2007: Battle Over Udenwa’s Job
The question of who rules Imo State assumes an increased tempo among the motley crowd of aspirants
By Eugenia Okpara, Owerri

Achike Udenwa, Imo State Governor

With the 2007 general elections around the corner, political activities in the country has increased in rhythm. As the swing of political engineering in Imo State tilts to and fro, with postters of the over 10 contestants for the governorship race adorning every nook and cranny of the state capital, Owerri and other sub-urban communities, the quest to succeed incumbent governor, Chief Achike Uzoma Udenwa in 2007 promises to be a battle royale, particularly in the state branch of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).
The crisis rocking the State chapter of the party, which has not only polarised the once strong and united PDP into what is now know Abuja and home-based camps, but also created lack of confidence among the party stalwarts, will obviously make the battle for the soul of Imo State very fierce.
This crisis in PDP, which has defied all attempts to reconcile the warring parties, may not be unconnected with the attempt by some ambitious gubernatorial aspirants to gain full control of the party structure, for the sole aim of getting the party’s nod to fly the PDP flag during the 2007 governorship election.
This quest to control the party structure between Governor Udenwa and the leadership of the party may prove an albatross for the party in the state, as was witnessed during the Imo State House of Assembly bye-election for Isu Constituency.
The PDP had lost the House of Assembly bye-election in Isu Local Government Area due in large measures to the neglect of the fact that the governor had lost absolute control of the PDP structure in the State. Marcellinus Nlemigbo, the current PDP chairman in the state who is on the war path with the governor, it is believed, lacks the political muscle to wrestle the structure from the governor.
Although the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Ahmadu Ali, was reported to have warned party members when he came for the burial of late Colonel Hilary Njoku, that anybody that does not recognise the governor as the party leader in the State is on his own.
Indeed, according to a party stalwart and a strong supporter of the governor, A.O Chukwu, a lawyer the national leadership of the ruling PDP is not being sincere and serious with the reconciliation moves.
He pointed out that the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party dissolved the elected State Executive and imposed a caretaker committee, composed mostly of co-ordinators of the Abuja group with governorship ambition, while relegating the existing state leadership to the background.
Chukwu: “The national leadership of our great party is aware that the bone of contention is the usurping of the party leadership by people who are not founding members of the party. Until they accept this fact, that Governor Udenwa, who has been funding the party since 1999 is the leader of Imo State chapter of PDP, the reconciliation attempt will not work”.
Chukwu revealed that as the situation in PDP is now, the scale is tilting in favour of Deputy Governor, Ebere Udeagu, a water engineer, who boasts of a formidable structure and is not affected by the crisis of confidence and the problem of loyalty within the state executive of the party.
Continuing, he pointed out that the award by the Senate Committee on States and Local Government as the best accomplished and most outstanding Deputy Governor in the second tenure of peaceful democracy in Nigeria, among other such awards, is a testimony to the humble and loyal nature of the man, Udeagu.
Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume is another governorship contender from Okigwe zone where Udeagu hails from. The zone is laying claim to the State House and indications are that Araraume has the financial muscle to win the gubernatorial race, but some political icons in the state fear that he lacks grassroots support to weather the storm.
Senator Araraume is also said to be inaccessible to the rural people, in-spite of the fact that he comes around often to his country home, Isiebu, in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of the state.
Also, Araraume is seen as relying more on the national leadership of the PDP, his Aso Rock connections and the state executive of the party where it is believed he has good support.
However, this, some close political watchers believe, may be his albatross as his men in the Imo PDP State Executive Council are believed to lack the structure and the needed public relations to sell his candidacy.
Many also point to the alleged sour relationship between Araraume and Udenwa, as they fear that it may affect his chances of emerging the governor of Imo State in 2007.
But his Director of Media and Public Relations, Dr. James Okoroma, thinks otherwise, as he fondly regards Araraume as “the issue in Imo State” because “he is the main man in Imo politics.”
According to Okoroma, “Senator Ifeanyi Araraume is formidable in experience, contact and considering the five indices of power, he is the man to beat in the 2007 Imo governorship race”.
Okoroma identified the five indices of power which he said favour the Senator as “the power over the media, over the intelligensia, the religious and the wallet”, adding that having been in the Senate in the last seven years, he has gathered experience, the contact and the resources needed to move Imo State forward.
He argued that as a Senator, Araraume has ensured that major roads in Okigwe senatorial zone were tarred as he attracted the attention of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Imo State Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to the area.
On the alleged soured relationship between Governor Udenwa and the Senator, Chukwu insisted that they are friends and their there was no personal animosity in their disagreement, insisting that it was political jobbers that are fanning the embers of hatred between the two friends and causing problems where there should not be any.
The immediate past Leader of Imo State House of Assembly, Stanford Onyirimba, who many say is “a goal getter and a grassroots man” is yet another governorship aspirant from Okigwe zone that cannot be brushed aside with a mere wave of the hand.
In his printed manifesto, which was made available to The Source, Onyirimba, a graduate of Economics, disclosed that he entered the race to ensure a better life for the people of Imo State, contending that “Governor Achike Udenwa has done a lot for the state but it is not enough as unemployment still pervades the society”.
Onyirimba: “Our Governor laid a solid foundation for the overall growth of the state and a better future for the indigenes. But there are still huge difficulties that we must address such as inequality, lack of jobs, crime and corruption, poverty and unemployment. We must ensure that local government councils improve service to people”.
Onyirimba explained that his vision and determination for a better life for Imo youths include provision of enabling environment for the creation of jobs and a programme for retraining and re-skilling of youths for a changing labour market.
Jude Okwudili Nzeako from Ogbor Ugiri in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area and a Chartered Accountant, who until now was based in England, on his part said that his mission is to “deliver Imo State and its people from abject poverty”, observing that Imo State is the poorest in the West African sub-region.
On his lack of political structure, which is a great disadvantage in the politics of Imo State, Nzeako replied that within a few weeks he would build a formidable structure as well as make the people realise that he is the only one that cam eliminate their poverty through job creation.
Another contender for the 2007 Imo State governorship race from Okigwe senatorial zone is Ike Ibe, a lawyer and the Imo State Trade Representative in Washington, who relies heavily in his current campaign on his role in the medical mission and the building and equipping of Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), Umuna, Orlu – a project which was initiated and funded by the State Government.
Emeka Nwajiuba, a former member of the House of Representatives and a lawyer, who declared his intention to run for the governorship election on January 2, 2006, is another politician that should be taken seriously by other contestants.
According to him, his mission is to re-position Imo State in the direction of economic development, insisting that the challenges of modern Nigeria and the modern world need the injection of fresh minds with fresh ideas that will meet the realities on ground.
Nwajiuba described as an articulate young man, full of ideas and strategies of how to radically improve the wealth of the state by addressing the agricultural potentials, insists that even the abundant rainfall, animal droppings and human wastes can be usefully harnessed.
The former Minister of Aviation and Transport, Dr. Kema Chikwe, is regarded by those close to her as “a formidable aspirant from Owerri zone”, who though lacks grassroots support to pick the PDP ticket and subsequently the governorship seat, is relying heavily on her alleged connections to those that matter in Abuja.
Although the state chairman of the party and the Owerri zone chairman, Nlemigbo and Willie Amadi respectively are said to be Chikwe's men in the executive, the odds appear to be stacked heavily against her as members loyal to Senator Araraume, Hope Uzodimma, and the governor appear not to be in a hurry to back her candidature.
Furthermore, her alleged sour relationship with the Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Kelechi Kennedy Nwagwu, the estranged political son of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, is likely to count against her, as Iwuanyanwu’s supporters would be handy to stall her dream.
Notably, some people from Owerri zone in an advertorial published in some local newspapers, described Chikwe's alleged adoption as the sole candidate by some politicians in the zone as “laughable”. They insisted that nobody had been adopted and that those who did the so-called adoption were not competent to do so, on behalf of the zone.
There is indeed little doubt that she is a formidable politician with peculiar characteristics, which has been working for her but, Chikwe’s alleged controversial nature coupled with her frosty relationship with political bigwigs in Owerri North Local Government Area, her home council, may count against the actualisation of her governorship ambition.
Martin Agbaso, the only candidate in the race so far from another political party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who declared his governorship ambition on Tuesday, July 18, 2006, is alleged by many to be a spoiler.
Agbaso, apart from lack of a huge structure is also faced with the problem of belonging to a party that is not well rooted in the state. But inspite of this, Agbaso's supporters assured that he is the man to redeem the level of infrastructural decay, if elected as the governor of Imo State in 2007. Indeed, the growing ethnic sentiments in favour of APGA might turn out to work positively for Agbaso especially against the backdrop of the combustion expected in the PDP. Indeed, the symbolic act of raising Agbaso's hand by the Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, as the APGA candidate, analysts say, might it for him.
Humphrey Anumudu, a lawyer and businessman, is a regular face in the governorship contest of Imo State, having contested twice in 1999 and 2003, but the odds against him include his role in the overturning of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Imo State chapter primaries in 2003 which, Nwajiuba reportedly won.
Aside that, he is also accused of frequently abandoning his structure after every election, only to re-surface a few months to another round of polls to seek the people’s mandate. So in Imo political circles, he is viewed as an “unserious politician”.
Most importantly, Anumudu has been accused of being away in Lagos during the struggle for the control of the sate machinery of his party, the PDP.
In the final analysis, The Source reliably gathered that the competition will most likely be between the Deputy Governor, Udeagu and Araraume.