By Charles Igbo
The speculations are over. From the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party, Imo State Chapter, former Governor, Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha will have a challenger in his ambition to challenge the incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The National Secretary of the PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, popular as Samdaddy, will challenge Ihedioha for the PDP ticket.
In an interview with the Vanguard, Anyanwu, who Ihedioha defeated in the Governorship Primary in 2019, said the contest for the Governor’s seat in PDP Imo should not be a one-man show. He said the impression it gives is that the PDP does not have qualified people except one man. That one person whose name he did not mention is Ihedioha.
In 2019, Anyanwu had cried foul, insisting he was cheated out of the ticket. He said he won. He went to Court to challenge the result of the Primary, and even when Ihedioha was declared the Governor-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  Anyanwu pursued the case until he lost at the Supreme Court.
Anyanwu: “Since the Governorship election in Imo is an off-season election with Kogi and Bayelsa, when the window of the Governorship race is open, like I have done before, I will try to do it again. It is not because I want power, or I’m not financially comfortable.
“I believe in Imo State, my interest is to bring a new life where when you see somebody on the street, he is happy. But as we speak, when you go on the streets of Imo today, nobody looks happy.
“The truth of the matter is that ordinarily, Imo State is predominantly a PDP State, but Imo people are resisting a situation whereby an individual is constantly running for the same office
when there are so many other people. What it means is that you are telling the world that PDP doesn’t have other qualified people. All we are asking is a level playing field so that somebody can emerge with the love of the people and go ahead to face the Party in power.”
Loyalty in the Imo PDP is divided between Ihedioha and Anyanwu. And both sides see nothing good in the other side. But not a few people took it for granted that the Party would leave the ticket for Ihedioha considering how his tenure as a Governor was aborted by the Supreme Court just after seven months in office.
The mere thought that Anyanwu, or anybody else, could challenge him rankles Ihedioha’s loyalists. And all sorts of propaganda to stop Anyanwu from running has been going on, including, associating him with Uzodinma, and submitting that he would be running as a front for the Governor, to stop PDP from winning the Governorship election. But all that seem not to worry Anyanwu. He is resolute.
In Imo, it is PDP fighting PDP in a classic example of a house divided.
