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…Says Govs performance will guarantee victory for APC come 2023
Comrade Simon Ebegbulem is the Honourable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Imo State. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard, he disclosed with excitement how Governor Hope Uzodimma recovered the Standard Shoe Company in Owerri from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
As the 2023 general elections beckon, Ebegbulem who also was the former spokesman to the former National Chairman of the ruling APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole declared that the developmental strides of Governor Hope Uzodimma in Imo state will ensure victory to APC in the state.
Excerpts:
We heard that the state government has recovered the Standard Shoe Company in Owerri, how was that done?
If you are from the South East you will know that Standard Shoe Company was one of the prized assets of the State established by late Sam Mbakwe, the first civilian governor of Imo State. This company employed over ten thousand workers in the state then but unfortunately successive administrations in the state could not manage the company and they became moribund.
The company had a brief production in 2007/2008 and packed up again due to lack of funds to procure raw materials. And the company had borrowed the sum of N275million from a new generation bank. The debt owed to the bank rose to N1.7billion by 2011.
The management of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) dragged the state government to court for the indebtedness and they were able to get a Federal High Court judgement which ordered that the company be sealed. And the Okorocha administration, rather than find solution to revamp the company, only sacked WIM, Group managing the company in 2014 and replaced them with Messrs DYNACIL Nig.Ltd. But that administration failed to pay the debts. In the past twenty years the place was under lock and key as ordered by the Federal High Court.
However, penultimate week, His Excellency Governor Hope Uzodimma, who on resumption of office vowed to revamp all the moribund industries established by late Sam Mbakwe, paid off all that is owed to AMCON and the documents patterning to the company were returned to the state government. As a matter of fact I received the keys of the company from the authorities of AMCON.
As Commissioner for Commerce and Industry I am very grateful to the governor for heeding to the cry of Ndi Imo by returning back that company. I am proud because successive administrations failed to make this happen but Governor Uzodimma who is always thinking of the masses made it happen and today the company is back on track. The governor is talking to some investors in Italy that will come and run the place because he wants to create over fifty thousand jobs through the industrial sector.
Apart from the Standard Shoe Company, we are also expecting investors to take over the Nsu Tiles in Ehima Mbano. By the time these industries are revived Imo will be the industrial hub of the South East.
But don’t you think the insecurity bedevilling the state will scare investors?
Imo is very safe for investment contrary to the negative reports being sponsored by the opposition in the social media. Going by their reports you will think everybody in Imo is dead. But it is not true. That is their only strategy to create impression that the state is unsafe so as to rubbish the good works of Governor Hope Uzodimma.
If you look at what is happening in other states of the country and compare with what you call insecurity in Imo, you will know quite well that Imo is very safe. Our Governor is doing everything possible to safeguard the lives and property of the people of the state. But despite all they have been doing to distract the governor he has remained focused in providing infrastructural development in the state.
He is revamping all the moribund industries and as we speak he has constructed state-of- the-art roads in the state. Funny enough, even the opposition in the state are not blind on the newly constructed Owerri-Orlu, Owerri Okigwe roads. And penultimate week, Owerri-Mbaise-Obow-Umuahia road was flagged off.
The construction has commenced. At least over hundred roads have been constructed across the state. And these are not mere small projects; they are there for everyone to see. And I am happy that even the opposition party members who have conscience have had cause to commend the governor on several occasions. His Excellency’s road revolution is second to none in the history of the state. Health centers in all the wards and Local Governments in the state have been rehabilitated. Rural roads are being constructed on a daily basis.
But I am glad that even foreign investors are mindful of the dubious game of the opposition because as we speak, investors are thronging the state every day. The number of flights coming into the state has increased drastically and these are the signals of a progressing economy. I can tell you that as Imolites, we are very grateful to God for giving us a governor like Hope Uzodimma at this point in time because the plan of the opposition is to impoverish the people of the state by sponsoring insecurity. But they failed. Our people are going about their normal businesses because they know that these enemies don’t mean well for the people.
The 2023 general elections are fast approaching; do you think the APC in Imo state is capable of defeating the opposition political parties particularly the PDP?
Can you tell me what the PDP will use to campaign in Imo State? As long as I am concerned, nothing. But we have a governor that has performed. Go round the major cities in Imo state today and see how clean they are. Salaries are being paid when due. Pensioners are receiving their pension as and when due. Traders are no longer being harassed over illegal levies.
All the illegalities of the past no longer happen under the watch of governor Uzodimma. So I can tell you categorically that APC members are not scared of the opposition because we have monumental achievements to campaign with. I am very optimistic that Imo state will deliver APC from the Presidential election to the last election which is the House of Assembly election. We are glad that we have a veteran politician, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as our Presidential candidate. He is a man that does not need introduction. So we have a good product to market, victory is assured, God willing.
Talking about elections, you ran for the House of Reps seat for the Ehime Mbano, Ihitte-Uboma, Obowo Federal constituency, what happened?
Yes I ran for the primaries but the party leaders led by our action governor, prevailed on me to step down for the incumbent House of Reps member, Deacon Chike Okafor. The governor is my father and leader and my duty is to obey as a loyal party man. The reasons they gave were quite germane and I concur. The incumbent is my brother and we are all working together to ensure we deliver our party.
Credits: Vanguard