BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
Political party primaries for the 2011 polls may have come to an end but the dusts raised during the exercises are yet to settle in Imo State.

Since the beginning of the current democratic process, a particular pattern of event has remained the standard in Imo State. All the registered political parties just wait for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to complete its primaries before going on with their own!

As in all the previous cases, those who failed to pick the PDP tickets for the various elective positions move en_masse to other political parties where they intend to actualize their ambitions. It is a known fact that Imo is predominantly PDP but after fighting unsuccessfully for the soul of the party in the state, the likes of the former governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and their acolytes pitched their tent with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The battle for the soul of Imo PDP pre_dated the party primaries. One of the biggest surprises of the current political equation was the coming together of Udenwa and Araraume. The allied forces of Udenwa and Araraume quickly went into a serious “political war of survival” with Governor Ikedi Ohakim. When it started  becoming clear that Ohakim would win, the losers started shopping for new platforms.

It is also true that there was hardly any noticeable opposition from any registered political party in the state. What the people have constantly experienced is implosion in the PDP. Today, apart from moving their entire political arsenal to a previously non_existent ACN, the decampees are doing everything possible to wrestle power from Ohakim.

The likes of Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, Chief Uche Onyeagocha and Udenwa have since been cleared to fly the ACN senatorial flags for Okigwe, Owerri and Orlu respectively. Senator Chris Anyanwu has equally left the PDP for the All Progresives Grand Alliance, APGA, where she will fly the party’s Owerri senatorial flag. Chief Gibson Achonwa Njemanze (ACN) will do battle against Chief Ernest Ibejiako (PDP) for the Owerri senatorial seat.

Apparently not pleased with events leading to and after the PDP primaries, the member representing Nkwerre state constituency, Prince Ugochukwu Nzekwe dumped the party and joined ACN. This constituency has a history of voting en_bloc for the candidate of their choice.

Acting on the platform of Umunneise Equity Forum (UEF), the leaders of Amaokpara, Eziama Obaire, Owerre Nkwoji, Umunwuala and Umudi communities, condemned the activities of a few individuals in the area, stressing that their actions had engendered unbridled bickering, discontent and near upheaval in the local council.

Reading the communiqué they issued to journalists after their emergency meeting at Owerre Nkwoji, a spokesman of the group, Chief Richard Chukwukere, said the Forum, in compliance with the 2006 agreement of all the leaders and traditional rulers in the council area, endorsed Prince Ugochukwu Nzekwe for the House of Assembly election.

Nkwerre people did it for Nzekwe in 1999, when he contested the state assembly seat on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP) and roundly defeated the seemingly invincible PDP in the contest. History is likely to repeat itself in Nkwerre, following the resolution  of five out of six communities that make up Nkwerre state constituency to back the lawmaker in the April 2011 election.

Other people who could not get any slot in Action Congress of Nigeria further spread to other political parties. Chief Ike Ibe grabbed the governorship ticket of the Social Democratic Mega Party, SDMP while Chief Rochas Okorocha and Chief Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba went for the souls of All Progressives Grand Alliance and Congress for Progressive Change.

The intrigues bedeviling political parties in the state equally hit the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). According to a  recent release signed by the State Chairman and Secretary of PPA, Comrade Munonye Maximus and Chief Emeka Opara respectively, the State Working Committee (SWC) flayed the appointment of Chief Emeka Duru as the governorship candidate of the party in Imo State.

“Chief Emeka Duru and his cohorts cannot claim to have conducted PPA Imo State primaries at Igbere/Umuahia in Abia State, if they obeyed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act”, the duo fumed.

The politicking is now in full gear. All manner of insinuations, alignments and realignments, propaganda and outright libelous materials have started making the rounds. Some others are however squaring up for the electoral challenges ahead.

The fact remains that it is going to be a straight fight between the gubernatorial candidates of APGA, Chief Rochas Okorocha, ACN, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and the PDP, Governor Ikedi Ohakim, who appears to have an edge over the rest. Time will tell will the pendulum of victory will swing to.