Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has compared President Bola Tinubu to Singapore’s late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, describing the president as a transformative reformer.

Speaking at a dinner in Owerri marking the close of a three day inspection tour of federal and state projects in Imo State by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors and the Presidential Communications Team, Uzodimma said Nigeria now has its own version of the Singaporean statesman in Tinubu.

The governor praised the president’s economic reforms and expressed confidence that his record in office would secure him a second term in 2027.

Uzodimma said Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, already prepared to confront Nigeria’s economic challenges through sweeping reforms, and that the country has since entered a new stage of development. He said the president understood his mission from the outset and moved quickly to implement change.

Drawing on a biblical comparison, the governor likened Nigeria’s pre reform economic condition to the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt, suggesting that just as that struggle preceded deliverance, the president’s difficult decisions were a necessary step toward freeing the country from years of stagnation.

He acknowledged that the reforms brought early hardship but said they are now yielding results, particularly through higher revenues that states can channel into infrastructure and human development.

He credited the ongoing transformation across Imo State directly to the Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that the state’s investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education and technology have been made possible by the enabling environment the reforms created.

Uzodimma said he was confident Nigerians would reward the president with a second term, adding that the benefits of the administration’s policies would only become more apparent with time.

Earlier at the event, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication Sunday Dare commended the governor for what he called a remarkable infrastructure transformation in Imo State, following the tour of federal and state projects.

Dare said the projects visited demonstrated practical delivery of the Renewed Hope Agenda through cooperation between federal and state authorities. He noted that increased federal allocations have translated into major projects in the state, including the Imo Digital City, a 2,000 bed Infectious Disease Centre, a Heart Transplant Centre in Orlu, the University of Innovation, Science and Technology at Omuma, expansion of the Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Convention Centre, and the Orlu Akokwa Uga Border Road, all of which he said position Imo State as a model of people centered development.