Imo 2023 Governorship Election: Top 5 candidates to watch out for

Seventeen candidates are contesting for the forthcoming November 11 governorship election in Imo state.

The current governor, Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) will have to battle it out with the 16 other candidates in his quest to remain in power.

However, out of the 17 candidates, five of them have been described as the top contenders to take over the Imo state government house.

Hope Uzodinma of APC

Uzodimma emerged as Imo state governor in 2020 after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP.

He was a two-term senator representing the Imo West Senatorial District from 2011- 2019.

The governor is from the Imo West senatorial zone and the only top guber candidate from his zone.

Uzodimma has a huge chance of retaining his seat based on his popularity, the support from his party ruling at the national level and capacity.

He is vying for a second term in office with a new running mate, Chinyere Ekomaru after he dropped his deputy, Placid Njoku in August 2022, Premium Times reported.

“I have picked a female deputy governorship candidate in the person of Chinyere Ihuoma Ekomaru.

“I believe she will add value to this ticket.

“I expect Imo women to appreciate this gesture as my genuine appreciation of their innate strength and capacity to contribute to the growth of our state.”

Senator Samuel Anyanwu of PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Samuel Anyanwu is from Imo East senatorial district.

Anyanwu doubles as the National Secretary of the PDP and an experienced politician.

The PDP candidate is very well-grounded in local politics having won a senatorial and State House of Assembly elections and served as a local government chairman. He lost the PDP ticket in 2019 to Emeka Ihedioha in the party primary.

Athan Achonu of the Labour Party

Achonu, who served briefly as a senator before the courts sacked him in 2015, is the Labour Party candidate and he’s the only major candidate from Imo North. He emerged as the LP candidate governorship candidate with 134 votes to defeat Jack Ogunewe who had 121 votes in April 2023.

In an interview with Joke Lijadu in 2016, Achonu narrated how he lost his arm towards the end of the Biafra civil war, FIJ reported.

“It was a grenade explosion, three days to the end of the civil war. We had just blown up the IMO bridge to stop Nigerian soldiers from advancing.”

“We had come back to camp. Somehow, till date I still don’t understand, my friend Michael made a mistake with pin. I had to get it away from me and it exploded in my hand.”

Achonu will be counting on the popularity of the LP in the southeast, Peter Obi and the good performance of Governor Alex Otti of Abia state.

The mentioned factors are strong enough to boost the confidence of Achonu and his supporters ahead of the election.

If he wins the November 11 guber election, he will become the first Nigerian amputee governor.

Major General Lincoln Jack Ogunewe, Rtd of Action Alliance (AA)

Ogunewe joined the AA after he lost the LP primary election to Achonu in a controversial election. He is from the Imo East senatorial zone just like Anyanwu of the PDP.

According to Vanguard, most of the LP groups joined him in his new party. R

The AA is not new in the governorship election in Imo state as it was the political party of Senator Rochas Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, during the 2019 governorship election.

Ogunewe will be backing on the support of his LP groups and a better performance considered to the second position the party got in 2019.

Tony Ejiogu of APGA

He is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Ejiogu’s party, APGA is a popular party in the south-east.

The party has produced governors in Anambra state and Rochas Okorochas won his first term in office in 2011 via APGA ticket.

He will be counting on the popularity of APGA in the region to get the needed votes to occupy the Douglas House.