Opposition forces in Imo State are said to be watching closely the sudden reconciliation between Governor Hope Uzodimma and former governor of the State, Senator Rochas Okorocha.
Uzodimma and Okorocha had last week met at the office of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was spearheaded by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, to resolve their political differences.
Ganduje, on assumption of office had promised to “deliver” Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa States to the APC in the off cycle governorship election scheduled to hold on November 11.
Part of the plans to accomplish his mission, is to get political foes in the affected states, especially Imo to reconcile.
Details of the Aso Rock Villa meeting were sketchy, but sources said the two politicians made commitments to bury their age long feud and “work together”
Some media reports claimed that Okorocha endorsed Uzodimma’s second term bid after the meeting, a report which has not been refuted by Okorocha’s camp.
While stalwarts of the APC in Imo State are hopeful that the reconciliation is for real this time after failed attempts in the past, some opposition politicians in the State are said to be watching closely the unfolding development.
While a top chieftain of the opposition PDP, Hon Collins Osuji, told INNONEWS, that the reconciliation is of no political value or consequence to the PDP, ahead of the governorship election, this newspaper observed that there is uneasy in the camp of some opposition forces.
It was learnt that one of the governorship candidates in the November 11 election, had summoned an emergency meeting of his political loyalists to “appraise” the Abuja meeting between Okorocha and Uzodimma.
In the build up to the 2023 general elections, Okorocha, who had vied for the presidential ticket of the APC, was “courted” by some opposition forces in the State.
Rumour of a move to the PDP increased when Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State, invited him to commission a major road in the State.
Before former Governor Emeka Ihedioha opted out of the 2023 Imo governorship race, he and Okorocha were speculated to be “working out a political understanding”
The speculation swelled,when some of Okorocha’s allies, such as Hon Ugonna Ozuruigbo, Hon Lugard Osuji, Hon Kingsley Uju jumped over to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, where they vied for various elective offices.
Another source had also claimed that before the Abuja meeting, the former governor was approached by one of the leading governorship candidates in the State, ostensibly to seek for his support for the November guber election.
All that seems to have ended in smoke based on the recent political development.
It is unclear if Okorocha would publicly announce his support and endorsement for Uzodimma’s re- election in November, but analysts believe that the “reconciliation” moves remains a major boost for the APC in the State ahead of the guber polls.