Three out of the four governorship candidates listed for the British Broadcasting Corporation debate for Imo State on Friday failed to turn up for the event.
Only the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, participated in the debate.
The governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Emeka Ihedioha; the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Hope Uzodinma; and the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, boycotted the event.
The BBC Igbo Governorship Debate, which was supposed to start at noon at The Ridge Event Centre, Onitsha Road, Owerri, did not start until 2.30pm.
The organisers had, at 2.00 pm, appealed to the audience to exercise patience for another 30 minutes because the candidates had yet to arrive.
When the debate finally started at 2.30pm, only the Action Alliance candidate was present.
Fielding questions from the moderator and later from the audience, Nwosu said he wants to take the state to the next level.
Nwosu, who promised to take care of the welfare of the civil servants and pensioners, said that he had the necessary experience to govern the state, having worked in government for seven years as commissioner for lands and chief of staff in Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration.
The AA governorship candidate said that he would honour any minimum wage agreement reached between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress, should he emerge the next governor of the state.
Saying that employment would be paramount in his administration, Nwosu promised to build industries in the state.
According to him, he left the APC because of the injustice meted out to him by the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.
He said, “I left the APC because of the injustice meted out to me by Adams Oshiomhole. President Muhammadu Buhari did not offend me; that is why I am supporting him.
“I won primary election in the APC and they denied me the ticket. Maybe they think I am a youth but what is written is written. I am destined to be the next governor of the state.”
PUNCH
