By Uzoma Nwachukwu
The recent defection of the senator representing Imo East in the National Assembly, Senator Ezenwa Onyewuchi, from the Labour Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC), is causing a big rift among his people – Owerri Zone – in their quest to produce the successor to Governor Hope Uzodimma. Senator Onyewuchi’s defection came after several months of speculations and rumor that he was being packaged by the Emmanuel Ihenacho-led Imo Harmony Project (IHP) as a possible consensus candidate for the Owerri zone governorship project.
There had also been the thinking in some quarters that as a two-term Honorable member and now serving a second term in the senate, he may get a favourable mention in the event that the pendulum finally swings to Owerri zone. Hence, some of the leaders in the zone, especially within the Imo Harmony Project, are said to have persuaded him to cross over to the APC in order to position himself early enough for the battle.
But as things have turned out, Senator Onyewuchi’s backers may have miscalculated. Apart from that his defection to the ruling party has caused a lot of discomfiture for key governorship aspirants in Owerri zone, Senator Onyewuchi is seen by a vast majority of his people as a bad sell as far as their quest for the governorship seat in 2027 is concerned. To begin with, many analysts see his latest defection as one too many, making him an unserious and unreliable politician. From their utterances, it needs no exaggeration to say that those he left behind in the Labour Party were completely shocked at his decision to defect. Even though Senator Onyewuchi is a serial defector, many, both within and outside the Labour Party, least expected him to do what he did at a time like this.
Onyewuchi was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2011 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform he ran for the Imo East Senatorial seat and won. In the countdown to the 2023 general elections, he fell out with the leadership of the party (PDP) and pronto, he moved over to the Labour Party, which was then enjoying a groundswell of support in the Southeast.
He grabbed the ticket of the party, contested for the senatorial seat and won for a second term, taking advantage of the party’s unprecedented popularity in the zone. His abandonment of the party just barely one year after to reposition himself, once again, in the ruling party have compelled several observers and analysts to describe him as a “serial opportunist and schemer”. Even so, political elements in Owerri zone across parties see him as a potential liability as far as the 2027 gubernatorial contest in Imo state is concerned. Apart from his unreliability, they contend that he is not known outside his home federal constituency. As one pundit puts it, “Senator Onyewuchi is hardly recognizable without the white cap and white beards he is putting on”.
Although some pro-Onyewuchi pundits further point at the fact that the governor was physically present at the senate chambers when the former defected, to suggest a prima facia inclination towards the Senator, others believe that the governor merely used the opportunity to denounce speculations that he had already made up his mind on a particular aspirant from the zone. Still, there are those who believe that Governor Uzodimma was merely playing good politics since the defection represents a good political capital both for him, personally, and the APC as a whole.
In the face of all the theories, one thing that is certain is that Onyewuchi’s defection has caused an upset in the calculations both within the camps of individual aspirants and the zone on the whole. Perhaps the worst hit is Chief Jerry Chukwueke who before now was rumored to have the backing of the IHP. Chukwueke is said to be one of the brains behind the organization and he is believed to have very much hoped on leveraging it in his governorship ambition. Not surprisingly, therefore, Chukwueke has distanced himself from the IHP and its arrowhead, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, since the defection of Onyewuchi. The same is true of Ambassador Kema Chikwe, an in-law to Chukwueke and an ardent supporter of his governorship project.
As expected also, Chukwueke is unsettled by the governor’s speculated tacit support for Ezenwa despite all his (Chukwueke’s), effort to sell the governor’s candidature for the November 11, 2023 governorship election which Uzodimma won with a very wide margin. Of recent, he has consistently absented himself from both government and party activities, unlike before. A recent case in point was the event in Lagos where the governor delivered a lecture at the Yoruba Tennis Club but which had Chukwueke conspicuously absent. Before now, Jerry would have flown back to Nigeria from where ever he was in the world to attend the occasion, more so one which the governor and his admirers attached a lot of significance to. Chief Chukwueke would have even followed it up with a television outing the same evening to further drive home the level of brilliance exhibited by the governor in his lecture. However, Chukwueke’s governorship project had already suffered a big blow before Ezenwa’s defection following his alleged involvement in the manufacturing and circulation of fake endorsement communiqués on the Owerri zone governorship project by traditional rulers in Okigwe and Orlu zones; a development that was said to have infuriated the governor to no end.
Another governorship aspirant in the zone that is said to be upset by Onyewuchi’s defection is Chief Alex Mbata. Mbata and Chukwueke are political rivals and haven slugged it out for the Imo East (Owerri zone) senatorial ticket in 2022 – with Mbata emerging victorious – many are looking forward to a rematch for the APC governorship ticket in 2027. Like Chukwueke, Mbata is also said to be upset by the entry of Onyewuchi into APC. He was also nowhere to be found during the governor’s recent outing in Lagos despite the fact that he is based there. Mbata is a close associate of Governor Uzodimma who is believed to have facilitated his emergence as a senatorial candidate in 2022 at the expense of Chukwueke.
Seen in some circles as a lone ranger, Mbata had, ab initio, distanced himself from the IHP owing to Chukwueke’s close involvement with it. He is believed to be banking on the governor to again favor him in the choice of who succeeds him from Owerri zone. Remarkably, both Mbata and Chukwueke were absent at a welcome reception – to APC – for Onyewuchi by Chief Henry Njoku in the latter’s residence in Owerri, even though he – Njoku – is also rumored to have a governorship ambition.
In the Mbaitoli-Ikeduru axis, another governorship hopeful, Prince Marcelenus Nlemigbo, is also said not be enamored by the entry of Onyewuchi into APC and arguably the governorship race. A former state chairman of the party, Marcon, as Nlemigbo is more popularly known, is said to have vowed to do everything within his powers to stop anybody from the Owerri federal constituency to emerge as the next governor of Imo state. In fact, it is believed in some quarters that Nlemigbo’s major interest in coming into the race is to act as a spoiler for any of the aspirants from that federal constituency.
Nlemigbo is said to be exploring an alliance with the Ngor Okpala axis where a green horn, one Dr Mathew Amadi, said to be a billionaire and believed to be very connected with the high and mighty in Abuja, is warming up. Already a few visible elements in the area are in strong support of Amadi’s ambition especially on the premise that the people of Ngor Okpala can no longer allow the Owerri federal constituency continue to dominate the politics of that axis. For a start, the Ngor Okpala Turks were able to convince Amadi to purchase nomination forms for all councillorship aspirants in the area for the forthcoming council elections in the state. The calculation is that the successful ones will constitute the nucleus of his home base when the time comes. This move, however, is not going down well with a close aide of the governor from the area who is believed to be nursing the ambition of taking over from his boss and whom many accuse of going about giving the impression that he is the anointed one. On the whole, therefore, Onyewuchi’s defection to APC is also not a welcome development in Ngor Okpala.
Up Mbaise, the Onyewuchi matter has worsened an already existing disdain for the tendency of the so called core Owerri people to claim an exclusive right to the 2027 governorship. Although there is, at the moment, no visible aspirant in the APC from that axis, it is believed that the ever foxy people of the Mbaise clan are waiting for the right time to strike; which is most probably the reason why none of its prominent politicians is meaningfully involved in any of the so called pan Owerri zone political movements fighting for the governorship seat – whether it is IHP, the Owerri Zone Political Leadership Forum (OZOPOLF), or the recently formed Owerri Zone Peoples Mandate (OWZOPEM).
Said not to have completely gotten over the rude shock from the ouster of their son, Emeka Ihedioha, from the seat of power in 2020, Mbaise people are apparently being careful this time around. To be sure, they will not mind queuing behind Ihedioha once again, but his recent dumping of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coupled with his taciturnity over where he will eventually pitch his tent, together with the certainty that it will take a miracle to make him succeed Uzodimma, whichever party he eventual joins, has put the Mbaise clan in a big quandary. This is to say nothing of the abysmal performance of another son of theirs, Major-General Lincoln Jack Ogunewe (retired), at the last season, thus making it a glaring fact that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the area to groom, between now and the next two years, a fellow that can bring back the gubernatorial trophy in 2027 when the whistle will blow again.
Still on Onyewuchi, the Mbaise bloc sees him as the Betrayer-In-Chief to their son, Ihedioha. Therefore, if elections are held today with the senator on the ballot, votes from the three local government areas in that axis are already lost by him and his party. All put together, opinion molders in the area are said to be buying into the idea of allowing Okigwe zone take another four years from 2028 to complete its truncated tenure; in the hope that between now 2031, the Mbaise nation will be in a good stead to groom a fellow who can meaningfully take another shot at the Imo governorship.
In any case, Onyewuchi’s defection to APC and possible entry into the governorship race will be to the advantage of Okigwe zone. At the APC primaries, while Okigwe and Orlu may have one or two candidates each, Owerri zone, from the look of things, may field not less than eight. When this is placed side by side with the huge baggage carried by Onyewuchi on his head, not a few observers and analysts are of the view that those who packaged him for the defection, with the hope of throwing him up as a possible candidate for APC, were extremely short sighted. This is to say nothing of the fact that the young people in the Labour party which he ditched will be waiting to pay him back in his own coins by making sure he does not make any head way whichever party he might have ran to. But as the saying goes, it is not over until it is over. As the intrigues and drama unfold, time, as the wise also say, will tell.