The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State on Monday condemned the alleged brutal assault on its members and violent confiscation of the campaign vehicles belonging to its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, by agents of the Senator Hope Uzodinma in Imo State.
In a statement issued in Owerri, Imo State on Monday by its Publicity Secretary, Collins Opurozor, PDP demanded that the campaign vehicles of its presidential candidate be released without any further delay.
The statement reads, “This full-blown campaign of terror, which the failed, corrupt and fascist regime of Senator Uzodinma, has levied against our popular presidential candidate and every member of our Party in Imo State, is deeply provocative and intolerable, and it is a clear invitation to anarchy.
“This unelected governor must stop beating the drums of war!
“For five consecutive months, Senator Uzodinma and his henchmen have jettisoned all pretenses to governance. They have instead openly deployed state resources and all the instruments of state power to intimidate, hound and attack prominent opposition leaders in the State.
“The campaign office of our senatorial candidate in Owerri Zone, Hon. Uche Onyeagucha, was attacked in broad daylight and sealed up in a gestation operation directly commanded by known appointees of the government. Ideato Federal Constituency was invaded in a warlike manner, and all the campaign billboards erected by our candidate, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, vandalized by agents of this war-mongering government.
“Our Party notes that while all sectors of Imo State are now in tatters, the rudderless administration of Senator Uzodinma keeps wandering afar off on the path of self-destruction and of political vendetta.
“It is heartbreaking that Local Government workers in Imo are now in the throes of death. They recently wept to the high heavens that for over thirty months, the morally bankrupt regime of Senator Uzodinma has left them without salaries. This is the height of cruelty, considering that Senator Uzodinma has refused to tell anyone the whereabouts of the N127 billion which has come to the Imo State Local Governments from the Federation Account under his watch.
“From Izombe in Oguta to Okporo in Orlu, heavy shootings, armed attacks, killings, arson and abductions have become daily facts of life. In most instances, the state-backed Ebubeagu Militia has been accused of masterminding the ravages, and Senator Uzodinma, who has the constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property in Imo, has remained suspiciously mute in the face of all these.
“As far as Imo PDP is concerned, the resort to wreaking havoc on the campaign vehicles of our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, carting away the buses, looting everything in them, and now demanding that over Sixteen Million Naira (16,000,000) must be paid before any PDP campaign vehicle would be seen on the roads of Imo State, have betrayed the outgoing regime’s penchant for criminality and unbridled avarice. Also, his phobia for our great Party, the PDP, cannot be hidden any longer.
“Senator Uzodinma’s frustrations are obvious. His attempt to sell his party’s disoriented presidential candidate to Imo people backfired immediately. He had recently lured some persons to attend a town hall meeting, but the guests all staged a walkout as soon as they sighted the unelectable presidential candidate. It is a moment of agony for Senator Uzodinma. But there is nothing he can do to change the unyielding resolve of Ndimo to massively and overwhelmingly vote the PDP at the polls, next year. It is a done deal.”