The battle for control of the soul of the All Progressive Congress, APC in Imo State may have narrowed down between Minister of State for Education,Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba and Senator Hope Uzodinma.
Sources within the party said with the elevation of Nwajiuba as Minster of the Federal Republic, he has become one of the top political leaders of the party in the State having been known to be an ally of President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari was said to have given due attention to his allies in constituting the new Federal Executive Council. He was quoted to have said that he never knew some of those he appointed as Ministers in his first tenure.
While Nwajiuba may indeed be the President’s ally, the recent appointment of Mr. Kyrian Uchegbu as Imo State representative in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is an indication that the party’s governorship flagbearer, Senator Hope Uzodinma, is also not out of contention on the quite leadership struggle ongoing in the party in Imo State.
Uzodinma, according to reports is said to be behind Mr. Uchegbu’s appointment as NDDC Commissioner for Imo State.
Party sources said this underscores the fact that he retains some level of influence within the party which he led to the governorship election in 2019 in Imo State and lost to the PDP governorship candidate, Hon Emeka Ihedioha
He had also placed a distant fourth position in the polls though he is challenging the outcome of the polls at the Election Petition Tribunal.
This newspaper had reported that the race on who takes over the party leadership in the State has been quietly raging between former Governor Rochas Okorocha, now senator representing Imo West in the senate, Minister of Education, Hon.Emeka Nwajiuba and Senator Hope Uzodinma.
With so much political undercurrents in the party which only time will decide, it remains unclear how future political developments in the party will favour the contending forces later on.
Before the governorship election in the State, the APC was in bits and pieces with two contending forces led by then Governor Okorocha on one side and Senator Uzodinma on the other side. The party eventually lost the governorship polls and failed to win a single House of Assembly seat in the present dispensation.
In politics where influence peddling is key and strategic, Nwajiuba’s elevation as Minister and Uzodinma’s unwavering influence in the party seem to confer more powers on the duo at the moment viz-a- viz who takes up the leadership mantle of the fractured party in Imo State.
Analysts contend that the place of former Governor Rochas Okorocha may be shaky at the moment in the party on the grounds that his suspension from the party by the National Working Committee, NWC, is yet to be lifted.
Several variables are yet to come to play as unfolding political developments in the party in the State will determine who among the political gladiators will brace the tape first.
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