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.

 
This is because despite the non-political imprimatur, which the organisation bears and the opposition that greeted his interjections in the union, Uzodimma braved the odds to impose late Ambassador George Obiozor, who was before then was a non- member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the president general of the group. The development created the current discontent in the organisation over the rightful executive between Chidi Ibeh group and Ambassador Obiozor/ Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu group. Ibeh and a few others, who could not bear his influence, opted for a parallel leadership in Ohanaeze. Obiozor died and Iwuanyanwu took over.
 
Done with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the governor reportedly moved into the Southeast chapter of the party in October 2021, where he asserted his influence in the congresses to ensure the emergence of those that occupied offices.
  
At first was the June 2021 controversial governorship primary of the party that threw up former senator, Andy Uba, against 13 other aspirants that made many abandon APC for alternative platforms, which eventually led to abysmal performance of the party in the governorship election. Uba, who secured 230,201 votes in the party primary, out of 348,490 votes cast in the supplementary elections, polled only 43,285 votes.
  
In Enugu, with the October 2021 Uzodimma backed state congress that produced Ugochukwu Agballah, a non-registered member of the party as its state chairman against the choice of foundation members of the party, the lost-love was carried into the 2023 general elections where the party performed woefully.
  
Agballah was until his emergence a member of PDP. Despite the backlash that greeted the development, it did not move the party towards addressing the ill-feelings.
  
While some members left the party because of the imposition of Agballah as chairman, some of those who stayed behind worked against the party during the 2023 elections. This resulted in the poor performance that trailed the APC in that election.
  
Apparently to make up for the shame of the defeat late last year, Agballah summoned a stakeholders meeting where he announced suspension and expulsion of some foundation members of the party including immediate past Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, immediate past Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, former state chairman of the party, Ben Nwoye, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, former Enugu governor, Sullivan Chime, former Speaker, Enugu House of Assembly, Eugene Odoh among others.
  
He accused them of inter party activities and working against the interest of the party. Abia State chapter shared a similar experience as the contention over the rightful governorship candidate between Ikechi Emenike and Uche Ogar who emerged from parallel primaries marred the chances of the party in the 2023 general elections in the state.
 
At the zonal level, Uzodimma’s man, Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu emerged the National Vice Chairman, APC southeast zone. Arodiogbu supervised the contentious congress that produced Agballah in Enugu State among others. Of course, no such attempt was made in Ebonyi State as the then governor, Dave Umahi, was firmly in charge of the party.
   
Uzodimma’s influence on the party was said to have been brought again to bear last year when it was time for the nomination of Ministers to the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu. He effectively deployed his reach to ensure emergence of the current Ministers from Imo, Enugu, Anambra and Abia. Many who queued in anticipation were disappointed as the governor allegedly went for those loyal to him. Similar fate is said to be playing out in other appointments that have come to the zone.
 
Some stakeholders insist that having a hand in whatever happens in the party in the southeast region is part of the governor’s efforts to deepen and rebuild the party to win elections in the zone. This is however, the anger that is fueling discontent in the party in the region as various members who feel sidetracked are nursing for an opportunity to pay back to the governor in his own coin.  
 
Their anger stem from  insinuations that most people who were there during the formation and early stages of the party are no longer reckoned with as there are preferences for new members in elective and appointive offices. Indeed, when Uzodimma allegedly bungled the Edo APC governorship primary last month, it was an opportunity by some members to serve him the bitter truth over his alleged parochial leadership in the southeast region.
 
One of the foundation members of the party, Osita Okechukwu had latched on the opportunity to call for the removal of Uzodimma as the chairman of PGF, saying his conduct was capable of wrecking the party. The primary, which was later annulled by the party, produced three candidates.
  
Okechukwu wondered why Uzodimma who bungled a similar assignment in Edo State in 2020 should be given a second assignment and asked how many more malfeasances he would commit to be eased out of the assignment. He stated that the duty for which Uzodimma was later replaced by the governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu had put the party in ridicule.
  
He also seized the opportunity to enumerate serial misfortunes of the governor in the southeast to include the 2021 governorship primary of the APC in Anambra State; the congressional elections of the party in the southeast, which he allegedly pocketed to the 2023 general elections in the region.
 
Okechukwu said: “Then, as if that ugly prelude to 2023 general elections was not enough, Governor Uzodimma generated hatred, rancour, and malcontents and alienated APC membership long before Peter Obi’s factor.
  
“The summary of Uzodimma’s woeful leadership is the 2023 presidential election results in the Southeast, which posted dismal outcomes: Abia, 8,914 against 85,058 in 2019; Anambra, 5,111 against 33,298 in 2019; Ebonyi 42,402 against 90,726 in 2019; Enugu 4,722 against 54,423 in 2019, and Imo 66,406 against 140,463 in 2019.”
  
Okechukwu was not alone in the criticism. The United Progressive Foundation (UPF), a political action committee of the APC, insisted that the call for his removal was not misplaced.
 
The group in a statement by its Secretary, Dr Steve Igweze, stated that Uzodimma’s decision to usurp the functions of the returning officer in the botched Edo State APC governorship primary was the height of political rascality and executive impunity.
 
UPF said the decision by the national leadership of the party to cancel the primary was not only a repudiation of the process, but also a vote of no confidence in Uzodimma’s influence, stressing that the action of the governor was embarrassing.
 
However, the leaderships of the party in the Southeast and Enugu State had come in his defense, dismissing calls for his removal as coming from “attention seekers.”
 
Arodiogbu, the party’s zonal chairman, frowned at the penchant for certain elements to openly cast aspersions on the party leaders, stressing that, “it is worrisome that the likes of Okechukwu, who have never won election either in his polling booth or in his ward, will turn around and throw careless words against the leadership of Uzodimma.”
  
He insisted that Uzodimma committed no crime in the discharge of his duties as chairman of Edo State APC primary committee, stressing that the party is currently being run by real politicians in the Southeast “and not those who are APC in the day and something else at night.”
  
Similarly, the Enugu chapter of the party in a statement on Tuesday, March 5, signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mike Ezeanyanwu, stated that Okechukwu’s call smack off insincerity, accusing him of lacking relevance and out of touch with his political base in Udi Council of the state.
  
He alleged that Okechukwu has been hired by disgruntled politicians within and outside the Southeast to wage campaign of calumny against Uzodimma, who has been the pillar of APC in the Southeast.
  
“We urge the public and teeming members of our party to ignore these disgruntled elements. They are on a failed mission to denigrate and diminish our leader by continuing to make baseless insinuations and bandying the name of Uzodimma, a leader in the zone, who has been making a lot of sacrifices to reposition APC in the region.
  
“In Enugu State, for instance, Uzodimma has been our pillar of support, ensuring that we have functional and befitting state and zonal offices among numerous financial support to help our consolidation,” he said.
 
The party insisted that APC is currently on the path of growth in the region with the solid political structures being put in place under Uzodimma’s leadership as against previous political posturing by the likes of Okechukwu, “who use the party as a vehicle to grab appointments in Abuja without identifying with the party at the ward, local government or state levels but rather by APC in Abuja and PDP in Enugu.”