The people of Imo State will today go to polls as they elect their chief executive. OLAOLU OLADIPO in this piece appraises the build up to today’s event.
The people of Imo State are set again to elect their governor today as they will either renew the tenancy of incumbent Hope Uzodinma for another term of four years or replace him with any of the other candidates jostling to replace him. The governor whose ascendancy to office was very acrimonious is hoping that the people of the state would have brushed away the circumstances that brought him to power and return him.
In this epic race, Uzodinma is being challenged by 17 others who have been sponsored by their respective parties today but two of the candidates stand out as likely to rock the boat against him. The two other candidates are those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Samuel Anyanwu and Senator Athan Nneji Aconu of the Labour Party are being touted as strong contenders to fight Uzodinma to a stand still for the much coveted plum seat.
Major hurdle
Uzodinma became governor in 2020 after the Supreme Court nullified the election of the then incumbent, Emeka Ihedioha who came to power a year earlier on the platform of the PDP. In the controversial judgment of the apex court, Uzodinma who placed fourth in the poll was declared winner thus altering the governorship election timetable and calendar of the state.
Since coming into power, the governor has tried to warn himself into the hearts of the people of the state. This notwithstanding, some elements within the state are yet to come to terms with the realization that he is the chief executive of the state and they (the aggrieved elements) have been trying stringently to see his exit from the Government House and today’s election provides the best opportunity for them to actualize this.
Today’s poll is a form of referendum of some sorts for him as he is representing himself to the people. The governor will be coming into the poll with a well-structured and oiled platform with tentacles across the state to help secure a return to power. The governor has been mobilizing the APC party machinery massively considering the threat posed by his opponents to skew the contest in his favour.
Achonu’s audacious challenge
A grassroots politician, Achonu, a former member of the Senate is relying on the performance of his party at the recently held general election to sway things in his favour. As to be expected, Achonu is leveraging on the mass appeal of the LP in the state, particularly amongst the teeming youths to clinch the of- fice. Being the home region of the Presidential candidate of the LP, M. Peter Obi, Achonu hopes to wow the electorate in the state to key into the Obi phenomenon to clinch power.
One major drawback is that though the mass appeal appears to be there for him to leverage on, the clear absence of structure to sustain or guarantee victory for him seems lacking hence whatever likely victory might evaporate before his very own eyes if such is not maintained or sustained.
Anyanwu’s bid to reenact PDP’s dominance
It is on record that Imo State until recently had been a traditional state where the PDP had remained dominant. Save for a brief period of interlude when the Progressive People Alliance (PPA) produced former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, PDP had always won the state. The same tradition continued until 2019 when Ihedioha emerged only to be stopped by the Supreme Court verdict that toppled him from power a year later.
This is what Anyanwu is banking on to bounce into power. PDP is a grassroots party with roots across the state for the party to make any appreciable impact or possibly topple the APC. The major drawbacks for Anyanwu and his supporters is the inability to ensure reconciliation within the ranks of the party. It is a common knowledge that there appears to be no love lost between him and Ihedioha.
The feud between the two has percolated down to the ranks and file as their respective supporters are working at cross purposes ahead of today’s election. As at the time of filing this report, the leadership of the PDP both in Imo and at the national level is yet to reconcile the two for total victory. Apart from the two, other major stakeholders in the party are not also on the same page with the party and its candidate ahead of today’s poll.
An election dogged by anxiety
The state of insecurity has been heightened in the build up to today’s poll as there have been reports of killings and maiming of citizens and rival party members. There have been reports of heinous activities of unknown gunmen as well as those being committed by members of the Eastern Security Network, the militia arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra, which claimed over 400 lives, political actors and their thugs compounded the security situation ahead of the election. Gunmen killed eight security personnel in Umualumaku, Ehime Mbank Local Government Area of the state.
Some others also reduced the secretariat of the Labour Party in the state, situated on Wethedral Road to rubbles, and thugs also wreaked havoc on PDP leaders, supporters and the party’s property. While the PDP and LP accused the candidate of All Progressives Congress and governor of the state, Hope Uzodimma, of harassment and intimidation, the state government restated its commitment to a violence-free governorship election.
Apparently worried by the sorry state of things, statesmen under the banner of the National Peace Committee waded in to ensure peace as the people of the state went to poll by dispatching some of its respect- ed members to the state to secure a peace deal. Unfortunately, Governor Uzodimma and Achonu were among the candidates who were absent at the meeting without offering any form of explanation for their absence.
Candidates present at the venue of the event were PDP’s Anyanwu and that of the Action Alliance (AA), Lincoln Ogunewe as well as Prof. James Okoroma of Action Democratic Congress ADC. Reacting to the development, NPC threatened to name political parties and their candidates who refuse to sign its peace accord but it is yet to do so. Another peace meeting organised by INEC on Tuesday in Owerri, the state capital, ended in fiasco, after the commission’s National Commissioner representing South-East, Kenneth Ukeagu, ordered journalists to shut down their cameras and other gadgets.
The directive, which didn’t go down well with opposition party members present at the event, was challenged by the Labour Party deputy governorship candidate, Tony Nwulu, who questioned the rationale behind the order. Nwulu insisted there was no way the media would be shut out of the stakeholders’ meeting and queried if the meeting was “a secret cult.” His counterpart in the PDP, Jones Onyereri, supported Nwulu, insisting that the media must be part of the session. Onyereri alleged that the directive was “a confirmation that the All Progressives Congress had made arrangements with the electoral umpire to rig the election.’’
He also displayed copies of documents he described as fake results sheets allegedly published on the INEC portal during the House of Assembly election in the state. His allegation led to a shouting match as the APC members in the hall surged towards the members of the opposition parties. Fearing a possible outbreak of violence, traditional rulers, party leaders and the nine resident electoral commissioners deployed for the election fled the hall. Participants, particularly traditional rulers, at the session fled the hall as the interactive session ended in disarray following the opposition to Ukeagu’s directive by representatives of the Labour Party and the PDP.
In what could also be described as another unsavoury development, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress on Tuesday directed the workers in Imo State to commence a strike on Wednesday to protest against Governor Uzodimma. The grouse of the leadership of the labour centre was the recent brush of the leadership of the NLC with the state government that led to the brutalization of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero in Owerri recently. He had gone to the state to organize a protest when some thugs pounced and rough handled him badly and in retaliation, the labour leaders issued some instructions to their ranks.
These instructions could jeopardise the election as the INEC might not be able to distribute and transport materials due to the planned shutdown of the transport system and other public facilities in the state. These are the negative signals that have formed the build up to today’s election and it remains to be seen how the stakeholders would turn the situation around today.
