The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma has revealed, that he became the APC Governorship candidate of Imo State in the last election, through what he tagged “the Ben Johnson way”.
Governor Hope Uzodinma made this public while addressing Stakeholders of the party in the state, over who was entitled to anything in the Government. He revealed that he had come from outside, and did not have a structure in the party, but was able to manoeuvre his way through the “Ben Johnson way”, to get the party ticket.
Ben Johnson, is a Jamaican-Born Canadian sprinter who had won bronze in the 100-meter dash at the 1984 Olympics, he entered the ’88 Seoul Olympics with American Carl Lewis as his greatest rival and competitor. Johnson smoked Lewis and the entire field set a new world record of 9.79 seconds and took home gold. However, not long after Johnson established himself as arguably the most important man to the country of Canada, his gold medal and 1987 World Championship gold medal were stripped after stanozolol, a type of steroid was found in his urine.
Johnson went from hero to zero in what seemed like 9.79 seconds.
Read Also: What Was Uzodinma’s Profession Before Going Into Politics?
Governor Uzodinma had outsmarted the former Governor Rochas Okorocha, during the party Congress and primaries with the help of Gulak, and former National Chairman of the Party, Adams Oshiomhole, to emerge the main gubernatorial candidate.
However, there is a ruling by the Supreme Court, which states that Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law to the former governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, is the rightful candidate of the APC in Imo State. Uche Nwosu was later disqualified by the Supreme Court, for having the dual candidacy of the APC and AA in Imo State.
Senator Hope Uzodinma became the governor of Imo state as the chief beneficiary of a controversial ruling by the apex court in Nigeria. That ruling removed then governor of Imo State, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha and recognised Uzodinma as the governor-elect of the state.
It would be recalled that Mr Uche Nwosu who is a family member of the former governor, Rochas Okorocha, was declared the rightful candidate of the All Progressives Congress in a different ruling by the same Supreme Court sitting on the same Imo gubernatorial election. In its judgement delivered by Justice Adamu Augie on the 19thof December 2019, the Supreme Court of Nigeria said Uche Nwosu was not qualified to vie for the election being that he doubled as both the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Action Alliance (AA). This would then mean the court acknowledged that Senator Uzodinma was never a candidate of the APC in that same election and therefore did not participate in it. How then could he have won an election in which he was never legally a candidate?
This issue caused a lot of opprobrium and uproar in various public spheres across Nigeria, eventually leading to a review of the case by the Supreme Court. It is now history that after all said and done, Senator Uzodinma triumphed at the Supreme Court and has remained the governor of Imo State.
He knows that his ascension into the Gubernatorial seat is not genuine which is why he referenced the ‘Ben Johnson’ scam method to his reign as the Executive Governor of Imo state.
Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma is not oblivious to the fact that 2024 gubernatorial election in the state will be hotly contested with an unprecedented number of opposition elements unrelenting in their quest to unseat his government which is popularly believed to be a construct of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Given his brittle popularity and opposition across the state, many political watchers would like to see how the Ben Johnson formula would come to play come 2024.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
