John-Praise Obinna, Owerri
The long awaited governorship and state assembly elections in Imo State and indeed in many other states across the country is around the corner. The elections, originally scheduled to hold on March 2 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has now been postponed to 9 March due to the shifting of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
This other round of elections would certainly give the people of Imo an ample opportunity to speak out by making the right choice of electing the next governor, who would administer the affairs of the state for the next four years.
The people will be looking up to the electoral umpire for what they considered to be a credible, free and fair election that would usher in a new administration anchored on total turnaround of the state.
As it stands now, INEC had already published the final list of 67 governorship candidates that would participate in the election. But, out of this numerous candidates, only few have the realistic chances of making any impact at the elections, going by their level of preparations, as it concerns their campaigns and rallies. These candidates are Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Ifeanyi Araraume of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; Chief Ikedi Ohakim of Accord Party, AP, and Ugwumba Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance, AA.
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The Nigerian Xpress findings show that the contest would be tough, as candidates put all their cards on the table and have been traversing the length and breadth of the state to sell themselves to the people.
The candidates by all standards are well to do and have records that would convince the electorate to vote for them.
Emeka Ihedioha
Ihedioha is a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. Being in the corridors of power for 16 years, means that he has garnered the experiences that would help him govern the state if he wins the election. As PDP candidate, he stands a better chance of winning the election. He contested in 2015 on the same platform, but lost to Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Ihedioha is a grassroots politician. He hails from Owerri zone that has not had the opportunity of governing the state for a long time. He is the most favoured candidate, considering the records he has acquired over the years. Since emerging as the governorship candidate of PDP, he has received the accolades and support of majority of Imo people for defeating his closest opponent and the current senator, representing Owerri zone at the National Assembly, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu.
Within this period, a lot of governorship aspirants from other political parties, such as APGA, APC among others and some other top politicians, have also thrown their weight behind him to ensure that he wins the 2019 election.
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For him, majority of Imo people are saying that it is a victory assured. To ensure victory, party leaders led by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu came together to resolve issues that came up after the primaries.
He gave his Abor Mbaise/Ngor-Opkala Federal Constituency quality representation during his period at the House of Representatives that resulted in the expansion of some roads through the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in Mbaise and other communities within his domain. He has remained a staunch member of the PDP and never defected to any other political party till date.
Ifeanyi Araraume
He served as senator, representing Imo North (Okigwe Zone) at the National Assembly before he opted to contest for the governorship of the state on the platform of the PDP, but lost. He re-contested for the same position in 2015, but lost to Ihediaoha at the primaries.
Araraume is currently flying the flag of APGA in the 2019 governorship election race. Before the primaries, APGA had about 30 governorship aspirants, who were hopeful that there would be transparent primaries. With the emergence of the former senator, as governorship candidate, other aspirants abandoned the party, as they accused its leadership of favouritism.
Other staunch supporters have stayed away from the party, while the state chairman and some key officers were suspended. The situation was compounded by the fact that Ararume came from APC, where he was one of the party chieftains, who formed the Coalition Force against Governor Rochas Okorocha over his plan to impose his Son-in-law on the party.
When he found out that he wouldn’t be able to secure the APC ticket, he pulled out and went to APGA.
His chances, according to pundits, are very slim going by the high number of people that have left APGA for other political parties.
Hope Uzodinma
He is currently the Senator, representing Orlu Zone at the National Assembly. He is the APC governorship candidate. He joined the Coalition Force made up of the Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, Sen. Ben Uwajimogu, Ifeanyi Araraume, Mr. Theodor Ekechi, Sen. Osita Izunaso and some other governorship aspirants to fight Governor Rochas Okorocha over his attempt to impose Uche Nwosu on the party.
When he was declared the winner of the party’s primaries with the support of Abuja, Governor Okorocha quickly organised their own primaries and announced Nwosu as the candidate. This situation led to crisis and problems in the party both at the state and at the national levels, until the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party took the decision to adopt Uzodinma, as its authentic candidate in the state.
Uzodinma had the advantage of being the candidate of the party in power that could mobilise both the resources and security forces to make sure he wins the election. But, this may not play out, as majority of the political appointees of Governor Okorocha and other members of the party have deserted him and joined Nwosu, Okorocha’s candidate, to demonstrate their support for him.
Uche Nwosu
He is the candidate of Action Alliance. He was prodded to join the party by his father-in-law when they lost the APC ticket to Uzodinma.
Uche was the former Chief of Staff, Government House and former commissioner for land housing and urban development. His father-in-law made every effort to impose him, as the candidate of APC but all failed. His chances of winning the exalted seat as it stands now are really in doubt. While some APC members are still with Nwosu based on their loyalty to Okorocha, others have abandoned him. But he should not be ruled out completely, as his sponsor is in control of the resources the state, including security apparatus.
Ikedi Ohakim
He was the governor of the state between 2007 and 2011. He re-contested, as an incumbent but lost to Okorocha, who contested on the platform of APGA. In 2015, Ohahim participated in the primaries of the PDP but could not scale through.
He moved to Accord Party and gave it some recognition and visibility in the state. His chances of winning the election are slim because the party is still relatively unknown. A lot of questions have been asked on what Chief Ohakim left in office that is pushing him to contest again. Many people even criticised him for not performing during his first tenure in office.
