Former Governor of Imo State, Hon.Emeka Ihedioha has been advised to seek and engage fresh political allies in the State, if he intends to return to power in 2023.
Chief Ben Akubueze, a legal Practitioner and a chieftain of the PDP in the State, said Ihedioha cannot ride back to seat of governance by going solo, or continue to depend solely on the existing structure of the PDP in the State.
Speaking to INNONEWS in Owerri, Akubueze said “Ihedioha needs to make new political friends. He has no ally or allies. If he thinks he can become Governor of Imo State again on the basis of sympathy, he will be making a big mistake.
“The sympathy card will not work for Ihedioha in 2023. Those who believe that because he was removed from office by the Supreme Court, thus such act will attract sympathy for him from the electorate during the next election will be disappointed.
“Sympathy has no role to play in Imo politics. If he wants to return to Government House,Owerri, he has to engage fresh political allies in the State. He has to broaden his political base. He cannot continue to rely on the same set of political friends who are members of his Party, to actualize his guber ambition.
“Politics of 2023 will not be the same with the political narratives which shaped the 2019 guber election in the State. If you watch the trend already, you will observe that political gladiators in the State are beginning to align irrespective of their political differences of the past.
“In the APC, you can see Uzodimma/Nwajiuba alliance, Okorocha/Araraume working together, where does this leave the former Governor in the political equation of 2023 in the State?. Whom has he aligned with? His followers in the PDP alone cannot deliver him as governor in 2023.
Reacting to a question that Ihedioha emerged Governor of Imo State without entering into alliance with a top politician or group of politicians in the State in 2019, Akubueze replied “a lot has changed between then and now in the political arena of the State”.
“In 2019, Rochas Okorocha was the common political enemy, which all the political actors in the State opposed his choice of his son in law, Uche Nwosu as his successor. Majority of the masses joined the fray, and in the long run, Ihedioha was the benefactor of that political gang up against Okorocha. He became alternative choice of the people of the State who voted for him to become Governor. 2023 will be a different ball game. An incumbent Governor will be bent to return to power. The APC will be ferocious to retain power
“The power of political alliances are very strong in Imo politics” he said.
Akubueze suggested that reconciliation between Ihedioha and Senator Anyanwu will be ideal for the PDP in the State.
“Ihedioha as leader of Imo PDP should bring in Sam Daddy into the mainstream of the party in the State” he said.
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