OWERRI ZONE PROGRESSIVES FORUM (OZOPROF)
WE STAND BEHIND BOB NJEMANZE
A. PREAMBLE
Our attention has been drawn to statements credited to some elements from a section of Owerri zone, notably from the Emekuku/Egbu axis, in apparent response to the opinion expressed by an elder statesman, Prince Bob Njemanze, during a live interview on Channels television a couple of days ago. Prince Njemanze had in answer to a question by his interviewers said that he does not see how his people in Owerri zone can produce Governor Hope Uzodimma’s successor – as the latter are clamouring for – without working in close liaison with Okigwe zone whose people are also laying claims to the same position.
Prince Njemanze went ahead to express his opinion, saying that the best bet for his people in Owerri zone would be to allow Okigwe zone take another slot of four years between 2027 and 2031 and thereafter have a seamless ascendance to power. This opinion has gone viral on social media with an avalanche of commendations from well-meaning Imolites all over the world.
Those who are familiar with this matter are aware that this is not the first time Prince Njemanze is coming up with this position; a position he shares with other prominent and well-meaning indigenes of the same Owerri zone. As expected, he has come under attacks from the Emekuku/Egbu axis cabal and their hired minions. One of them called him an “old adult rascal”, another called him a “political contractor working for the government”. One of them, a former minister, was reported to have said that the quest by Owerri zone for the office of the governor come 2027 was “… enunciated by the Imo State Elders Council, upheld and confirmed by the governor, consecrated by the church and stamped with offor by the Imo State Council of traditional rulers”.
But every knowledgeable fellow in Imo state, including those from our Owerri zone, knows that this is a spurious and fallacious claim. Whether deliberately or inadvertently, Governor Uzodimma has never said that he will hand over to a fellow from Owerri zone as is being insinuated by this former minister; and at no time have traditional rulers in Imo state lifted their sacred offor to affirm that the next governor of Imo state must come from Owerri zone.
In at least three different occasions, Governor Uzodimma minced no words in saying that, contrary to the expectations of our people in Owerri Zone, he has no powers to single handedly anoint an Owerri Zone fellow, or any other zone for that matter,as his successor, a position that flows eloquently from constitutional logic. To hear, for the umpteenth time, that some of our brothers and sisters from the Emekuku axis are still insisting otherwise is completely reprehensible and egotistic. More repugnant is that these fellows now talking glibly about Charter of Equity are the same people that truncated it in 2011. It is not a hidden matter that:
1. It was the Emekuku cabal that sold a governorship ticket to a fellow from Orlu zone after another fellow from Orlu Zone, had put in eight years and went ahead to concoct lies against a sitting governor from Okigwe Zone using the imprimatur of a High Priest.
That act of perfidy against Okigwe and indeed against the entire people of Imo state is what brought about the confusion that has enveloped the Imo polity in the last fourteen years.
2. Just on August 20, 2025, Governor Uzodimma had, while receiving Owerri stakeholders during another orchestrated courtesy call on him, stated that his concern is not about whose turn it is but to clear the confusion that arose from the “mischief of the past”. The “mischief” the governor was referring to is, of course, the one perpetrated by the Emekuku cabal as noted above.
3. After deliberately destroying the smooth rotation of power in the state for personal gain and creating the hydra-headed monster that has brought so much disharmony among the good people of Imo state, the cabal is again trying to mislead the rest of Owerri zone into believing that there is a conspiracy to deny it its right to produce the next governor of the state.
And the cabal is doing so with magisterial desperation that is capable of bringing division into the Owerri Zone political establishment. The signs are already there. Those who were at the August 20, 2025 courtesy call will recall that the cold war between the two main groups that are fighting for supremacy in the zone – the Imo Harmony Project (IHP) and the Owerri Zone Political Leadership Forum (OZOPOLF), nearly came to the open.
B. LEAST WE FORGET
May we further draw the attention of our brothers and sisters in Owerri Zone to the following:
1. For over fifty years, this small but powerful cabal had power at both the federal and state levels. They had ministers upon ministers with “A” portfolios. They had presidential advisors including for Ecological Funds. They had a deputy governor. They had controlling interest in banking, telecommunication, ecclesiastical hierarchy and numerous other institutions. Much earlier, they had occupied the office of the first lady in Lagos State and in the former East Central State and which wielded so much power. The question everyone is asking is, what did they achieve with those enormous power for Nde Owerri Zone?
2. Today, the members of this same cabal have unfettered access to the Government House, Owerri and always form the largest population among congregants at the Government House Chapel every Sunday.
3. The same cabal deceived the rest of Owerri Zone to install another fellow from Orlu Zone through a phantom agreement that he will do only four years and that the agreement they had with him to hand over to Owerri Zone after four years was water tight.
4. Today, they have turned against the current governor simply because he has refused to yield to their dictate to name one of them – within the cabal – as his successor more than two years to the end of his tenure. This is even as they profoundly refused to vote for him for his second tenure. They now blackmail him, tell lies against him, disrespect him, distort his speeches and stampede him with needless courtesy calls.
5. It is on record that in 2011, the governorship mandate of Okigwe Zone was unjustly truncated halfway into its natural eight-year cycle. Every reasonable person in the state knows that that tragedy was orchestrated by this cabal, which in concert with its Abuja collaborators, executed what can only be described as a civilian coup against Okigwe Zone and against the natural order of justice and equity in Imo State.
6. They are enemies of Free Speech and Democracy. This group has repeatedly demonstrated that they cannot tolerate dissent. They attack, cajole, and malign anyone who challenges their narrative. But democracy thrives on free debate. To silence dissent is to corrode the foundation of democracy itself. Their methods are therefore not only unjust but also dangerous for social cohesion in Imo State.
C. PRINCE NJEMANZE SPOKE THE TRUTH .
We issue this statement in defence of free speech and in firm solidarity with our elder statesman, Prince Bob Njemanze, who spoke with uncommon courage, honesty, and clarity about a matter of fundamental justice for Imo state – the urgent need to correct the glaring inequity that now envelopes our state as the result of the perfidy of this cabal.
1. Njemanze’s position is not personal. It is simply the truth. It is a principled call to conscience – a reminder that the only path to restoring harmony and credibility to Imo’s political evolution is to return to the interrupted equity of 2011. Those who now attempt to demonise him for speaking this truth are the very same individuals who benefited from truncating that equity which also nearly destroyed the Njemanze dynasty.
2. Prince Bob Njemanze spoke the minds of millions of Imolites, particularly the ordinary people of Owerri Zone – the youths, the professionals, the traders, the clergy, the elders, and indeed the silent majority.
3. When he declared that he does not expect the current governor to hand power directly to Owerri Zone, he was not dismissing Owerri Zone’s legitimate aspirations. Rather, he was making a sober, historically grounded political assessment – one that prioritizes justice and equity above egotistic sentiments.
D. CALL TO UNITY
1. We call on all well-meaning Imolites – whether from Owerri, Orlu or Okigwe – to reject this attempt to polarise our people once again along artificial lines. The issue before us is neither clanish nor sectional. The question is simple: Will Imo state respect her unwritten promise of fair rotation based on justice, or will a privileged few from one enclave continue to assault our collective destiny?
2. We hereby appeal to the younger generations not to surrender its future. Do not allow hypocrisy disguised as piety, or influence masquerading as public service, to hold you down. The battle for justice and equity is your battle too, for it determines the kind of future you will inherit.
E. TO OUR GOVERNOR:
1. We urge our amiable governor, His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma, not to be distracted by the antics of this group. Their constant courtesy visits, their massive presence every Sunday at the government house chapel and their whispered intrigues should not divert his focus.
He should continue to do the good work he is doing – delivering world-class infrastructure, improving the state’s socio-economic indices, and providing dividends of democracy to Imo people.
2. We encourage His Excellency to distance his administration from the manipulations of this group, and instead align with the genuine yearnings of the people for justice and equity.
F. CONCLUSION
We reaffirm our solidarity with Prince Bob Njemanze.
Let it be known that Imo people will no longer allow that privileged few to manipulate their destiny anymore. The era of cabal politics has ended.
Now that we have understood the antics of this cabal, the rest of Owerri Zone and indeed the rest of the state must be vigilant. We, the younger generation, must not allow this cabal to continue to hold us down. Fortunately, we have a personality like Prince Bob Njemanze, who is more exposed and experienced than each and every one of them and who thoroughly understands their tricks. The younger generation of the Owerri Zone political elite and intelligentsia are fully behind Prince Bob Njemanze and other elders who share his views on this particular matter. He spoke for all of us at that interview. Peace must return to Imo.
Long Live Owerri Zone!
Long Live Imo State!!
Long Live Nigeria !!!
Signed
Chibuike Onyeoziri (National Co-ordinator)
(1) Alphonsus Diala (Co-ordinator, Ngor Okpala LGA)
(2) Romanus Asoluka (Co-ordinator, Owerri West LGA)
(3) Ndubisi Osuagwu ( Co-ordinator, Owerri North LGA)
(4) Sixtus Okoro (Co-ordinator, Aboh Mbaise LGA)
(5) Marizu Nwogwugwu (Co-ordinator, Ezinihitte LGA)
(6) Collins Anyadike (Co-ordinator, Mbaitoli LGA)
(7) Romanus Anyanwu (Co-ordinator, Ikeduru LGA)
(8) Austin Nwigwe (Co-ordinator, Ahiazu Mbaise LGA)
(9) Osondu Acholonu (Co-ordinator, Owerri Municipal)
