Imo 2023: Uzodinma dumps deputy, picks female lawyer as running mate

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has dropped the incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, Placid Njoku, as his running mate ahead of the 11 November governorship election in the state.

Mr Uzodinma, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, picked a female lawyer, Nnedinma Ekomaru, as a replacement for Mr Njoku.

Mr Njoku was Mr Uzodinma’s running mate during the 9 March 2019 governorship election in the state.

Both were sworn in as governor and deputy governor of the state in January 2020 after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Mr Uzodinma, the winner of the governorship election.

Mr Uzodinma will be completing his first tenure in January 2024.

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The governor had submitted the name of the State Commissioner for Works, Ralph Nwosu, as a placeholder, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the exercise.

However, Mrs Ekomaru was confirmed as the governor’s running mate in the final list of candidates participating in the governorship election released by INEC on Tuesday.

The governor has given no reason for the decision to replace Mr Njoku.

Mrs Ekomaru is the wife of a former governorship aspirant of the PDP in the state, Chukwuma Ekomaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

She hails from Umunoha, a community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state.

Her husband, Mr Ekomaru, is a political ally of the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Samuel Anyanwu, who hails from the Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state.

Ikeduru and Mbaitoli belonged to the defunct Mbaike Local Government Area of the state before two separate local government areas were created from it.

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However, they still belong to the Mbaike political bloc in Owerri Zone in the state.

Sources said Mr Uzodinma’s choice of Mrs Ekomaru as his running mate is meant to cut down the votes for the PDP candidate in the bloc.

Mr Uzodinma was also said to have dropped Mr Njoku partly because of his age and lack of political relevance, despite coming from Ikeduru (Owerri Zone), where the deputy governorship ticket was reportedly zoned to.

The governor is 64 years old, while Mr Njoku is 76 years old.

Another source claimed that the governor picked Mrs Ekomaru as his running mate to lure her husband into the APC and ward off threats by the PDP candidate, Mr Anyanwu.

“He picked Ekomaru because he is also targeting the women population in Imo to vote for him in the state,” the source added.