By Collins Ughalaa KSC 


On Tuesday, April 11, the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, made headlines with his exposè on the internal politics of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, particularly why the former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, withdrew his participation in the governorship primary election of his party after purchasing the expression of interest and nomination forms for the same primary election. 


Ihedioha’s withdrawal from the governorship primary election of the PDP is not the big issue. Rather, the big issue is the symbolism of that withdrawal. Despite the fact that not many people in Imo State are enamoured by the idea of Ihedioha emerging as governor of Imo State, what baffles many, however, is his sudden realization that he could not face the performing governor of Imo State, the Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, in the governorship election. 


Many people had hoped that following the needless 'wars' Ihedioha had fought, directly and by proxy, he was ready to go the whole hog and give Uzodimma the fight of his life for the 2023 governorship. Those of us who refused to buy the skulduggery from Ihedioha had waited for the resolution of the issues, such as settling once and for all who between Ihedioha and Uzodimma is the darling of Imo people. Resolving this matter was necessitated by the fact that for over three years, Ihedioha and his hirelings dominated the media space with the false claim that they were cheated with the Imo governorship through the Supreme Court. They fought like a boxer beating the air, and shockingly, Ihedioha chickened out. 


Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, summed all this up when he said in Luke 9:62: “No one, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” The metaphor of the plough that Christ used in teaching a cogent lesson of determination and following through on a course went home to the personal experiences of his audience. They were of the peasant class, and they knew that the eye of the ploughman, if he is to do his work well, must look straight before him at the line of the furrow which he is making. To look back, while working, is to mar the work entirely. The man who so looks is, therefore, ipso facto, disqualified for the work he seemed to have embarked on. This is the case with Ihedioha’s withdrawal. He has shown that, ipso facto, he was unprepared, unwilling, and panic-stricken to meet Uzodimma at the 2023 governorship polls. He was obviously banking on some external forces to help him put up a fight, but all along, he had been pretending, living a lie. 


A closer attention to what Wike said on Tuesday during his media chat would further drum home the point that Ihedioha chickened out for fear of facing Uzodimma at the November 11 governorship election. Ihedioha had, in a letter to the national chairman of the PDP on March 28, tucked his tail and sugar-coated the reasons for his withdrawal, saying that he did so to pave the way for a consensus governorship candidate of the PDP to emerge. But the governor of Rivers State, a top member of the PDP, spilt the beans when he told Journalists that Ihedioha had planned to ride on Atiku Abubakar's shoulders to win the election but withdrew from the race because the PDP presidential candidate lost in the February 25 election. By the same token, Wike also passed the message that the Imo PDP does not have anyone who can beat Governor Hope Uzodimma and wrestle power from him in November. 


Wike's revelation does not only speak to the internal issues in the PDP in Imo State, which is their inherent inability to square off with Governor Hope Uzodimma during the polls, but it speaks to something larger, which is that all the political parties in Imo are scared of having Governor Hope Uzodimma on the APC governorship ticket. It is this fear that led to Ihedioha’s withdrawal in the first place. This fear, too, is responsible for the seizures parties like the LP experiences on a daily basis. They have expressed this fear in different ways, one of which is their false claim that the governor has moles in the party and is sponsoring internal upheaval in the party and as well sponsoring their governorship aspirants. As of the last count, almost all the governorship aspirants in the party have been accused of being sponsored by the governor.


Truth be told, the Labour Party deserves nothing but sympathy. A party that has assumed the role of wrestling power from the performing incumbent governor – yet it exposes itself as a party that does not even understand elementary politics – is to be pitied. If the governor is actually sponsoring 11 out of the 13 aspirants in their party, do they not think that they don't have a political party to call their own yet? If their claim is true, what guarantees do they have that the two others are not being sponsored as well, like the rest? 


However, the good news is that not everyone is carried away by the false claims by the LP. We see through them. Knowing full well that they stand no chance of winning the November 11 governorship election, they are now carefully orchestrating a face-saving storyline when they lose. The plan is to say that they did not field their best but instead fielded someone they believe to be sponsored by the governor. The LP is enjoying their feel-good moment, but they should wake up and smell the coffee. 


All the aspirants under the Labour Party are no strangers. We know them, and we have not seen any of them who is ready for the November 11 governorship election with Governor Hope Uzodimma on the ballot, tye same way Samdaddy of the PDP is not ready yet. We want to win this election by beating the very best the opposition parties can present, and we beseech them to present their best, so that when we beat them, they would accept we did what we told them we would do.


While the Labour Party continues with their internal squabbles and contradictions, the rancorous PDP has managed to produce Samdaddy as their preferred governorship candidate. Samdaddy has started off by battling with members of his party who accused him of being sponsored by the governor, calling them names. The Labour Party is embroiled in allegations of vote buying and despondency among its leaders and governorship aspirants. One of its leading aspirants, Dr. Sam Amadi, in a letter today, said he would not be part of the vote-buying going on in the party. He added that he has lost the hope that the Labour Party could be the vanguard of change in Imo. He cried out: "I must state clearly that I will not participate in the buying and selling of delegates in any form...The open bazaar for delegates has commenced, contrary to the assurances that Labour Party is determined to avoid the path of ignominy that led to defeat for APGA in 2019 elections...I had my doubt about the metamorphosis of the Labour Party even with the light of Mr. Peter Obi...I must note that events of the last few days are dashing my hope that the party is ready to be a vanguard of change."


On the other hand, as the defending champions, the APC has remained peaceful, united, and formidable. With Governor Hope Uzodimma as 'the defending chanpion of the Imo State governorship', the APC is ready to go to the polls. But in all of this, the question remains: If Ihedioha could chicken out before cockcrow and the Labour Party enmeshed in a bazzar of their life, who else would stand?