Douglas House race: Who blinks first as Imo APC plays the waiting game?

By Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

As the clock ticks towards November 2027, Imo APC is quiet where it should roar and noisy where it was told to wait.

The road to Douglas House, Owerri, is never a sprint. It is a marathon that begins long before INEC blows the whistle.

By law and by calendar, Imo State will elect a new governor in November or December 2027, with the inauguration in January 2028, to succeed Senator Hope Uzodimma. To the casual observer, 2027 looks far away. To the political tactician, it is already late. So the big question in Imo today is not when the election will hold, but where the gladiators are.

The state’s political atmosphere is unusually quiet and dull. Part of the reason is that Imo sits outside the general election calendar, so its governorship poll will stand alone. But that does not fully explain the comatose silence. If this were 2018, Owerri would be vibrating with posters, consultations and town hall meetings. Today, you can drive from Orlu to Okigwe to Owerri and never feel the pulse of a coming governorship race.

Ironically, the only vibration is coming from the opposition. Former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, now charting a new course in the ADC, Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP, and the youthful Dr Chima Amadi of the APP have been bold enough to keep their structures active and their ambitions visible. The ruling All Progressives Congress, which should set the pace, is docile. Conspicuously so.

That silence is even more puzzling given the now famous Imo Charter of Equity. On several public occasions, Governor Uzodimma has assured the state that power will rotate to Owerri Zone in 2028, in the spirit of equity and fairness. The argument is not without merit. History has been harsh to Owerri Zone.

Orlu Zone has held power for more than 22 years: Achike Udenwa from 1999 to 2007, Owelle Rochas Okorocha from 2011 to 2019, and Hope Uzodimma from 2020 to date. Okigwe Zone had four years under Dr Ikedi Ohakim, from 2007 to 2011. Owerri Zone had seven months and 24 days under Emeka Ihedioha, before the Supreme Court judgment of 14 January 2020 brought it to an end.

On paper, Owerri is the natural beneficiary. On the ground, it is the most fearful. Some analysts believe Owerri politicians are waiting for a signal that may never come. Power is never served à la carte. You do not wait for it; you work for it. President Bola Tinubu put it better during the 2023 campaign with his famous declaration, “Emi lo kan”, meaning “it is my turn”. Grab it and run with it.

While Owerri waits for Godot, two men from the zones not favoured by the Charter have refused to wait. One is Dr Ikedi Ohakim of Okigwe Zone, the former governor whom many Imo civil servants remember for his Clean and Green programme and his initiative to create 10,000 jobs. The other is High Chief Charles Orie of Orlu Zone, a wealthy businessman and longtime ally of the governor.

Both are APC chieftains and close friends of Governor Uzodimma. Both are everywhere: in the media, at burials and youth summits, empowering women and dominating the airwaves. They have kept Imo APC alive with their millions, while Owerri’s big men look furtively over their shoulders.

This raises questions that Imo people are asking in low tones at Akwakuma, Amakohia and Banana Junction. If Ohakim and Orie consulted the governor before starting, what did he tell them? If the slot is truly reserved for Owerri, what emboldened them to carry on? And if Uzodimma declares tomorrow that it is Owerri’s turn, what becomes of two men who have been spending and holding forth? In politics, nothing goes for nothing. Will they be compensated? Will they agree to go home empty handed?

Here lies a lesson of history that Owerri APC aspirants must not forget. At the height of his power, Governor Rochas Okorocha wanted to hand over to his son in law, Uche Nwosu. Yet Nwosu, wise as he was, did not rely solely on Okorocha’s structure. He built his own, the Ugwumba Movement, which later metamorphosed into the Action Alliance.

Governor Uzodimma has his own impregnable structure, Camp Hope, which will be deployed for his senatorial ambition in early 2028. Can an Owerri aspirant hope to become governor by borrowing Camp Hope to win even his own local government area? Bola Tinubu did not ride on President Buhari’s structure to become President, though the two were in the same party and were friends.

Findings show that many Owerri Zone APC heavyweights are in the race but waiting for a green light from Government House. So far, only one man has summoned the courage to declare openly: Chief Reginald Amadi of Emekuku, in Owerri North Local Government Area.

The others said to be waiting in the wings are Chief Dr Henry Njoku (Harritex), Dr Macdonald Ebere, the Imo APC Chairman, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Chief Jude Ejiogu, a former Secretary to the State Government, Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, Hon. Ikenna Elezieanya, Chief Akagburuonye, Chief Amuchie and Hon. Alex Emeziem.

Interestingly, apart from Elezieanya, Amuchie, Akagburuonye, Ebere and Emeziem, all of them come from Owerri North, a local government area already being described as the battleground within the battleground.

In politics, you must sound your own trumpet. If Owerri APC aspirants think they can play the good boys and wait to be anointed by proclamation, history says it has never happened since Imo was created in 1976. Imo is too sophisticated, and too defiant at the last hour. Ask Udenwa and Okorocha.