Hope Uzodimma, Imo State governor, is being attacked for spotting an obscenely exorbitant wristwatch, allegedly costing about N470 million.
Uzodimma wore the watch during a Sallah homage by the All Progressives Governors to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, on Monday.
The said wristwatch, from the stables of Jacob and Co is estimated to cost $785,496.
With the prevailing market rate, the wristwatch in the Nigerian currency costs N479,247,408 million.
Meanwhile, the Imo State government has dismissed claims of extravagance surrounding the wristwatch.
The state Information Commissioner, Chief Declan Emelumba, claims Uzodimma has always adorned statement pieces even before he assumed office as Governor.
Emelumba said, “Go and check the pictures of the governor before he assumed office. He has always worn statement pieces; he didn’t just start. If you look at what he wore during his swearing-in, these are items he acquired before now, and it is absolutely unfair to now twist the narrative as though it is a new acquisition.
“Governor Uzodimma has actually redefined governance with signature projects, which is a reflection of his personality. Nobody should twist it.
“Moreover, how did people arrive at the figure they are brandishing about? I’m yet to understand how that figure was generated.”
Pascal Okechukwu, the governor’s special adviser on media, aka Cubana Chief Priest, tried to douse the narrative about the cost of the wristwatch by saying it is a fake version of the original and can, therefore, not cost as much as it is being bandied around.
“No be original joor, make una dey calm down”, he wrote on his Instagram story.
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