Imo PDP Holds Gov Primary, State Chairman Absent »

Ahead of the November 11 Governorship Election in Imo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday held the party’s primary in its state secretariat along the Okigwe Road in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

Off-cycle governorship elections are expected to hold in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states on November 11, 2023.

According to the State Organising Secretary of the PDP, Lawrence Biado, the seven-man electoral panel constituted by the National Working Committee headed by Kenneth Okon is present to monitor the primary in Imo.

He said even though the primary is a consensus arrangement with the National Secretary of the Party, with Samuel Anyanwu as the sole contestant, about 942 candidates from the 27 local government areas of the state are expected to vote in line with the Electoral Act 2022 to affirm that the delegates are in agreement with the consensus arrangement.

However, a former Governor of the state, Emeka Ihedioha, and the state chairman of the party, Charles Ugwu were conspicuously absent. Ihedioha had weeks ago pulled out from the PDP governorship race.

The PDP is expected to produce a candidate to challenge the reelection of Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In January 2020, the Supreme Court sacked Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State after barely seven months in office.

The seven-man panel led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad unanimously declared Uzodimma as the winner of the March 19, 2019 governorship election in the state.

The appellant, Uzodimma had contended that he scored the highest number of votes in the election but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned Ihedioha as the governor of the state.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun who delivered the judgment declared that the votes due to Uzodimma were unlawfully excluded from the 318 polling units and should be added to his votes.

The apex court considered the submissions of a principal witness who was on a subpoena to present results and held that the lower court was wrong in its ruling.

Justice Kekere-Ekun subsequently declared Uzodimma as the validly elected governor and the certificate of return issued to Ihedioha was withdrawn by INEC and given to Uzodimma.