Arewa Youths Assembly (AYA) and the Unified Northern Youth Forum (UNYF), have congratulated Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State on his re-election.
They described as credible the just concluded off-cycle elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa States.
The northern groups said Governor Uzodimma’s dedication and commitment to the progress of Imo State and Nigeria at large have been evident in the transformative initiatives he has implemented during his first term.
“We believe that his re-election serves as a testament to his leadership qualities and the positive impact he has had on the state. He is the first governor to win all the local governments in his state. It is evident that he is leading Imo without any form of segregation, hence, his uniform acceptability across the state”.
AYA in their statement signed by the speaker Mohammed Salihu Danlami called on all other candidates who contested the election to put aside their differences and unite in support of Governor Uzodimma’s leadership, stressing that “it is crucial to prioritize the progress and development of Imo State, and by supporting the re-elected Governor, we can collectively work towards achieving this goal”.
Meanwhile, UNYF while addressing a press conference in a text jointly signed by Abdulsalam Mohammed Kazeem President and Aliyu Muhammad,
The group’s publicity secretary said their interest was basically to deepen democracy with whatever results that were made available to them as a non-governmental organisation and has no affiliation to any of the political parties.
“As at this morning (yesterday), reports from our field officers indicated that the elections in Bayelsa and Kogi experienced pockets of violence but not to the point of impugning on the integrity of the results.
“Both the security agencies and other institutions involved in the conduct of the election did their very best to ensure that the wishes of the people were reflected in the results.
“However, that of Imo was completely different as the election was free, fair and credible. Going by the fears of many that Imo was a volatile area, it turned out to be false. This is not to say that there was no untoward incident in isolated areas. Some vote buyers were arrested as already reported by the media and some people who wanted to disrupt the collation of state results were forcibly removed from the hall,” he said.
