A fresh and potentially explosive crisis is threatening to engulf the Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as multiple aspirants for State House of Assembly seats have accused Governor Hope Uzodimma and the party of completely bypassing primaries and simply imposing preferred candidates through a governorship list.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that APC assembly aspirant Victorine Nwankwo, in a video clip that has since gone viral, stated bluntly: “We waited eagerly for the primaries, but unfortunately, it was a selection. There was no primary election.”
She narrated how, on the day scheduled for the primary exercise, she had contacted the APC chairman of her local government area only to be told he was going to the state secretariat to collect materials. The party chairman later called back to inform aspirants that a list had come from the governor — and that only those on the list would be taken to the field and declared winners. “Others should not come out,” he said. “We were shocked; we were disappointed. Up till today, the trauma and shock is still in me,” Nwankwo said.
At the centre of the Ahiazu-Mbaise Constituency controversy is a woman identified as Ms Anyanwu — an ally of Governor Uzodimma whom he appointed as a special adviser in 2020. Aspirant Nwankwo alleged that Ms Anyanwu never publicly declared interest in the state assembly seat nor participated in any primary. She claimed Anyanwu had instead contested and lost the Ahiazu-Mbaise Federal Constituency primary, which was won by Chukwudi Anyanwuocha.
Nwankwo noted that she was the only woman among six aspirants for the constituency ticket, that she had publicly declared her interest at ward and local government level — and that her male counterparts had done the same — only for all of them to be bypassed in favour of a name on what they describe as “the governor’s list.”
The crisis in Imo reflects a broader pattern. Before primaries commenced, a party source who spoke anonymously had already warned that no list of cleared aspirants would be released until Governor Uzodimma vetted and gave the go-ahead.
The source further alleged that Uzodimma would only select people who would remain loyal to him even after he leaves office as governor.
At the national level, political analysts noted that in Imo West, Uzodimma himself clinched the APC senatorial ticket with a staggering 230,464 votes against former Governor Rochas Okorocha’s 1,098 — a margin that critics described as a graphic illustration of how sitting governors used the direct primary structure to lock down tickets through control of ward registers.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the APC in Imo State has dismissed the allegations. Party spokesperson Jones Onwuasoanya denied that candidates were picked without primaries, insisting that the party did not extort anyone and that due process was followed.
Governor Uzodimma, for his part, had struck a philosophical tone ahead of the primaries. Speaking to aspirants at a stakeholders’ meeting at Government House in Owerri, he described politics as “not a lottery but a game of courage,” warning against desperation and urging aspirants to remain committed to the party before, during, and after the primaries. “Some people will win and some will not,” he said.
For the aspirants who paid for forms, mobilised supporters, and showed up — only to be told a list had already been written — those words ring particularly hollow.
As the Imo APC crisis deepens, the state joins a growing national roll call of APC chapters where the 2026 primaries have produced more grievances than candidates, raising serious questions about what kind of party and governance structure will be presented to Imo voters in 2027.
CDA News Nigeria will continue to track developments in this story.
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