From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The November 11, Imo State governorship poll is very crucial for the people of the state, and all the contending political parties. For the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it is not just an ordinary poll, it is also a make or mar contest, not just in Imo, but also in the politics of South the East geo-political zone.

At the inception of the present democratic dispensation, the PDP had total control of the South East. However, over the years, its influence in the zone has declined considerably. From controlling the five Southeastern states, the PDP now has only one state. The other four states are spread across the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). While the APC controls two states, the Labour Party and APGA have one state each.

In the 2023 general election, the party could only win one of the 15 Senate seats at stake, and seven out of the 43 House of Representatives seats up in the contest, making a total of eight seats in the National Assembly. On the flipside, the LP won a total of 28 National Assembly seats, while the APC, APGA and Young Progressives Party (YPP) garnered 14, six and two seats in the federal legislature respectively.

Consequently, analysts have said that the November 11, governorship poll in Imo State is very critical to the PDP’s desire to regain relevance in the South East. Expectedly, the party said it was leaving no stone unturned, in its quest to displace the APC from the Imo Government House.

Zamfara State Governor, and Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council, Dauda Lawal, said the victory of the party’s candidate, Samuel Anyanwu, would help to reinvigorate the PDP in Imo State, and by extension the entire South East.

Lawal, who spoke at a meeting of the campaign council in Abuja, had captured the significance of the Imo governorship election party thus: “Our objective is to secure victory and this is a crucial task that must be done because to secure victory at the polls will reinvent the PDP in the South East.

“We will be very focused and determined, we pledge. We shall overcome. The victory of Senator Anyanwu is to reinvigorate the PDP in Imo, which is the heartland of Igbo.”

Like, in the other four Southeast states, the PDP had won the governorship contest in Imo State in 1999 and 2003. However, the party lost the state to Ikedi Ohakim of the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) in 2007. Ohakim later defected to the PDP, but his second term was scuttled by Senator Rochas Okorocha of the APGA.

The PDP made a comeback in 2019, after its candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, was declared winner of the governorship in the state. But, it was a short lived victory. Ihedioha was sacked by the Supreme Court, barely seven months after his assumption of office as governor. He was replaced by Governor Hope Uzodimma of the APC.

Uzodimma, who is also the candidate of the ruling APC in the Saturday’s poll, is seeking to secure a second term. The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the time of the APC in the Imo Government House was up.

Ologunagba, in a recent statement, said the Imo State governor does not stand a chance in the gubernatorial contest. He noted that the people of the state had decided to cast their lots with the major opposition party, the PDP.

According to him, “The APC knows that it does not have the mandate of the people. Governor Uzodimma has no visible organic support base in any part of Imo State, because he is detached from the people, including in his home, Orlu zone.

“The indicators are clear and the November 11, election will not be different. Governor Uzodimma will not win in any polling unit in a free, fair and transparent election because Imo people have found a credible, sincere, humane and approachable leader in Senator Anyanwu.”

However, Uzodimma said the victory of the ruling party in the November 11 encounter was a done deal for him and his party. The Imo governor, while featuring in a television programme, recently, said the APC performance in Imo during the 2023 general election is an indication that it is the party to beat in the governorship contest.

“First of all, my party did not lose an election in Imo State. If I understand what the situation is, we had an election on February 25 in Imo state.

“We (APC) produced two senators out of three and four members of the House of Representatives out of the seven concluded seats.

“We produced 25 members of the House of Assembly out of 27 seats. Is that how to lose an election?

“APC is a party to beat in Imo. APC had done so well that there is already an exodus from other political parties to our great party, “the governor reportedly said.

But, for Anyanwu, Imo is a PDP state. He opines that Saturday’s poll would afford the people of the state an opportunity to show their preference for the major opposition party.

The PDP candidate said: “The places the sitting governor cannot even go, we have gone there and come back.

“This election is not about me, and the incumbent; it is about Imo people, Imo State, and the sitting governor.

“This is because Imo is traditionally a PDP state. What happened in the last three years was an aberration, PDP won the election but it was taken away by the Supreme Court. So, we know that PDP in every nook and cranny of Imo State is PDP. PDP is a party that has its fabrics among the people.

Nevertheless, apart from the APC, the PDP also has the LP party to contend with in Saturday’s election. The LP, which is a new kid on the block in the politics of the South East, has swept through the zone like a hurricane in the 2023 polls.

The party, which won the majority of the National Assembly seats, as well as the Abia governorship seat, in the last general elections would want to use this weekend’s polls to consolidate its hold on the politics of the South East.

The LP’s National Leader and 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is optimistic that the party’s candidate, Senator Athan Achonu, will win the governorship poll. Obi, while speaking at the flag-off of the party’s campaign, had stated that “LP will win Imo State. Athan Achonu is the only candidate of the party and he is the best in Imo State.”

He added that “LP wants to change Nigeria. We are asking Nigerians for the opportunity. Give us a chance in Nigeria, and there will be a change. In Abia State today, there is hope; that is what is called governance.”

The stakes, no doubt, are very high in the Imo gubernatorial contest. However, pundits agreed that one of the things the PDP has going for it is that it has a formidable candidate in Anyanwu. Anyanwu, a veteran of many political battles, is believed to have a grassroots appeal.

Inside sources said the major opposition party was banking on the mass appeal of its gubernatorial candidate, and the odds stacked against the incumbent governor, including his running battle with the organised labour, to pull the rug off the feet of the APC in the state.

The PDP’s optimism, notwithstanding, analysts have said that the major odds against the party in the Imo contest, is the seemingly absence of unity of purpose. This is especially as some leaders of the party in the South East are allegedly working at cross purposes.

Analysts said the Imo gubernatorial election is an opportunity for the PDP to make a strong statement about its desire to regain its relevance in the South East. Whether or not the PDP succeeds will have far reaching implications, not only for Anyanwu, but also for all the leaders of the party in the zone.