2023: Rights Group, Intersociety Launch Operation Sweep Away Bad Governance, Conformist Leaders

Posted by Ignatius Okpara Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Monday, January 3rd, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Ahead of the 2023 general election in Nigeria, famous human Rights group, the

International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law InterSociety, has urged electorate in Imo State, to ensure that the incumbent governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma is swept way and other South- East serving Governors replaced with bold and service inclined leaders.

The group stressed the need for leadership change in Imo, Abia Ebonyi and Enugu states during the governorship polls.

It said the organization has “investigated severally and found that the only way to rejig or re-focus the Southeast and the People of the Geopolitical Region with regard to Regional and State governance and leadership is to draw a home-front electoral agenda and have it kick-started in this new 2022.

“This is an incontestable fact that who becomes or is going to be voted as Governor of the each of the remaining four Southeast States is a strong determinant to the territorial, boundary, forest, bush, farmland and urban security, protection and safety of the each of the five Southeast States in particular and the Southeast Region in general.

“Therefore, the fundamental agenda for the People of the Southeast Region is to launch ‘operation sweep away bad governance and weak and conformist leaders’ in 2023.

The group in a statement made available to African Examiner Monday in Enugu, jointly signed by its Board Chairman, and Criminologist, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Head of campaign and publicity department, Barr. Chidimma Udegbulam, and Barr. Chinwe Umeche, Head of democracy and good governance, insisted on changing the political Leadership in South East Nigeria, come 2023.

It noted that “Looking at Anambra, its outgoing Government and its tenure handover Poll of Nov 2021, there is likelihood that majority of her representative voters had voted against retention of ineptitude and governance failure status quo and voted for status quo with agenda for change and perceived capacity to adopt protective territory and hitech development as its major policy direction.

“Anything in the contrary is an invitation to chaos and ‘Oderaa era Governance Brigandage’.

“In Imo State, it will be an electoral taboo and security and safety dangerous to retain Hope Uzodimma, or not to sweep him away and erase traces of his leadership legacy in the State’s staggered Governorship Poll to be held around September 2023 Governorship Poll.

The group in the statement, tagged “2022 Agenda For People Of the South East, added that in “Ebonyi State, there is a mandatory need to vote in a bold, independent and service inclined Governor with clear-cut legacy or footprint departure from the incumbent Government.

“This is as it concerns security, protection and safety of the People of the State and their territories, boundaries, forests, bushes, farmlands, urban centers and their faith beliefs.

“In Enugu State, Ugwuanyi may have fixed some critical public infrastructures such as strategic connecting road network across the State, but the boundaries, forests, bushes, urban centers and faith beliefs in the State are very insecure, unsafe and threatened.

“As a matter of fact, in the area of security and safety of the above mentioned, Ugwuanyi’s philosophy is ‘anything goes’ including ‘weeping in Enugu today and smiling and laughing at Aso Rock the next day.

“Therefore, a new bold and courageous leader is mandatorily needed in Enugu come Feb/March 2023 so as to clear the mess.

“In Abia State, the People of the State have a strong task to find and vote in a strong willed and independent minded new leader in 2023.

“The State has not been governed independently and developmentally since Sam Mbakwe and Ogbonnaya Onu’s era. It has been corrupt and stooge governance all through.

“In the case of Anambra State, though the congregated and aggregated votes of the Nov 2021 Poll were not ‘majoritarian’ representative of what ought to be in a popular democratic poll, but it is better to have ten thousand living votes than to have one million dead votes.

” In other words, massive vote riggers and their planned one million plus robotic votes were gallantly stopped from entering INEC strong rooms at Awka and Abuja.

“Such gallant stoppage must be replicated in Imo, Ebonyi and Abia come Feb/March 2023 for purpose of ensuring the emergence of leaders who are truly reflective of ‘majoritarian’ citizens’ electoral wishes with capacity to roar and be feared by external enemies especially those who suck blood in the name of religion and tribalism.

“Finally, it must be pointed out that one of the worst undoing of the Southeast Governors since 2015 is not being in charge of their gubernatorial seats and offices in matters of locations, movements and postings of security personnel, their heads and formations in the Southeast Region and beyond same.

“They have also never protested openly or discretely to higher quarters against obvious ostracization of their own people during recruitments, promotions and postings in the country’s security forces.

The statement which was equally co- signed by the Deputy Head of policing and law enforcement, Comrade Chibueze Nwajiaku, stressed that “they have also feigned ignorance and looked the other way in matters of flooding the Southeast Region with enemy combatants and their commanders.

“They don’t even care if all security formations in their Region and their headships are flooded with ethno-religiously hateful, clannish and murderous personnel.

” Totality of these is not only act of cowardice but also grave endangerment and enslavement of their own People and their rural and urban properties and heritages.

“As was the case in Anambra State, the rest of the people of the Southeast must congregate and aggregate now so as to unchain the region and her People from shackles and manacles of weak and bad leaders and their leaderships.