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By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
A rare political shift may be afoot in Imo State, particularly in Orlu (Imo West) Senatorial zone of the state where Governor Hope Uzodinma and the member representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of the state, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, hail from. Senator Uzodinma represented the senatorial district in the 8th Senate – from 2015 to 2019 – on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but later defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC. He is poised to return to the Red Chamber after his tour of duty at the Douglas House, Owerri, as the Imo State Government House is called, having secured the Senatorial candidacy of his party for next year’s senatorial election.
On his part, Ugochinyere , who was elected on the platform of the troubled PDP in 2023, defected to the little known Action Peoples Party, APP in January. Declaring for the APP in his country home, Akokwa in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State on January 7, 2026, the Reps member said all efforts to rescue PDP had failed, hence his decision to quit the party.
Followers of Imo politics told Sunday Sun that since moving to the APP, Ugochinyere and his new party have been steadily proving to be a David that is poised to do incalculable harm to a Goliath (APC). Imo APC’s Publicity Secretary, Jones FCC Onwuasoanya, has however dismissed APP’s relevance in the 2027 elections in Imo, saying it is of no threat to APC dominance in the state. Onwuasonya described the APP as Hon Ugochinyere’s “business enterprise which only exists in his briefcase.”
Aside from Ugochinyere and Hon. Matthew Nwogu, member representing Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency in the House of Reps, all other elected political office holders in Imo state are of the All Progressives Congress, APC. A good number of them were however, not originally elected on the platform of the party but were products of bandwagon migration that hit other political parties after the APC produced the President in the 2023 elections. Governor Uzodinma, basking in the euphoria of APC’s dominance in the state, recently triumphantly declared Imo as “unapologetically a one-party state.”
However, opposition parties in the state insist the governor is on his own. Observers also suggest he may have made his declaration too hastily. The APP, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) say Governor Uzodinma misread Imo’s real political temperature. According to them, the APC is already at the exit door in the state. Each of the opposition parties claims they are battle ready to dislodge the APC from power. The APP is optimistic of routing the APC and has declared it awaits the ruling party at the polls. Cajetan Duke, former Publicity Secretary of APC in the state and now a chieftain of the APP was recently quoted as describing his erstwhile party as exit-bound.
His words: “APP has demonstrated enough readiness for the 2027 general elections in Imo. APC is aware that APP is the party to beat in Imo. APP is now the largest number one opposition party in Imo. We have two National Assembly members. That’s an indication of strength and acceptability.
“Today, the APC in Imo knows that the 2027 election is about the people trying to take back their destiny in their hands. The people are looking for credible alternatives and they have found that in APP.”
On its part, the ADC has stressed its readiness to take over the state, claiming a massive presence in all parts of the state. The party’s state Publicity secretary, Macdonald Amadi, recently told a national daily: “My party has come to save Nigeria from hunger and starvation; provide basic health, quality education, and infrastructure. Our party is rooted in rule of law, and abhors violence and election rigging.
“If there is any party that is prepared to rule in Imo, it is ADC. Our party has sold itself to the people of Imo in all the nooks and crannies of the state. We are ready for the 2027 general elections.
“Our party is against blackmail and running down individuals. ADC believes in constructive criticism and holding governments accountable by getting them to pursue policies aimed at ensuring the welfare of the people.”
However, some political pundits believe that when the chips are down, the menacing threat to APC’s hold in Imo will be Peter Obi’s NDC, but Ugochinyere’s APP insists it is aggressively locking down Imo sSate, particularly Imo West Senatorial district even as party sources confided in Sunday Sun that card carrying members of the APC and the other parties and their supporters in the state have resolved to secretly work for and vote the NDC during the 2027 elections, particularly in the presidential and governorship elections, “in solidarity with one of our own, our son, Igbo son, Peter Obi.”
However, Ugochinyere’s charisma and his visionary and transformational representation of Ideato North and South in the House of Reps, his supporters told Sunday Sun, are the key factors propelling the party in Orlu zone. They stress that the young parliamentarian enjoys Senatorial district-wide organic support, acceptance and influence. They point to his recent birthday ceremony at his country home at Umukegwu, Akokwa in Ideato North local government where over 30,000 APP supporters from different parts of the state were said to have amassed at a short notice to celebrate him.
A business development strategist and public communication and engagement expert, Ingram Osigwe is of the view that in the politics of Orlu cum Imo today, politicians ignoring Ugochinyere’s political strength and rise will be doing so at their peril. According to him, the Ideato North/South representative has morphed into a movement nobody should ignore. “Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere has become a political movement personified. He is the people’s person. His charisma is glistening. His people love him unconditionally. That Ugochinyere commands organic love, fellowship and support in the Ideato nation is not in doubt,” Osigwe said.
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Citing the unprecedented crowd at Hon. Ugochinyere’s birthday celebration recently, Ingram argued that in recent history, no Nigerian politician, probably with the exception of Peter Obi, Kwankwaso and the late Present Buhari, had pulled such a massive crowd of excited supporters and admirers within a short notice. “And in Imo State, with the exception of our late sage and former Governor of the old Imo state, Dee Sam Mbakwe, no politician commands the kind of organic love, crowd and fellowship that Ikenga commands. And outside our shores, Ikenga’s popularity, influence and acceptance among his people is comparable to the organic love, support, influence and the crowd-pulling power which America’s late civil rights icon, Martins Luther King, Jnr had commanded,” Ingram, who hails from Ideato, added.
In his view, it was more than a birthday celebration, but a remarkable demonstration of the genuine affection and confidence the people of Ideato have in Hon Ikenga.
“Unlike most politicians that buy or rent validation and support, the Ikenga crowd was not rented, there were no imported supporters, and no stage-managed spectacle. It was organic. It was natural. It was real, it happened in real time!
“The massive turnout was made up of men, women, youths, traditional leaders, party faithful, and well-wishers from across Ideato who came willingly to celebrate a leader whose impact they had seen and experienced.
“The sea of heads that filled the venue was a clear reflection of years of purposeful representation, visible constituency projects, and a leadership style that keeps the people at the centre of governance.
With Hon. Ikenga Imo, one undeniable truth stands clear: love cannot be rented, and genuine acceptance cannot be manufactured. Ideato spoke with one voice not through slogans, but through its overwhelming presence.
“Again with the spectacular scene at Ikenga’s birthday, anyone, any Imo politician, especially in Orlu zone ignoring him and his party (APP) is doing so at their own political peril. Given the constituency-wide support and acceptance he enjoys, Ikenga’s re-election into the House of Reps for another four years of quality representation of the Ideato nation is unquestionably a done deal. His going back to the House for another four years, making eight years of transformational representation has been dubbed 4+4 by the Ideato nation. Coincidentally, when you remove the plus sign in-between the two figures, what you get is 44 which is Ikenga’s age! At a young age of 44, Ikenga has become a political movement, a political Iroko, a visionary leader and a pathfinder!
“It is now crystal clear that Ikenga Imo and the APP are political forces to reckon with in the Ideato and Orlu Senatorial zone as a political unit and in Imo as a state for he has clinically changed the state’s political conversation! Yes, the Imo, particularly Orlu, political conversation has shifted and is now being dominated by this young, vibrant, charming and visionary young parliamentarian”, Ingram further said.
Meanwhile, the APC has dismissed other parties, particularly the APP’s claim of presence in Imo with a wave of the hand.
Speaking to Sunday Sun, Onwuasoanya said: “No one is aware of the existence of the APP. APP is a one- man business enterprise, it is a one-man business outfit, it is not a political party. The APC in Imo is very popular among Imo voters. We are not bothered about the rants of that very unpopular political party and the other smaller opposition parties. APC in Imo is very solid and very confident of victory in the next election going by the achievements of His Excellency to earn the support of Imo people, so APP is a nondescript party and does not count.
“The APP is owned by one man. If you know the history of the APP you will remember that it was registered, I think, around 2015 and it has been a family affair of Ikeagwuonu. It was registered as a special purpose vehicle, SPV, with which he has been doing a lot of business. His father acted as the national chairman of the party for a very long time until a year ago when he brought in his personal lawyer, Steve Nnadi. There is no evidence of a national convention of APP held anywhere, where party officials were elected. In 2023, his elder brother, Obinna Ikeagwuonu, was the APP candidate for Ideato Federal Constituency while he was the candidate of the PDP because he knew that APP does not exist; it only exists in his briefcase as a business enterprise. His personal assistant, one Achilike always comes up as a governorship candidate.
“They sold their tickets to the highest bidders, who just wanted their pictures on posters. So, such individuals are no threat to the APC in Imo. APP is the least of our worries.”
Reaffirming Governor Uzodinma’s description of Imo as one-party state, Onwuasoanya expressed confidence that “the people know what they want and what they want is the APC,” adding, “Imo people have decided, it is not actually our decision, the Imo electorate has decided that Imo is a one-party state. We have 27 House of Assembly members all of whom are of the APC, 27 LGA chairmen all of whom are of the APC, 305 ward councillors all of whom are of the APC, three Senators all of whom are of the APC and eight out of 10 House of Reps members. So, I don’t think it should be a subject of any kind of debate to say that the APC is the only political party in Imo state. That does not, however, mean that we are not going to allow a fair contest. We are going to allow a fair contest, we are confident that Imolites will continue to vote the APC as the only party that has met their expectations since the start of the Fourth Republic.”
