The governorship election in Imo State is about is about five months away, yet the key actors are leaving no stone unturned in the bid to secure victory after the list of candidates of the parties was made public by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), writes JOHNKENNEDY UZOMA.
The crisis created by the political parties primaries held in Imo State for the November 11 governorship contest still lingers. The parties with visible presence in the state include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP). Before the primaries, there were discordant tunes and sharp disagreements among leaders over who should be candidate of the parties. The situation engendered a major crack in all the parties with their chieftains at the cross roads at both the state and national level.
Recently, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the list of candidates for the election. The action has raised the tempo of horse-trading pending the official lifting of ban on campaign for the election by INEC. There are spirited moves by the major stakeholders in the leading parties and the camp of the candidates to put their house in order before the takeoff of the campaign for the poll. There are also frenzied moves by all the players to prevail on their supporters and party members to play according to the rules by comporting themselves to guarantee a peace and smooth election. Other relevant agencies are working assiduously to partner with INEC and security agencies to facilitate a seamless process. There is rising confidence and renewed hope about a congenial atmosphere for the poll.
PDP
The PDP remains one of the strongest party in the state. It is deeply rooted in the heart of the people, as it has governed the state for a number of years. It produced governors, senators, house of Representatives members and state Assembly members before the party was displaced by APC. As a party on opposition, things are no longer rosy for the leaders. It has been crisis upon crisis before and even after they lost the presidential ticket, PDP has not known peace. Both the national Secretary of the party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and a former governor of the state, Emeka Ihedioha have been involved in a contest over who leads the party to the Promised Land. The situation continued until Ihedioha quietly pulled out of the governorship race. The national secretary of the party, who did not resign from office before contesting for the primary, was unanimously adopted as the candidate of PDP for the November 11 election in Imo..
Labour Party
The party became popular in the state because of the entry of a former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi into the February 25 presidential race. It led to a massive movement of the people into the Obidient Movement. The LP became an instant home for many cutting across party lines and the beautiful bride among power brokers in the state. Curiously, the LP was mired in crisis before the conduct of party primaries. The traces of that internal problems subsisted, leading to the conduct of parallel primaries. So, three persons out of the 13 aspirants are laying claim to the ticket of the LP for the election coming up in November.
For instance, while former senator, Athan Achonu, who represented Imo North, emerged as the winner of the primary held at Land Mark Hotel Owerri, Ukegbu Ikechukwu Joseph emerged at the one held at Uratter/MCC. Meanwhile, a few weeks to the primary, the caretaker committee led by Mr. Ambrose Onyekwere was sacked by the current caretaker committee members led by Mr. Festus Onyekwulisi.
Since the emergence of Achonu as a candidate, the national leadership of the party and the Peter Obi have affirmed his candidacy. The 27 LGA party chairman have also affirmed the candidacy of Achonu, reassuring him of their support as the authentic LP candidate.
APC
It became the ruling party during the era of a former governor of the state, Senator Rochas Okorocha following the merger of APGA with other parties. APC has continued to wax stronger in the state as the governing party in the state till date. More politicians have joined the state chapter of the party which still has PDP as another veritable challenger at elections. Governor Hope Uzodimma has secured a second term ticket of the APC ahead of the election and there has not been any major internal crisis arising from the conduct of the APC governorship primary because the party had only one aspirant, the current governor. He was unanimously adopted as APC candidate.
A cursory look at the INEC’s final list of the governorship and deputy governorship candidates showed that none of the parties is fielding female candidates. However, two parties: ADP ADP and APC have the names of female running mates. While Ottih Vivian Ogechi will contest as ADP deputy governorship candidate, Governor Uzodinma has Ekomaru Chinyere Ihuoma as his running mate.
However, shortly after the conclusion of the primaries, Governor Uzodimma told PDP candidate, Samuel Anyanwu to prepare for defeat in the coming election in the state. The governor stated this while reacting to Anyanwu’s comment that the three lawmakers from PDP who defected to APC were irrelevant to the party. Anyanwu, who is the national secretary of PDP, countered a recent publication which reported that Uzodimma would be victorious in the November 11 election. In the said publication, Anyanwu had insisted that he would defeat Uzodimma despite the defection of the lawmakers and their supporters to APC. Reacting to the comment, the special adviser to Uzodimma on Public Communications, Collins Ughala, highlighted that the governor’s achievements in all spheres will definitely be a boost to overcome all his opponents in the election including Anyanwu. Ughala noted that Anyanwu is only playing a mind game with his constant utterances and reiterated that his antics will fail after the election.
The people of the state say they envisage a keen contest. Some of them say the election will be a litmus test for the administration of Uzodinma and a kind of referendum on the performance of the government in the last four years or so. Others argue that the election is a major battle for survival for the opposition parties, especially the PDP after being in opposition for so many years in the state. There are some stakeholders who believe that the November 11 election is a battle between those regarded as power brokers in the politics of Imo and the existing establishment.
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