10th NASS: Gov Uzodinma not in support of Izunaso’s ambition, sources reveal
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Senator Osita Izunaso
Sources in Imo State Government House have disassociated Governor Hope Uzodinma from Osita Izunaso’s ambition to become the President of the 10th Senate.
A senior government official in the government of Hope Uzodinma who preferred not to be named told our correspondent that the governor has since abandoned Izunaso over his “insincere approach to issues”.
Attention has gradually shifted to the June 13 inauguration of the 10th National Assembly following the successful swearing in of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima on May 29, 2023. At the epicenter of issues gaining currency and which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is battling to resolve since the inauguration of the presidency is the leadership of the two chambers. Candidates from the party are expected to be the principal officers at the two chambers.
Of the two, however, attention is focused more on who occupies the office of the President of the Senate, the third highest position in the country. If the zoning arrangement released by the party is anything to go by, then it is expected that one of the senators from the South-east or South-south geo-political zones that would occupy the office.
Outside Former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, who is from the Northwest geopolitical zone, the contest is gaining momentum with contestants from the two regions showing interest in the slot. Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio from the South-south; former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and Senator Osita Izunaso from the South-east have all declared their intentions to contest the position.
While Akpabio and his supporters have hinged their arguments on the fact that the zone has never held the position since the current dispensation and that the South-east had held the position for four years; the South-east has insisted that taking the position away from the zone would mean deepening the alleged marginalisation of the zone by the party. Proponents of this position are quick to point the party to an existing arrangement that had always allowed the zone to produce the President of the Senate whenever the Presidency moved to Southwest and the need to integrate the zone into the party. They also canvass that since the inception of the party, the South-south had produced the national leadership among other juicy positions.
This school of thought also thinks that allowing the South-east to produce the next President of the Senate was the shortest way to entrenching the party in the region, especially with their rejection of the PDP in the last elections and the inroads made by the Labour Party. They argue that since the party already controls two states in the zone, there was a need to continue to encourage the region.
Izunaso, Senator-elect representing Imo West Senatorial District is battling to get the support of his governor, Hope Uzodinma whom our sources say has withdrawn his support for Izunaso.
The source accused Izunaso of betraying Governor Hope Uzodinma, Achike Udenwa, Rochas Okorocha and many others, saying: “Uzodinma is no longer comfortable with Izunaso, hence his withdrawal. As we talk, Izunaso is in the camp of Akpabio, Yari and at the same time running for the position of the Senate President. Can you as a journalist trust a character like that? He is on his own, I can categorically tell you that Governor Hope Uzodinma is not supporting him.”
Another source told our correspondent that Izunaso’s corrupt lifestyle is making it difficult for people to trust him.
The source said: “Remember how he introduced criminality and corruption into our party as National Organizing Secretary? He is too corrupt and nobody will support a character like him. Governor Hope Uzodinma is a smart politician and he won’t invest in a character like Senator Izunaso,” the source said.
