Imo APC Crisis: Uzodimma, Okorocha power struggle threatens Tinubu’s 2027 re-election chances

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has said the party will await the outcome of the ongoing court battle between Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma and his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, over the party’s senatorial ticket for Imo West, amid concerns that the lingering rivalry could undermine its electoral fortunes in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Yilwatda, who spoke on Monday night during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, described the disagreement as a legal dispute rather than an internal crisis, insisting that the party would allow the judicial process to run its course while engaging the two politicians politically to manage the situation.

The dispute, however, goes beyond the contest for the Imo West Senatorial District ticket, exposing a longstanding struggle for political supremacy between the two influential politicians whose rivalry has shaped the internal politics of the APC in Imo State for several years.

The latest confrontation followed a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja on October 29, which nullified Uzodimma’s emergence as the APC candidate for the January 16, 2027 senatorial election and declared Okorocha the lawful winner of the party’s May 18 primary.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who delivered the judgment, held that evidence before the court established that Okorocha secured the majority of votes cast at the primary and consequently ordered the APC to forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for publication as its candidate.

The judge also restrained Uzodimma from parading himself as the party’s candidate for the election.

Uzodimma has, however, rejected the judgment and indicated his intention to challenge it at the Court of Appeal, while the Imo State chapter of the APC has maintained that the governor remains its authentic candidate.

The disagreement has brought to the fore the unresolved political differences between the two men, dating back to the build-up to the 2019 governorship election.

Okorocha, who governed Imo State between 2011 and 2019, had sought to install his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor, but Uzodimma, then a senator representing Imo West, emerged as a rival contender for the APC governorship ticket.

The disagreement polarised the party, with supporters of the two politicians aligning behind competing political interests and factions.

Although Nwosu eventually contested the governorship election on the platform of the Action Alliance (AA), Uzodimma secured the APC ticket and later emerged governor following the Supreme Court judgment of January 14, 2020, which overturned Emeka Ihedioha’s election.

The development altered the political equation in the state, with Uzodimma consolidating his position as governor and becoming a dominant force in the APC, while Okorocha continued to maintain his political influence and challenge the governor’s control of the party structure.

The latest battle over the senatorial ticket has therefore revived the contest for supremacy, particularly in Orlu Zone, also known as Imo West, which both politicians have represented in the Senate.

For Uzodimma, securing the ticket was seen as a pathway to returning to the National Assembly after completing his second term as governor. For Okorocha, reclaiming the ticket represents an opportunity to reassert his political relevance and challenge the dominance of his successor.

Against this background, Yilwatda said the party was not treating the disagreement as a crisis, stressing that the legal proceedings would determine the authentic candidate.

“It is not a crisis. It is a court case. One of them went to court. Hope has appealed, and we’ll allow the court to take its course.

“Of course, I’m talking to them, politically. You just sit down on this chair, and you just begin to make assumptions. I am a Professor of politics and this is what I do every day.

“That is what I’m saying, that it is a court case. We are now in the court settling, but behind the scenes, we are doing political management of the case,” he said.

However, the national chairman’s assurance that the disagreement is being politically managed may not entirely dispel concerns over its implications for the party’s electoral calculations in Imo State.

With the 2027 presidential election approaching, the ability of the APC to reconcile the competing interests of the two political camps could prove critical to its mobilisation efforts in the state.

Although the senatorial dispute is geographically concentrated in Imo West, its political consequences could extend across the state, given the influence both men wield within the party and their respective networks of supporters.

A prolonged confrontation could produce competing campaign structures, weaken grassroots mobilisation and undermine the coordination required to deliver votes for the APC’s presidential, governorship and National Assembly candidates.

More significantly, a failure to reconcile the two camps could provide opposition parties with an opportunity to attract aggrieved APC members and exploit divisions within the ruling party.

The implications could be particularly significant for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election ambition, as Imo remains an important political foothold for the APC in the South-East, a region where the party has historically faced considerable electoral challenges.

While Uzodimma’s position as governor gives him considerable influence over the state’s political machinery, Okorocha’s longstanding political network and claims of being among the founding political forces behind the APC in the South-East could make it difficult for the party to disregard his interests.

Consequently, the presidential election could become an unintended casualty of the rivalry if the disagreement degenerates into a wider contest over party loyalty and control of campaign structures.

However, the extent to which the feud would affect Tinubu’s electoral performance remains uncertain, as the eventual outcome would also depend on the strength of the opposition, voter sentiment, national political developments and the ability of the APC leadership to reconcile its factions.

Meanwhile, Yilwatda also addressed questions concerning the possible return of Senate President Godswill Akpabio if the APC wins the 2027 presidential and parliamentary elections, saying the decision would ultimately rest with senators.

On the privatisation programme supervised during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, which was coordinated by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the APC chairman criticised its consequences, alleging that thousands of Nigerians lost their jobs without receiving their gratuities and pensions.

He contrasted the exercise with what he described as the economic recovery efforts of the Tinubu administration, claiming that salaries and outstanding entitlements were being restored, while local automobile production and industrial activities were receiving renewed attention.