Hope Uzodinma Has Disrupted Southeast Politics

When Senator Hope Uzodinma was declared the duly elected governor of Imo State by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in a landmark judgement in January 2020, it was received with a thunderous silence.

When Senator Hope Uzodinma was declared the duly elected governor of Imo State by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in a landmark judgement in January 2020, it was received with a thunderous silence. Governor Uzodinma belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a state which the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) declared its home, so controversies were stirred up. Part of Uzodinma’s cross was the burden of the legacy of the APC when it was in office between 2011 and 2019 under Governor Rochas Okorocha. Okorocha had a turbulent time with various segments of Imo society, made even worse when he attempted to have his son in law succeed him as governor. Imolites were not ready for that kind of godfather politics and they told him so.

Derided as Supreme Court governor and called names, Governor Uzodinma got to work, ignored the naysayers and today, in just two years, has established himself as a performing governor and a political disruptor in the southeast. From just one state in 2020, the southeast now has two APC states, with Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi defecting to the APC. The pdp6which claims the southeast as it’s bastion has only two states and both of them are not leaning PDP, not for the presidential poll. Not only that, Uzodinma has clearly installed himself, or assumed the position if you may, as the southeast APC leader and the go-to man for heavyweights in the ruling party, so much so that in the space of one year President Muhammadu Buhari who is rather frugal with visits has visited Imo State twice, first to commission projects and the second for the Nigerian Police conference. On both occasions the president had kind words for Governor Uzodinma who he described as a very hardworking governor, addressing him directly:“You have written your own history.’’ This was in acknowledgement of the infrastructure works undertaken by Governor Uzodinma. President Buhari commissioned the Owerri/Orlu dual carriage, Owerri/Okigwe road and the renovated House of Assembly Complex during the visit in September 2022. On that occasion he said: “I am delighted to be back in Imo State – the Eastern Heartland – to commission a number of projects executed by the administration of His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodimma. I am happy to note that within just three years of the administration of Governor Uzodimma, I have made two official visits to Imo State to commission projects in the state. On each occasion, I have received a very warm hospitality of Imo people, for which I am always appreciative. Ndi Imo, Ndewo! As it is often said in local Igbo parlance, a good road deserves a second passage. It is a pleasant coincidence that the name of your governor “Uzodimma” is derived from this same idiom. Little wonder, therefore, that he has made the provision of good roads one of his top priorities.”

Uzodimma’s magical performance is the reason Imo State has become the showpiece state for the ruling APC and why its southeast presidential campaign is anchored in the state. Commending his achievements, Buhari commended the “Governor for being able to do so with the limited resources at the disposal of the State Government. This proves that when leaders are dedicated and focused, much can be achieved for our people.” “In my last visit here, I encouraged you all to support your Governor so that he can do more for the people of Imo state. I am happy that you took my advice and today, he has presented to me three key projects for commissioning.

I am told that these two major roads, which I commissioned, cut through several local government areas of the state. The roads will therefore serve as major stimulants to the local economy of these parts of the state,” the President stated. I was also informed that the House of Assembly Complex which I have just commissioned was dilapidated and abandoned for over 10 years before the intervention of the present administration.”

To cement his position and place as the APC political leader in the southeast, the political disruptor hosted the first southeast Town Hall with the party’s presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Thursday, November 17, in Owerri, the capital, where he interacted with private sector players, investors, entrepreneurs, and other major players. At that meeting, Tinubu commended Uzodinma for his leadership and development strides, advising the people to listen to the governor as a pathfinder. The meeting had top leaders of the APC in attendance including party chairman Abdulahi Adamu and Ebonyi State governor David Umahi.

But it is not just the ruling party that is commending Governor Uzodinma. On a visit to the state in March 2022, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo praised Governor Uzodimma on his laudable developmental strides that Imo State is witnessing under his administration. Uzodinma has indeed turned the corner and his politics of development and bipartisan engagements have positioned him as the leader of southeast politics.

Hope Uzodimma was born on 12 December 1958 in Omuma to a father Chief Michael Uzodinma who held the chieftaincy title of Igwe of Ozuh Omuma and Mrs Ezinne Rose Uzodimma (née Nneoha). He holds a Diploma in Maritime Management Technology, Higher Diploma in the same field, from the Federal University of Technology Owerri and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Washington University in St. Louis. A successful businessman, Uzodimma began his political career in the Second Republic, as Imo State youth leader of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1983. He was a member of the United Nigeria Congress Party during the failed political transition of the General Sani Abacha administration in the 1990s and joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the return of democracy in 1999. He was a member of the party’s National Caucus, National Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees, at various times between 1999 and 2017. On 29 May 2011, Uzodimma was sworn in as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Imo State (West Senatorial District). He was re-elected for a second term in the Senate during the 2015 election. In 2018, he left the Peoples Democratic Party and joined the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in order to contest for Governor of Imo State in the 2019 general elections, which he eventually won.