*Says It May Have Been An Oversight By Governor Uzodimma
A former Majority Leader of Imo State House Of Assembly, Hon. Lugard Osuji, KSC. has expressed concern over the exclusion of Owerri Municipal from the 35 Commissioners and members of the State Executive Council reshuffled and newly appointed by the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
In a statement in Owerri signed by his media aide, Chukwuemeka Ibe, Osuji, an APGA House of Assembly candidate for Owerri Municipal, acknowledged that while Section 192 (2) of the Constitution bequeathed on the Governor enormous powers to use his discretion to appoint his Commissioners with confirmation of the Imo House of Assembly, he appealed to the number one citizen of the state to reconsider his recent list of Commissioners by including someone from Owerri Municipal in conformity with the provisions of Section 14(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic.
He noted that the exclusion of someone from his area (Owerri Municipal), from being appointed a Commissioner or a member of the State Executive Council, must have been an oversight, and not deliberate and does not denote the governor’s disdain for Owerri Municipal, considering the fact that he had allowed two illustrious sons of the area to serve as the Imo APC Chairman and the ENTRACO General Manager.
He stated that considering the strategic political, social and economic importance of Owerri Municipal to Imo state, it would amount to gross marginalization and injustice for someone from the Owerri Municipal state Constituency not to be considered worthy for appointment as a Commissioner, stressing that his appeal may not have been necessary if the number of the Commissioners were less than twenty seven.
The former lawmaker explained that there are more than enough competent, qualified and capable hands in Owerri Municipal, urging the Governor to reconsider his action, by including someone from the area in his list of Commissioners, in order to reflect his commitment to promote equity, fairness, sense of belonging and accommodation of diversity.