*BY: RALPH EJIMKONYE*
Top chieftains of the All Progressive Congress, APC in Imo State are in fierce scramble for Ministerial slot of the State.
The APC in Imo is to produce a Minister as President Buhari gets set to announce a new cabinet after his swearing in for a second term on May 29.
The slot, a top level source revealed to this newspaper at the weekend, may land in the domain of the Imo APC coalition. One of the top chieftains of the Coalition, TOE Ekechi appointment as member of North East Development Commission, NEDC, by President Buhari was confirmed by the Senate last week.
Imo APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma and State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere are said to be in contention for the sole slot of the party in Imo.This could not be verified as at press time but reports filtered in that almost all key chieftains of the Coalition are individually pursuing the intention of becoming a Minister
An Abuja High Court had last Friday threatened to order the arrest of Senator Uzodinma, a move some of his close aides said is part of a secret plot orchestrated by his political adversaries to weaken his chances of securing the ministerial appointment for the State.
This newspaper was informed at the weekend that though President Buhari has the final say on whom he wants to choose to be in his Next Level cabinet, sources said consideration will be given to a “ministerial nominee with the firepower to restore the party in Imo State after a disastrous outing in the general elections
The source said “In States where the APC has lost out such as Imo, we need a strong political leader as a Minister who will roar back the party to life.
“However, the final decision rest with the President who will determine the caliber of Ministers he wants”
The APC in Imo State were fatally bruised in the last elections. The party lost the presidential and governorship elections in the State to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP with no single member elected to the State legislature.
The APC in the State is challenging the outcome of the governorship election at the Election Petition Tribunal.
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