Imo 2024: Iwuanyanwu, PDP BOT Member, To Vote APC |The Source

By Charles Igbo

In a speech that shocked members of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, especially, in Imo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a  chieftain of the party, said he will vote APC during the 2024 Governorship election in Imo. Iwuanyanwu did not say he was speaking for himself, alone.

He imposed his decision on the people of his zone- Owerri. “Owerri zone will vote for Uzodinma, (Senator Hope Uzodinma) in the 2024 state Governorship election”,  he told audience in a speech which lasted for about 35 minutes.

Chief Iwuanyanwu spoke on Thursday in Owerri during a reception by Owerri zone for the Governor, where the Traditional Rulers in Owerri Zone, honoured him with a chieftaincy title of Onwa n’etiri Oha of Owerri. He was the Chairman of the occasion. And hinged his decision, to vote him, on the achievements of the Governor, so far, in Owerri.

But, following are why a number of people within the PDP, and the zone, were shocked at Iwuanyanwu’s speech.

The Chief is a member of the PDP Board of Trustees. He had said, a number of times, that the quest for the Governorship ambition of former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, began in his house, and that he fought for  his victory at the polls.

However, Ihedioha’s victory was short-lived, as the Supreme Court nullified it, and declared Senator Hope Uzodinma, the winner.

Ihedioha is from Iwuanyanwu’s zone, Owerri.

Since Ihedioha’s ouster, many in the zone, and PDP members feel robbed. The PDP in Imo has, since their ouster, been preparing seriously for 2024. The party, is aggressively opposed, all the way, to everything done by Uzodinma. In doing that, the party has kept an, atimes, unperturbed Governor Uzodinma on his toes.

At the reception on Thursday, PDP sympathisers  had said that the venue was empty, even though it was packed-full.

This magazine gathered that  Iwuanyanwu’s speech at once angered and infuriated PDP members, many of whom are calling for his expulsion from the party.

Owerri is the first Zone to receive Uzodinma, and honour him with a Chieftaincy title, since after his victory against Ihedioha in January, 2020.