Kema Chikwe, a former Minister of Aviation, has switched her political allegiance to Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Chikwe, a former National Woman Leader of Nigeria’s main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the weekend, said she has quit partisan politics.
Her support for Uzodimma’s re election for a second term as Imo State governor, had long been expected after she dumped her party man, a former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha.
Chikwe was Ihedioha’s ally when the latter was Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and later governor of Imo State for seven months, until he was sacked by the Supreme Court and replaced with Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The top female politician is also believed to have at one time backed Senator Anyanwu, the Imo PDP governorship candidate, but later changed her political direction mid way.
Uzodimma has amassed immense and tremendous support from APC stakeholders and key non aligned political leaders in the State for his re- election bid in the November 11, 2023 guber election.
Chikwe’s support for Uzodimma was expected. Close sources said she has been on the radar of Uzodimma for a long time.
“The governor always tells those in his camp to make more friends and not enemies for him and his government” the source said.
INNONEWS had exclusively reported on March 21, 2023, (see link at the end of this story), that a former Minister who served in past PDP led Federal governments from Imo State was on the verge of joining the APC and declare support for Uzodimma.
This newspaper had also reported that a close ally of Uzodimma, who unsuccessfully spearheaded the senatorial bid of a billionaire businessman, is the man behind the scenes, who initiated the moves for Mrs Chikwe to declare her support for Uzodimma.
Mrs Chikwe is the latest top PDP chieftain in Imo State to have succumbed to the deft political moves of the governor, whose massive dangling carrots seems to be irresistible and attractive to some disenchanted and frustrated members of the opposition.
Why Mrs Chikwe decided not to announce her defection to the APC, at the unveiling of her pet project, Women Development Initiative, WDI, in Abuja, could not be ascertained as the time of filing this report.
But a reliable source told this newspaper that she may have dumped the idea, in order not to offend some her close and strong allies in the PDP.
“At the event where she supported Uzodimma, it was mainly attended by bigwigs in the PDP, such as former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, former PDP National Spokesman, Olisa Metu, and former PDP Vice Chairman, South East, Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu.
“It was safer for her to declare support for Uzodimma rather than dump the PDP for APC.
“But does it make sense, anyone who endorses Uzodimma has automatically pledged allegiance to the APC” the source stated.
Mrs Chikwe’s support for Uzodimma adds to the growing misfortune of the PDP in Imo State, which has witnessed massive defections of it’s key stakeholders to the APC in recent times.