Any Hope For Uzodimma?

One of the most consequential politicians under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma. His strategic role as chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), combined with his constant visibility in Abuja, makes him a highly influential figure.

Whether welcoming or bidding farewell to the president at the airport or attending high-level meetings at the Presidential Villa, Uzodimma remains at the core of the current power dispensation.

Beyond his political influence, Uzodimma appears to be fighting battles on multiple fronts, making him one of the politicians with the most challenges ahead of the 2027 general election. Whether it is his fight with former governor Rochas Okorocha, Minister Nyesom Wike’s Rainbow Coalition, or Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Hope’s hands are full. And I don’t envy him.

RELATED: Hope Uzodinma Is South-East’s Only Problem’ — Okorocha

Inordinate ambition

Inside the cosy halls of Imo Government House sits a man driven by an unyielding political ambition. This fierce drive has ignited a high-stakes battle against his predecessor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, culminating in a bitter legal showdown over the disputed All Progressives Congress primaries.

An Abuja High Court’s nullification of Governor Uzodimma’s 2027 senatorial candidacy deals a crushing blow to the Progressive Governors’ Forum chairman. Even if temporary, the verdict exposes the vulnerability of a politician clearly stretched thin by over-ambition.

Uzodimma, whose statutory tenure as governor ends in 2028, is widely speculated to have positioned himself to become Senate President and to preside over the next National Assembly once it is constituted. Rather than waiting to complete his second and final term as governor, he has opted to contest the Imo West senatorial seat.

There is nothing wrong with a qualified Nigerian aspiring to become Senate President, and Hope is eminently qualified to entertain such an ambition. However, the path he has chosen is rather thorny and has unfortunately put him at odds with several political interests.

A web of political crisis

The first challenge comes from his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, who has now been recognised as the APC’s duly elected candidate for the Imo West senatorial district following a Federal High Court verdict in Abuja. This presents a major complication for a governor who appears determined to return to the Senate and ultimately occupy its highest political office.

Then comes Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the current occupant of the position Hope is reportedly eyeing. Under Akpabio’s leadership, the Senate, responding to Hope Uzodimma’s move to seek the Senate presidency in the next Senate, recently passed one of the funniest resolutions in our political history: that there is no vacancy in the leadership of the yet-to-be-constituted 11th Senate. One wonders what the Senate was thinking in passing such a resolution when the next Senate is not even in place.

As if the disagreement with Okorocha and the reported interest in the Senate presidency, which put him at odds with Akpabio, were not enough, Uzodimma is also waging a subtle political war against Minister Nyesom Wike and his Rainbow Coalition. That makes three major political fronts. But if you think that is all the Imo governor has to contend with, you are dead wrong.

Getting anything he wants?

Governor Uzodimma is also accused of asking his deputy, Lady Chinyere Ihuoma Ekomaru, to resign to pave the way for his preferred candidate, who would eventually become governor once he assumes his anticipated role in the National Assembly. Sources say the iron lady has refused to yield to pressure to resign. She has, commendably, chosen to remain in office without shifting ground.

How did Governor Hope entangle himself in this web of political crises? What led him to believe he could emerge victorious across all these fronts? In my view, the answer lies in his apparent conviction that he could get whatever he wanted.

Why wouldn’t he think so? After being catapulted from third to first by the Supreme Court and subsequently sworn in as governor, anyone would believe that nothing is beyond their reach.

The Supreme Court verdict that awarded him victory in the Imo governorship election has remained a prominent feature of discussions about the curious turns of Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence. As the late Justice Chima Nweze, who delivered the dissenting judgment, observed, the ruling would continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time.

Pushing the luck too far

But it is clear that Governor Hope may have stretched his political luck beyond the elastic limit. I fear the forces gathering against him may prove too formidable to overcome.

Shortly after the Abuja High Court verdict, former Kano State Governor and former APC National Chairman Umar Ganduje visited Okorocha to congratulate him. The visit was significant, particularly as it appeared to signal that a former national chairman of the ruling party was throwing his weight behind the man challenging Uzodimma.

Although the APC has continued to recognise Uzodimma as its candidate, it is curious that a former national chairman of the party was among the first to congratulate Okorocha on a court verdict that contradicted the ruling party’s position.

Even more curious is that the APC may have inadvertently put itself on a collision course with the court. The party’s leadership in Imo has since issued a statement insisting that Governor Uzodimma remains its candidate, despite the court’s ruling. In a 2-page advertorial, the APC Chairmen across the twelve local government areas of Imo West rejected the judgment, calling it a political robbery cloaked in legal robes.

But Governor Hope is no stranger to controversy. In May 2026, a report surfaced about a dispute between Uzodimma and some of his fellow APC governors, reportedly involving allegations of financial impropriety and attempts to replace him. He dismissed it and has since continued to serve as the chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum.

It is too early to say whether he will emerge victorious in the current battle. For a governor who holds such an influential position within the ruling party, the number of political battles he is fighting is troubling.

Hope may have been lucky in the past, but luck is not an inexhaustible resource. This time, he might find that access to the Presidential Villa is no longer enough to win every battle. The real question is whether he possesses the political capital and support necessary to survive his current challenges. Ultimately, we may well be left waiting to see if there is any hope for Hope.

Tinubu’s Power Promise

In 2023, as a presidential candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told Nigerians not to reelect him if he failed to address the nation’s deplorable electricity supply. For almost four years, he has failed to fix the electricity supply. Instead, he installed solar panels at the Villa, suggesting he had lost hope in the national grid.

Therefore, Nigerians who refer to that pledge and demand that their president, who is now seeking re-election, be rejected, are right in all material respects. He said they shouldn’t vote for him if he did not address the power supply. Has he done that? No. Should they not reject him, as he asked them to?