From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The gubernatorial election in Imo State would be held in November, 2023, following the sacking of Chief Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of the state by the Supreme court judgement of January, 14,2020.
Barely seven months in office, Ihedioha was replaced with Senator Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress ( APC).
Nevertheless, the political atmosphere in the state is turbo charged ahead of the February 25, 2023 National Assembly polls which is going to be a litmus test for APC ,PDP and of course, the LP.
This is very significant for the contending political parties as a way of gauging their popularity ahead of the gubernatorial contest on November 11, 2023.
Earlier, it was thought that the National Assembly polls would be between the Major opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the ruling APC in the state.
But the political dynamics of the state has been significantly altered with Mr Peter Obi becoming the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, which has snowballed into the “Obi- Dient” movement.
Thus, the Labour Party has displaced the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that used to be “transit” party for those aspirants who had either lost out in the primaries or harmonized out in two major parties.
As a result, some aspirants of the PDP, and those who were “ harmonised “ out in the ruling APC, in the state, moved over to Labour Party to realise their aspirations.
Thus, the PDP, APC and the LP would be testing their political strength on which of them has bragging right in the state, starting with the National Assembly and presidential polls on February 25, 2023.
Imo East: Owerri senatorial zone which has the highest registered voters in the entire state, is made of nine local council areas. And, interestingly, all the leading candidates, Uche Onyeagucha(PDP), is from Owerri West, while Prince Alex Mbata (APC), and Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi now of the Labour Party are both from Owerri North respectively; which means that they are from the same Owerri federal constituency.
The significance of this, is that the Owerri senatorial battle would be a fierce battle between Uche Onyeagucha of the PDP, Prince Alex Mbata of the APC and Senator Onyewuchi Ezenwa now of the Labour Party as the votes would be split in the Owerri federal constituency(Owerri North, Owerri Municipal and Owerri West). Thus, the contenders would have to work extra hard to win an appreciable number of votes from Mbaitoli/ Ikeduru which incidentally has the highest registered voters in the entire state, Ngor- Okpala / Aboh Mbaise, and of course, Ezinhitte / Ahiazu to emerge the winner of the polls at the end of the day.
How they stand:
Uche Onyeaguocha
Hon. Uche Onyeaguocha from Owerri West council area, had represented the Owerri federal constituency between 2003 and 2007 under the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He had also contested for the senatorial seat under the platform of APC in 2015 but lost to Samuel Anyanwu (now National Secretary of the PDP).
The erstwhile Secretary to the Imo state government in the short-lived Ihedioha administration is a household name in the politics of the state, Hon Onyeogucha who is seeking to represent Imo East (Owerri) zone had defeated the incumbent Senator, Ezenwa Onyewuchi with a wide margin during the senatorial primaries of the PDP.
What Onyeagucha has going for him is that, besides his popularity, as a Lawyer and Human Rights Activist, The entire Owerri zone has remained the strong bastion of the PDP since 1999 as no other political party has won the Senatorial contest.
In 2019, the PDP made a clean sweep of the zone both at the state and National Assembly polls despite the rampaging political machine of the then governor, Ethelbert Anayo Okorocha.
Again, he has remained the man of the people and a lone voice in the entire state against the alleged maladministration of the current administration of Hope Uzodimma which has endeared him not only to the people of the zone but the people of the entire state. However, it would be a major upset if he does not win as he has the solid backing of the entire supporters of the party across the zone especially in the federal constituencies of Ngor – Okpala/ Aboh Mbaise , Mbaitoli/ Ikeduru, Ahiazu/ Ezinhitte and Owerri.
Sen. Ezenwa Onyewuchi – Labour Party
The incumbent senator representing the zone is one of the luckiest politicians from the zone. In 2011, he had rode on the back of Rochas Okorocha’s popularity in APGA to win the Owerri Federal constituency seat. In 2015 when the Rochas Okorocha’s magic waned after the then governor had joined the APC, Senator Onyewuchi quickly switched to the PDP to return to the House of Representatives on the back Of Ihedioha who narrowly lost to then incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha at the Supplementary election.
Similarly, in 2019, he got a senatorial ticket on a platter of gold when the then incumbent Senator, Samuel Anyanwu, now the National Secretary of the party chose to contest the governorship ticket of the party against Ihedioha rather than returning to the Senate.
Thus, it was a smooth ride to the upper legislative chamber for Senator Onyewuchi who was backed to the hilt by the PDP and the entire Owerri zone .
However, Senator Onyewuchi, having lost his return ticket at the PDP senatorial primaries on May 26, 2022 immediately switched over to the Labour Party where he was handed over the party’s senatorial ticket.
Whether Senator Onyewuchi will return to the Senate through the “Obi- dient” movement will be known on February 25.
Prince Alex Mbata – APC
The APC candidate is a political greenhorn and was apparently handed the party’s senatorial ticket by Governor Hope Uzodimma because of his deep pocket.
This unilateral decision of Governor Uzodimma, had resulted in the exit of majority of stakeholders and aspirants including the likes of Dr Kemdi Opara, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Chief Sylvester Ugochukwu, Chief Kingsley Ononuju, Fabian Ihekweme, Dr Vitalis Ajumbe and even Betty Anyanwu – Akeredolu, first Lady of Ondo State.
So, it is against this background of acrimony and disenchantment within the ruling party that Prince Mbata would be contesting for the Imo East senatorial seat on February 25, 2023 with the candidates of the PDP and LP.
Prince Mbata who is a close political ally of Governor Uzodimma has an uphill task on his hands of convincing the people of the zone to support his aspiration, especially when the zone has remained the major opposition to the administration of Governor Uzodimma since the Supreme Court Judgment of January 15, 2020. However, politics they say is the act of the impossible.
Imo North, Okigwe
The Imo North has only six local governments including Okigwe, Onimo, Ihitte- Uboma, Obowo , Ehime Mbano and Isiala Mbano. And, of the six local governments, Isiala Mbano has the highest voting strength followed by ihitte Uboma, Obowo and Ehime Mbano.
Though the strong man of the zone, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume whose image has continued to loom large over the politics of the zone has been somewhat “ displaced “ from the ruling APC in the state by Governor Uzodimma, his first son and former state commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon Ifeanyi Ararume Jnr is the candidate of the Labour party for the Senatorial Election. It thus means that the Senior Ararume will not be a mere spectator in this election.
Hon Ifeanyi Ararume Jnr -Labour Party
The younger Ararume crossed over to the Labour party having lost the PDP Okigwe senatorial ticket to Chief Austin Okewuluonu Obowo local government. However, many political watchers from the zone have interpreted the situation that the one contesting election is the Senior Ararume who wants to prove a point that even if his name is not on the ballot that he can determine who wins the senatorial polls regardless of the political platform. The Senior Ararume has already deployed his well oiled political structure, the Destiny Organisation across the entire zone to ensure the success of his son in the February National Assembly and presidential Polls. Again, majority of APC members who had been denied tickets for the State Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate from the zone have all joined the Labour party. However, the Junior Ararume will need to win in four local governments which includes Isiala Mbano, his local government, Ihitte Uboma, Obowo and Okigwe to stand any chance.
Hon Patrick Ndubueze – APC
The erstwhile House of Representatives member, was the Senatorial candidate of the PDP in 2019 but narrowly lost to late Benjamin Uwajumogu in controversial circumstances.
He had again lost the primary election organised by the PDP to Chief Austin Okewuluonu in 2020 for the Imo North senatorial bye election following the death of the incumbent Benjamin Uwajumogu.
Having lost the primary election, Hon Ndubueze moved to the APGA under which he had contested the Okigwe senatorial bye election where he finished third behind the PDP candidate, Chief Austin Okewulonu, as the incumbent Frank Ibezim of the APC emerged the winner via the Supreme court ruling which had set aside the earlier judgement of the Appeal Court which had upheld a federal High court judgement disqualifying him from the senatorial contest for perjury and certificate forgery.
However, in the 2023 senatorial election, the political leaders of Okigwe zone had supported former governor Ikedi Ohakim as the best candidate for the zone and had even procured both the nomination and expression of interest forms for him with the tacit approval of Uzodimma .
But some stakeholders from the zone led by Chief Tony Chukwu at a meeting with Uzodimma had kicked against the candidacy of Ikedi Ohakim. They argued that the Okigwe Local government has not produced a senator since the return of civil administration in 1999. They had also threatened not to back Governor Uzodimma on his re- election bid if he insists on giving the Imo North (Okigwe) ticket to former Governor Ohakim.
This situation has caused a serious division in the zone ahead of the Presidential and national Assembly polls as most of the political leaders it have decided to simply watch from the sidelines.
Thus, Ndubueze has a serious political fight in his hand especially as he will be facing Ifeanyi Ararume Jnr, the son of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume of the Labour Party and Billionaire businessman, Chief Austin Okewuluonu of the PDP who is a popular candidate with deep pocket. However, his major supporters are Chief Tony Chukwu and Prof Maurice Iwu. But for Hon Ndubueze to stand any chance of winning, his financiers must be ready to open the vaults to counter the likes of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume and Chief Austin Okewuluonu.
Chief Austin Okewuluonu – PDP
He will be contesting the Okigwe Senatorial zone for the second consecutive time having lost the senatorial bye election in 2020 to Senator Frank Ibezim of the APC. Chief Okewulonu who is from Obowo council Area may exploit the seeming disharmony amongst members of the ruling APC members in the zone.This is because majority of the loyalists of former Governor Rochas Okorocha have joined the PDP. However, for him to stand any chance of winning the senatorial seat, he will need to win in Isiala Mbano, Obowo, Ihitte Uboma and Ehime Mbano and one quarter of votes cast in both Onuimo and Okigwe councils.
Imo West, Orlu
It is the same scenario in this zone as the major contenders for the sole senatorial seat are candidates of the PDP, APC and LP. Interestingly, serving members of the APC in the House of Representatives in the zone who ex- Governor and incumbent senator of the zone Rochas Okorocha ‘s political family who denied return tickets were welcomed with open hands by the main opposition PDP and Labour Party will be doing battle against Uzodimma’s men .
Senator Osita Izunaso- Apc
Since 2011 when he lost the PDP senatorial ticket to the incumbent governor, Uzodimma who rather than contesting for a third term in 2019, went for the governorship election under the APC.
Senator Izunaso had also contested the 2019 senatorial seat under the AGPA and lost to ex- Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The former National Organising Secretary of the APC is bidding to return to the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly. But he would have to defeat Hon. Jones Onyeriri of PDP and Charles Ahize of Labour party who are his major threats.
The zone is made up of 12 local governments and having come from Oru West, he needs to win in Oguta/ Ohaji / Egbema, Oru West which is his federal constituency but now under the control of the PDP.
It is the same story in Njaba/ Isu/ Nwangele/ Nkwerre, Orlu/ Orsu/ Orsu federal constituencies also, another strong bastion of the PDP.
In Ideato Federal constituency, he will have to face Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the PDP candidate for the federal constituency.
Nevertheless, Senator Izunaso whose campaign thrust is on his previous achievements as a senator and that if elected he will be a ranking senator would have to work extremely hard to convince his people to give him their votes.
Charles Ahize – LP
Chief Charles Ahize , a notable businessman from Ihioma in Orlu council was initially penciled down by Governor Uzodimma as his preferred candidate for the senatorial seat. But somewhere along the line, Uzodimma changed his mind and decided to give the ticket to Senator Izunaso after he had nominated Hon Nana Goodluck Opiah as the replacement to former minister of state (Education) Emeka Nwajiuba. As a result, Charles Ahize moved to the Labour Party.
The major challenge faced by Chief Ahize is that of perception as people of the zone allege that he was planted in the Labour party by Governor Uzodimma as his man Friday. However, like the others who had joined the Labour Party hoping to win their elections on the back of Peter Obi, he has an uphill task on his hands.
Hon Jones Onyeriri
He was the PDP candidate in 2019 and lost to then Governor Rochas Okorocha. In fact, the returning officer in the Orlu Senatorial poll said he had declared Rochas Okorocha winner under duress. Onyeriri who is bidding to represent the Orlu zone had defeated both Dr ThankGod Eziani and Hon Jerry Alagbaso during the Orlu Senatorial primary of the PDP. Hon Onyeriri who had previously represented Nkwerre/ Isu/ Njaba / Nwangele in the House of Representatives for three consecutive times has been tipped to win the seat, all things being equal owing to his wide acceptance by the people of the zone.
Again, to his advantage, the political allies of the ex- governor, Rochas Okorocha who currently represents the zone like Nnanna Ozurigbo who represents Nkwerre / Isu/ Njaba/ Nwangele federal constituency, Uju Kingsley who currently represents the highly populated Ohaji/ Egbema/ Oguta/ Oru West constituency are now in the same camp with Onyeriri after Governor Uzodimma denied them the return ticket of the ruling APC. It is the same in Ideato federal constituency.
