BEING TEXT OF A COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF THE FOURTH NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE IMO PROGRESSIVES MOVEMENT (IPM), HELD IN OWERRI THIS DAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2026
PREAMBLE
We, the members of the National Executive Council of the Imo Progressives Movement (IPM), the foremost, largest, and most dedicated support group of His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Executive Governor of Imo State, having concluded our Fourth National Executive Council Meeting today in Owerri, do hereby issue this Communiqué to the good people of Imo State, the Southeast geopolitical zone, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the entire world. We do so with hearts full of gratitude, voices resonant with praise, and a resolve that is iron-clad and unshakeable. This Communiqué represents the collective voice of thousands of IPM members drawn from all 305 electoral wards, twenty-seven local government areas and three senatorial districts of Imo State, and it is issued with the full authority of our Fourth National Executive Council.
HE Gov. Hope Uzodimma
OUR ASSESSMENT OF THE GOVERNOR’S SIX YEARS OF PURPOSEFUL LEADERSHIP
This Fourth NEC meeting holds at a most auspicious moment: the sixth anniversary of Governor Hope Uzodimma’s assumption of office on the 14th of January 2020. Six years ago, Imo State stood at a crossroads of despair, decay, and despondency. Roads were impassable. Hospitals were shells. Schools were ruins. The treasury was depleted. Pensioners were unpaid. Youth unemployment had reached catastrophic levels. Security had broken down. Six years later, Imo State stands tall, radiant, and transformed. What we have witnessed in six short years is nothing short of a renaissance: a complete reimagination of what governance means, what leadership can deliver, and what Imo State truly deserves. We gather therefore not merely to meet, but to celebrate, to reflect, and to recommit with every fibre of our collective being to this extraordinary journey of transformation.
IPM PROJECT TOUR ACROSS THE STATE
Before convening this Fourth NEC Meeting, leaders and members of the Imo Progressives Movement embarked on an extensive and exhaustive project tour across the length and breadth of Imo State, traversing communities in the Owerri, Okigwe, and Orlu senatorial zones. What our members witnessed left them utterly marveled, deeply moved, and profoundly proud. We saw not promises written on paper but concrete achievements etched permanently into the landscape of Imo State. We inspected roads, hospitals, schools, hotels, bus terminals, conference facilities, and industrial installations. We spoke with beneficiary communities. We photographed completed projects. We verified ongoing works. We checked records. And at the end of it all, our conclusion was unanimous: Governor Hope Uzodimma has delivered on his mandate beyond the expectations of even his most ardent supporters, and this Communiqué serves as our collective testimony to that incontrovertible fact.
ON ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
The IPM notes with immense pride that Governor Hope Uzodimma has fundamentally transformed the road infrastructure of Imo State in a manner never witnessed in the state’s history. Our members were awestruck by the network of gigantic, world-class roads now criss-crossing Imo communities. To date, the Governor has constructed, rehabilitated, or awarded over 130 roads across the state, spanning thousands of kilometres of previously decrepit and impassable thoroughfares. Among the landmark road projects that our members inspected are the Owerri Urban Roads rehabilitation encompassing the Douglas Road, Wetheral Road, New Owerri Roads; Owerri–Orlu Road, and Tetlow Road corridors; the construction of the Owerri-Mbaise–Umuahia Road; the Orlu Urban Roads; the Orlu–Akokwa Road; the Mgbidi–Oguta Road; the Owerri–Elele Road; the Owerri–Okigwe Road; the Owerri–Onitsha Road; and dozens of other roads that had been abandoned for decades. These are not cosmetic repairs but full-standard carriageway constructions with drains, shoulders, and modern finishes. Add to this the construction of modern Bus Terminals in Owerri and across the state that have redefined public transportation, brought order and commerce to commuters, and created hundreds of jobs for Imo youth.
The IPM concludes without equivocation: this Governor has done in six years what no administration before him could accomplish.
ON THE FLYOVER AND URBAN RENEWAL
The IPM further notes with great admiration the construction of the ultra-modern Assumpta Flyover in Owerri, which has decongested the Owerri metropolis, eased traffic flow at one of the busiest intersections in the Southeast, and given the state capital the aesthetic identity of a truly modern city. This singular project, which previous administrations could not even contemplate, stands today as a monument to Governor Uzodimma’s boldness, vision, and determination to deliver infrastructure that matches the dignity of the Imo people. Beyond the flyover, the Governor has executed a comprehensive Owerri Urban Renewal programme covering road beautification, median planting, pedestrian walkways, street lighting, and the redesign of public spaces including the Imo State Government House Square and the Fire Service corridor. The result is an Owerri that dazzles visitors and fills residents with genuine civic pride. The Governor has transformed Imo from a state in physical disrepair into a state that can hold its head high in any company across Nigeria and beyond.
ON THE CONCORDE HOTELS AND HOSPITALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
The IPM acknowledges with deep appreciation the re-establishment and rebuilding of the iconic Concorde Hotels by Governor Uzodimma administration: a landmark investment in Imo State’s hospitality and tourism sector that has elevated Owerri’s profile as a destination of choice for business, leisure, diplomacy, and international conferences. The Governor not only gave the Concorde Hotel a new lease of life but ensured it was equipped to compete with the finest hospitality establishments in Nigeria. Beyond Concorde, the administration has encouraged private investment in hospitality, leading to the opening of several new hotels and event centres that have collectively created thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities for Imo people. IPM commends the Governor for understanding that tourism and hospitality are not luxuries but economic drivers, and for backing that understanding with concrete investment.
ON THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE
IPM celebrates the establishment of the Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Conference Centre as one of the most consequential and legacy-defining projects in the Uzodimma administration’s impressive portfolio. This world-class facility, built to international specification and equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, simultaneous interpretation booths, multiple breakout halls, and a grand plenary auditorium, now positions Imo State as a hub for high-level national and international discourse, diplomacy, trade, and academic exchange. Before this Governor, Imo State had no facility worthy of hosting a continental conference. Today, Imo can receive heads of state, international organisations, multinational corporations, and global academic institutions in a facility that reflects the intellectual stature and civilizational dignity of the Igbo people. IPM regards this project as a gift to the Igbo nation and to all who take pride in what Imo represents in the constellation of Nigerian greatness.
ON HEALTHCARE: HOSPITALS AND THE INFECTIOUS DISEASE CENTRE
IPM salutes Governor Hope Uzodimma’s extraordinary commitment to the health and wellbeing of Imo people, a commitment made visible in concrete, measurable, and life-saving ways. The Governor has rehabilitated and re-equipped the Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu, and built brand new general hospitals in strategic locations across the state. He has commissioned the construction of brand new primary healthcare centres across the state. The Imo State Health Insurance Agency has recorded over 4,000 successful deliveries, including over 1,200 caesarean sections, with a near-zero maternal mortality rate that is the envy of every state in Nigeria. Imo State was recently named the Best Health Insurance and Managed Care Government Agency in Nigeria for 2025. Most presciently, the Governor constructed and equipped a modern Infectious Disease Centre in Orlu: a critical investment in public health that positions Imo State to respond effectively to pandemics, outbreaks, and public health emergencies that have overwhelmed less prepared states.
IPM declares that every Imo mother who delivered safely, every child vaccinated, and every life saved by these facilities is a monument to Governor Uzodimma’s love for his people.
ON EDUCATION: INSTITUTIONS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION
IPM recognizes with profound respect Governor Uzodimma’s transformative investments in education at every level. At the primary and secondary school level, the Governor has rehabilitated over 1,500 public school buildings, constructed new classroom blocks and laboratory facilities, supplied furniture and learning materials to hundreds of schools, and recruited over 6,000 qualified teachers to fill the gaps left by decades of neglect. At the tertiary level, the Governor has supported the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), the Imo State University (IMSU), the Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, and various polytechnics and colleges of education with land, infrastructure, and institutional collaboration. Most monumentally, the Governor established the Imo State University of Science and Innovation: a brand-new institution purpose-built to produce the scientists, technologists, innovators, engineers, and entrepreneurs who will power Imo State’s future and Nigeria’s digital economy. This institution, conceived with a curriculum aligned to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is perhaps Governor Uzodimma’s most enduring intellectual legacy. It declares to the world that Imo State is not merely a consumer of knowledge but a producer of it.
ON DIGITAL ECONOMY, YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND THE ORASHI POWER PROJECT
IPM notes with immense pride the Governor’s groundbreaking Skill-Up Imo programme, which has trained over 65,000 Imo youths across three cohorts in software engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, and financial technology. Many of the best graduates of the programme have been employed directly into the Imo State Civil Service as Data Analysts, deployed across ministries to strengthen data-driven governance. The programme is on course to empower 300,000 Imo youths, making it one of the largest digital skills programmes by any state government in Nigerian history. To power this digital economy, the Governor launched the revolutionary Orashi Power and Gas Project, which has delivered steady electricity to Owerri metropolis and surrounding communities, powered hospitals and businesses, and reduced dependence on expensive diesel generators. The Governor also launched the Imo Digital City, a technology and innovation hub designed to attract investment and serve as a base for technology companies, startups, and research institutions.
IPM applauds the Governor’s holistic understanding that infrastructure, energy, education, and technology must advance together to produce genuine and sustainable development.
ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNALLY GENERATED REVENUE AND FISCAL DISCIPLINE
IPM acknowledges with admiration Governor Uzodimma’s exceptional fiscal stewardship of Imo State’s resources. When the Governor assumed office, Imo State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was in a state of chronic underperformance, mired in leakages, corruption, and systemic inefficiency. Today, through automation, blocking of revenue leakages, expansion of the tax net, and creation of new revenue streams, the Governor has grown Imo State’s IGR to over 63 billion naira annually: a figure that represents a dramatic and historic leap in the state’s fiscal capacity. The Governor presented a historic budget of 1.439 trillion naira for 2026, a 78 percent increase from the 2025 budget, reflecting a government that is growing in ambition and capacity in equal measure. He automated the state payroll, eliminating thousands of ghost workers and saving billions of naira monthly. He introduced the historic 13th month salary for civil servants and implemented a minimum wage of 104,000 naira, among the most competitive in Nigeria. He established the Orashi Free Trade Zone to attract industrial investment and create employment. He developed the Imo State Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) programme to boost agricultural value chains and rural livelihoods.
IPM affirms that Imo State is economically stronger today than at any point in its history.
ON THE LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPER GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
IPM notes with immense satisfaction that the Leadership Newspaper, one of Nigeria’s most respected and authoritative publications, has deservedly crowned His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma, as the Governor of the Year. This recognition is not an accident, nor a political courtesy. It is a verdict delivered by a credible and independent media institution after a rigorous assessment of governance performance across all thirty-six states of Nigeria. It affirms what the people of Imo State already know and what our project tour has confirmed with irrefutable evidence: that Hope Uzodimma is not merely a good governor. He is, by objective standard and measure, the best-performing governor in Nigeria today. The IPM congratulates the Governor on this well-earned national honour. We note further that this award comes on the heels of a string of national and international recognitions, including a United Nations peace award for promoting inter-ethnic harmony, an honorary doctorate conferred on him by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri at its 36th Convocation in December 2024, and recognition by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria for fiscal transparency. These honours are the collective testimony of a nation and a world that is watching and is impressed.
ON OUR GRATITUDE TO GOVERNOR HOPE UZODIMMA
The Imo Progressives Movement uses this occasion of our Fourth National Executive Council Meeting to place on permanent record our deepest, most heartfelt, and most unreserved gratitude to His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma. You came to a state broken by years of misgovernance, looting, insecurity, and institutional decay. You did not make excuses. You did not blame your predecessors without also delivering solutions. You rolled up your sleeves, assembled a competent team, mobilised resources, and went to work. Today, the evidence of your labour is written in concrete and asphalt, in school blocks and hospital wards, in powered streetlights and digital classrooms, in the smiles of mothers who delivered safely and the confidence of youth who now earn in dollars. You have made us as members of IPM proud beyond words. You have made Imo people proud. You have made the Igbo nation proud. You have shown Nigeria and the world that an Igbo man, when given the opportunity to lead, can lead with excellence, integrity, vision, and transformative impact. We say to you, Your Excellency: thank you. Daalu. Imeela. We are proud to bear your name, proud to carry your flag, and proud to be called your support group.
ON OUR RECOMMITMENT TO THE GOVERNOR’S VISION
IPM hereby solemnly and publicly recommits to supporting Governor Hope Uzodimma with undiminished energy, unwavering loyalty, and renewed determination as he continues to transform Imo State. We shall mobilize in every ward, every community, every market, every campus, and every household. We shall tell the story of what this Governor has done wherever there are ears to hear. We shall counter misinformation with facts, lies with evidence, and pessimism with the concrete achievements that line the roads of Imo State for all to see. We shall canvass, advocate, and amplify this administration’s record at every opportunity. We shall support the Governor in ensuring that the projects already commissioned are sustained, that the projects ongoing are completed, and that the vision for a fully transformed Imo State is brought to its glorious conclusion. IPM is not a fair-weather support group. We are a movement forged in conviction, fuelled by evidence, and marching with this Governor every step of the way.
ON IMO STATE’S HISTORIC SECOND POSITION IN THE APC NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP E-REGISTRATION EXERCISE
The Imo Progressives Movement notes with exceptional pride, unbridled excitement, and deep political vindication the historic achievement of Imo State in the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) nationwide membership E-registration exercise, in which Imo State emerged in a glorious second position out of all thirty-six states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. This extraordinary ranking did not happen by chance. It was not the product of coercion, inducement, or administrative manipulation. It was the direct, logical, and inevitable consequence of six years of governance so excellent, so visible, so consistent, and so life-changing that Imo people are not merely passive beneficiaries of good governance but have become its most passionate and committed ambassadors. When a governor constructs over 130 roads, builds hospitals in all twenty-seven local government areas, trains over 65,000 youths in digital skills, pays workers consistently, introduces a 13th month salary, constructs a flyover, establishes a university, commissions an international conference centre, delivers steady electricity through the Orashi Power Project, and builds modern bus terminals and world-class hotels, the people do not need to be persuaded to register in his party. They register because they have seen the evidence with their own eyes, felt the roads beneath their tyres, delivered their babies safely in equipped hospitals, and watched their children gain admission into a brand new university. Every project commissioned by Governor Uzodimma was, in truth, the most powerful APC registration agent deployed across Imo State.
IPM therefore salutes Governor Hope Uzodimma as the singular, undisputed, and irreplaceable architect of this extraordinary national achievement. Imo State’s second-place ranking in the APC national E-registration exercise is his trophy, earned not through political gymnastics but through the sweat of governance, the concrete of construction, and the sincerity of service. This ranking sends a clear, powerful, and reverberating message to Abuja, to the national leadership of the APC, and to every political observer across Nigeria: that Imo State under Hope Uzodimma is a fortress of the APC in the Southeast and one of the most formidable political structures in the entire country. It validates his national stature as Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and demonstrates that he is not merely a leader of speeches but a mobiliser of results, not merely a holder of office but a builder of legacies. The IPM congratulates His Excellency on this historic national distinction, celebrates the millions of Imo people whose registration made it possible, and pledges with every resource at our disposal to ensure that the political momentum this achievement represents continues to grow, deepen, and translate into even greater victories for Imo State, for the APC, and for the enduring legacy of Governor Hope Odidika Uzodimma.
A STERN WARNING TO POLITICAL NUISANCES AND MISCHIEF MAKERS
Finally, the IPM issues this clear, unambiguous, and unmistakable warning to all those who, driven by personal ambition, envy, or political mischief, seek to constitute nuisance in Imo State under the guise of running for political office or fomenting unnecessary political tension.
COMPORT YOURSELVES.
Hon. Eugene Okechukwu Dibiagwu
Imo State is not a theatre for your games. The people of Imo State are not spectators of your ego. We have a Governor who is working, delivering, and transforming lives. We will not allow any individual or group to distract, destabilize, or undermine that sacred mission. We have inspected the roads. We have toured the hospitals. We have visited the schools. We have seen the conference centre, the hotels, the flyover, the bus terminals, and the university. We know what this Governor has done, and we will not permit small men with small visions and smaller records to trivialize or politicize genuine achievement. Those who genuinely love Imo State should align with the good governance drive of Governor Hope Uzodimma, contribute constructively to the state’s progress, and support the man who is making Imo great. Those who choose instead the path of nuisance, recklessness, and political brigandage must be warned in the most unambiguous terms: they shall incur the full, organized, resolute, and formidable wrath of the Imo Progressives Movement. We are watching. We are mobilized. We are everywhere. And we are ready.
Signed:
Hon. Eugene Okechukwu Dibiagwu (MFHR)
National Convener/Facilitator, IPM.
