The Imo State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, on Wednesday rejected the offer of a senatorial seat made to him by Governor Rochas Okorocha.

The governor had on Monday declared interest to run for the Imo West Senatorial seat. He also hinted that he would ask his deputy to jettison his governorship ambition and contest for the Imo East Senatorial election which will pave the way for Mr. Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to emerge candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor had earlier endorsed Mr. Nwosu, who is married to his first daughter, Uloma, as the next governor of the state.

“If Uche Nwosu will be home for governor, I will tell the deputy governor to go to the Senate,” Mr. Okorocha had said.

But Mr. Madumere, who is from Owerri zone, which has not produced a governor since the return to democracy in 1999, rejected the offer in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Uche Onwuchekwa.

According to the statement, Mr. Madumere restated his resolve to contest for the office of the governor in 2019.

He said it is not just about his ambition but about the entire Owerri zone which, he said, has been side-lined and marginalised.

“God’s given vision to better the lot of Imo people is in no man’s hands.”

He described the Senate position offered to him by Mr. Okorocha as an act of betrayal, adding 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.”

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