You’re Afraid – Anyanwu Replies Uzodimma Over Rainbow Coalition Comment

The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Samuel Anyanwu, has asserted that Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state is jittery about rainbow coalition following his warning to members of All Progressive Congress (APC).

Anyanwu spoke in response to Uzodimma’s warning on Tuesday that APC members in Imo State would face sanctions if they worked with political coalitions outside the party.

The governor issued the warning during the inauguration of the Imo chapter of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, which is mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

Uzodimma warned that he would withdraw vehicles provided to campaigners who worked with opposition coalitions.

He also pledged to work with the movement to secure Tinubu’s re-election, saying his administration supported continuity to allow the president to consolidate ongoing reforms.

“We will work with you. We will do the work. We will re-elect the president,” the governor said.

He described the movement as a platform for taking the Federal Government’s policies and achievements directly to Nigerians at the grassroots.

“The PBAT door-to-door officers and coordinators, listen to me. You are members of APC. If I see you work outside APC, I will collect the vehicle from you,” Uzodimma said.

“You are here; you are empowered to work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and All Progressives Congress. There is no rainbow coalition in Imo state.”

However, Anyanwu, in a statement issued on Tuesday by his media adviser, Ikenna Onuoha, described the PDP’s alignment with the rainbow coalition as a means of ending the APC’s control of Imo State.

He alleged that the APC’s rejection of the coalition showed that its leaders were concerned about the growing opposition alliance.

“The APC in Imo State and its leaders are afraid of PDP and the Rainbow Coalition,” Anyanwu said.

“Their statement during the unveiling of the Door-to-Door initiative on Tuesday, in Owerri that Rainbow coalition has no basis in the state is a testament that the party and its drivers are frustrated and confused.”

He further claimed that Imo residents had rejected the APC-led administration, comparing the party to a disease that could not be cured.

“Imo people are aware that APC leaders in the state have been rejected and jilted. The party is currently seen as ‘Ebola’ disease that has no cure even after being quarantined,” he said.

The PDP national secretary also criticised Uzodimma’s administration over what he described as its failure to address infrastructure, healthcare, education and economic challenges in the state.

Anyanwu said the government should have repaired rural roads, equipped hospitals with modern technology, improved economic conditions and raised educational standards.

He also urged the state government to engage lecturers at Imo State University (IMSU), whom he said had been on strike for three months.

Accusing the administration of making empty promises and worsening residents’ hardship, Anyanwu said the government should apologise to the people for its alleged shortcomings.

“Imo people are weary of the 3R government and their tricks,” he said.

“It is embarrassing that instead of the administration in the state to apologize to Imo people for failing abysmally, the administration is busy insulting and provoking Imo people, making empty promises and creating unnecessary hunger.”

He urged the APC-led government to acknowledge what he described as residents’ desire for an alternative through the PDP and the rainbow coalition.

Anyanwu, a former senator, was the PDP candidate in the November 11, 2023, Imo governorship election. He lost to Uzodimma, who secured 540,308 votes against his 71,503, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).