we will take advantage of the fact that Imo is an oil producing state with huge gas reserve that will reinvigorate our development in several areas.
The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who scored 273,404 to win the governorship seat, said, “you will notice a lot of youth restiveness in Imo. It is a major burden and so in creating jobs, we have to identify areas and sectors we shall provide these jobs. Fundamentally, without power, we cannot industrialize hence we are going to pursue immediately plans towards getting the power sector to work. To achieve this, we have to interface with the federal government. Already, I understand how the federal institutions work and so I will work hand in glove with them to ensure that the power projects in Imo are completed. If we achieve this, it will revive and activate the industrial sector.”
While calling on the federal government to assist in the rebuilding process for Imo State, he said, “I wish Mr. President well and I am hopeful he will look towards Imo and appreciate that in the last eight years we have been very unfortunate with the kind of governance we have had, so I will appreciate his understanding and sympathy on the plight of Imolites. We look forward to collaborating fully with the federal government to revive our dear state. I think I have the idea of the right buttons to press and things will move.
