As the Imo Electorate troop out for the contentious Imo Governorship election on Nov 11, 2023, one person that will not be on the Ballot is Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, a former Governor of Imo State, and former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives.
Ihedioha’s absence from the polls will benefit all the candidates, including the incumbent Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, and that of his party Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Samdaddy.
According to opinion poll conduct by various Media Houses in Imo State, the result is that, had Ihedioha participated in the election, the situation would have been different in various aspects.
The results of the polls was that the PDP, which is the major opposition party, would have either won the election, or stretched the incumbent to a re-run election, whose outcome would have been dicey in the end.
It was learnt that Ihedioha is the only politician in the present day Imo State who would have made the present election tough, hard and unpredictable till the results are announced.
Therefore, there is the indication that Ihedioha’s absence has given both Uzodinma and the PDP candidate, opportunities in the election.
For Hope Uzodinma, without Ihedioha, one of the toughest candidates have been removed for him, to face others who may not pose astute opposition like an Emeka Ihedioha.
With this situation, Uzodinma will have it easier to torpedoe other candidates than it would have been easy for him to confront Ihedioha.
Ihedioha is said to be a lucky politician whose fire has refused to dim despite his political challenges, as he has the penchant to rise up each time he is thought to have gone done.
Sources said that Uzodinma should thank his stars that Ihedioha is not on the Ballot paper on Saturday.
And for Anyanwu of PDP, pundits maintained that had Ihedioha not pulled out of the PDP primary, Anyanwu would not have been a candidate of PDP today.
Because Ihedioha pulled out of PDP primary, Anyanwu had no challenger and emerged unopposed.
Anyanwu is the candidate today because Ihedioha did not participate in the PDP primary.
With Ihedioha’s absence, the Election will be less fierce, and therefore the pressure on both the Electorate and the contestants will not be too much.
However, this does not rob the exercise the usual challenges, but what is the issue is that one of the heavy politicians in Imo State, with organic fellowship, is not in the race this time.
