Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, has turned down the offer from his principal, Governor Rochas Okorocha, to contest the Imo East Senatorial seat in 2019.
Okorocha had asked his deputy to contest for Senate instead of the governorship election, to pave the way for the Chief of Staff (who is also his son in-law), Mr. Uche Nwosu, whom he has already endorsed as his successor.
But Madumere (who hails from Owerri zone, which has not produced a governor since the return to democracy in 1999), insisted that he has made up his mind to contest for the office of the governor in 2019.
He vowed that there is no going back on the decision, adding that the ambition is not just about him, but the entire Owerri zone that has been sidelined and marginalized over time.
Madumere, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary Uche Onwuchekwa, said he has chosen his path towards realizing “God’s given vision to better the lot of Imolites,” adding that his fate “is in no man’s hands.”
Describing Okorocha’s offer as an act of betrayal, Madumere argued that “if Jesus Christ could be ill-treated by those he called his friends and was later betrayed by Judas, how much more a mere mortal like me.”
He lamented that he has been “molested, betrayed and insulted” by those he nurtured to “become relevant in life”.