By Gideon Njoku
It came as a shock not only to the Imo PDP family, but also to the APC family.
It happened at an Imo Stakeholders meeting, organised by the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma. Invitation to the meeting cut across professional bodies, and perhaps, party lines.
It was the first to be held by Uzodinma since the Supreme Court declared him the Governor. Its success was important to the Government.
The Governor was anxious to explain to the Stakeholders what he has been doing since he took up office. He was anxious to tell them of his successes. Given the very robust opposition to his government by the opposition PDP,  the party which own, The Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, was replaced by Uzodinma, the meeting was worth it.
The PDP has criticised, to high heavens, anything, and everything, done by the Uzodinma Government.
Uzodinma, therefore, needed to tell his own side of events.
So, they were gathered to listen to the Governor. Among the many gathered there was Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
That he was present was a big deal.
Here are why.
Iwuanyanwu is a staunch PDP member. He is a member of the PDP Board of Trustees. He was one of the main backers of Ihedioha, and on more than one occasion, told the story of how he made him Governor. He was extremely close to Ihedioha for the seven months he was in office. The Chief was always by the then Governor’s side. And, one can hardly forget the beautiful speech he made at the Christmas Cantata, in December, 2019, held at Ihedioha’s country home. He told the story of Ihedioha’s Governorship journey.
It was not Iwuanyanwu’s presence at Governor Uzodinma’s stakeholders meeting that shocked his  PDP compatriots. It was the speech he made, and its impact. For, it was a complete about-turn.
Iwuanyanwu: ” I have seen a man who is very, very, kind. Hope has no property in Owerri. Some of those other  politicians, including those who passed through me, they have properties in Owerri, Lagos, Abuja, America.
“Hope’s investment is on human beings. When he was speaking here, it occured to me that Imo people can go home and sleep and rest. Your investments are in the right hand.
“Imo is going back to the days of Sam Mbakwe, to the days of M. I. Okpara. That is what we are coming back to.
“What he gave today is a message of hope. It is a phenomenal chronicle of achievements. I am not in doubt, at all, at what he is likely to do. Congratulations”.
Since this speech, the APC has been celebrating it. A video  has been made of it, and is being circulated.
But, there are, at once, disquiet and disbelief in PDP’s camp.
A number of PDP members are interrogating Iwuanyanwu’s speech. One of them asked: Is it something of cheer that the Governor has no house in Owerri, but has a mansion in Abuja, and Lagos? Charity should begin at home”.
Another said:”Somebody should tell Iwuanyanwu that Okpara was not the Governor of Imo State. He was the Premier of Eastern Nigeria”
But the most pungent response came from one PDP sympathiser. He expressed surprise that anybody would be shocked at what he called “the new Iwuanyanwu.”
He alleged that the man also betrayed Mbakwe.
He said: “It did not start today. He was a member of NPP. His company, Hardel and Enic, got more than 60 % of the road contracts in Imo.
Just before 1983, he decamped to the NPN.
“This pained Sam Mbakwe to no end. They managed to keep it from the public till after the elections. And that was the end of Hardel and Enic in the state”.
A State PDP official told this magazine: “I told Emeka just two weeks ago that Iwuanyanwu will run to Hope. So, I am not suprised. But this should be a lesson for Emeka. He is too trusting of all these big names. He likes to attach himself to them. When the chips are down, they don’t matter. They cannot be trusted to stand firm”.
But another said: “Iwuanyanwu is an elder statesman. He has gone beyond playing politics. His job now is to support any government in power for the good of the state”
In Imo, perhaps, more surprises are afoot.
