Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southeast are already counting their gains as well as losses under the leadership of Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma. To some, the future is just as uncertain despite efforts of the torchbearer, LAWRENCE NJOKU reports.
Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, has registered a footprint in the Southeast since he assumed office in 2020. Aside from withering the political storms against his second term election, the first in the Southeast region by any governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he has also assumed influence and control of the party in the region.
The former senator representing Imo West Senatorial zone has also become the chairman of the Southeast governors’ forum, a position he earned as the oldest among the current serving governors in the region. This forum currently is made up of five governors – two from APC, and one each from Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Uzodimma is also the chairman of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) of Nigeria, an umbrella body that binds APC governors in the 20 states. Since he assumed power in Imo State in 2020, following the pronouncement of the Supreme Court that declared him winner of the 2019 general elections, Uzodimma has continued to make strong imprints in the affairs of the southeast region as the leader of the party.
However, while a few of his political assertions had yielded dividends, many have created frictions and discontent among stakeholders. For instance, part of his influence, which was fully brought to bear during the contest over who becomes President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 2021 created the parallel leadership that currently festers in the apex socio-cultural body.
