Despite loud criticisms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Imo State, the opposition remains too fragmented and underprepared to mount a credible challenge in the 2027 governorship election.
This was the consensus on Imo Today, a political programme on INNONEWS, where some analysts weighed the political odds as Governor Hope Uzodimma prepares for succession battles ahead of 2027.
According to them, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and African Democratic Congress (ADC) lack not only the grassroots structures but also the cohesion necessary to pose a real threat to APC dominance.
The only scenario analysts considered potentially destabilising for the APC was if Peter Obi, Labour’s 2023 presidential candidate, re-entered the fray. But with Imo’s governorship poll being off-cycle and fixed for November 2027, months after the presidential election, that scenario is impossible.
They recalled that history in Imo is unkind to sitting governors who tried to produce successors.
One of the analysts, Ralph Ejimkonye, recalled that in 2007, Achike Udenwa’s plans collapsed spectacularly.
He said: “Almost every major political gladiator in the state — Ifeanyi Araraume, Kema Chikwe, Tony Ezenna, Hope Uzodimma, and many others — joined forces against his succession scheme. Udenwa, despite incumbency power, was boxed into irrelevance by a united political class.
“Ikedi Ohakim faced a similar fate in 2011. His re-election bid crumbled under the weight of a coalition of stakeholders, many of whom had once backed him. That gang-up produced the conditions for Rochas Okorocha’s dramatic entry into Government House, Owerri.”
Ejimkonye further said that Okorocha himself would later fall victim to the same historical pattern.
“By 2019, the people of the state had already rejected his attempt to hand over to his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu. Even before the political elite moved against him, the groundswell of popular rejection sealed the fate of his succession plan. Okorocha’s strategy collapsed at both the elite and grassroots levels,” he said.
Ejimkonye, however, noted that in Uzodimma’s case the political landscape looks markedly different. Unlike Udenwa, Ohakim, and Okorocha, there is no united opposition front ganging up against him. Every opposition figure in the state who claims to oppose Uzodimma also harbours their own ambition to be governor.
“The result is a fragmented field where each contender prioritises personal ambition over collective strategy,” Ejimkonye stated.
Barr. Chima Onwukwe, one of the contributors, argued that this disunity gives the APC in Imo a unique advantage.
“There is no political wave or force in the state which can displace the APC, unlike the past where a congregation of Imo political bigwigs stopped Achike Udenwa and the ruling PDP from producing a successor,” he said.
“Past governors were undone by unity of purpose among their rivals. Today, Uzodimma’s rivals are divided, chasing separate paths to power, and unwilling to subsume their ambitions into a common front.” he concluded.
Obinna Onwuruzike, another analyst, observed that Uzodimma has not only consolidated the APC’s structures but also commands the loyalty of critical political players across the State.
“The political dynamics that stopped those governors are not in play today. Uzodimma commands both the structure of the APC and the loyalty of critical stakeholders that matter in Imo,” he noted.
He went further to say: “Most political parties in the state do not have the antidote to the APC’s electoral machinery. This is the bitter truth.”
Mr. Chika Nwokeji, another commentator however warned that discontent lingers in the state.
He stressed that the APC is not overwhelmingly popular among Imo voters, many of whom remain dissatisfied with the economic policies of the APC-led federal government.
According to him: “The only real chance the opposition has is if the ruling party falters internally or Uzodimma mishandles his succession plans.”
Still, barring an unexpected collapse of APC unity or a dramatic alliance among opposition figures, the 2027 governorship contest may break the long-standing jinx. Uzodimma could emerge as the first governor in the state’s history to successfully install a successor.
If that happens, analysts argue, it will not be because the APC is invincible but because the opposition squandered its chance. History shows that Imo governors lose succession battles when their rivals unite.
