The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has said the rising spate of attacks and kidnappings across the country are sponsored and targeted at the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress.

Uzodinma also claimed that the attacks are to discredit the current regime to allow the sponsors to gain power in 2023.

The governor made this claim on Wednesday while featuring on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, which our correspondent monitored in Abuja.

Uzodinma was asked what lessons had been derived from the attacks in Imo which were targeted at security operatives, correctional, military and police facilities, he said it was not just about the state.

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He said, “What is happening in the country today, not only in Imo State, is not ordinary. From all indications, this is a sponsored programme by some people and it is targeted at the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. And the whole idea is to discredit this government, whether rightly or wrongly, with a view to coming up in 2023 to see how they can put in a new government.

Uzodinma, however, declined to identify the sponsors when asked to name names.

The governor noted that while the states were made up of peoples with different ethnic nationalities and socio-cultural configurations, the attacks had been similar.

He said, “Have you asked the question: why is this more in Imo State? Why is it more in Ebonyi State? Why is it more in Kaduna State? These are core APC states that are really delivering dividends of democracy to the people…to the credit of the APC. And these are the only targets that these people have chosen. Very soon, we will rise to the occasion.”