2023: Why LP, PDP Candidates Lost the Governorship Election – Imo Govt

In the aftermath of the Imo governorship election held last Saturday, the Imo State Government has attributed the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) candidates to internal crises within their respective parties.

Incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), emerged victorious with a total of 540,308 votes. His closest rival, PDP’s Samuel Anyanwu, secured 71,503 votes, while LP candidate Athan Achonu came in third with 64,081 votes. The APC candidate claimed victory in all 27 local government areas of the state.

According to Imo State Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, the success of the APC was attributed to the absence of factionalism, defections, or internal problems within the party. In contrast, he highlighted that other political parties, including the PDP and LP, were grappling with internal crises leading up to the election.

“Every other party that contested this election had internal crisis, internal problems, mass defections. So, there was no way they could have won. There was no way they could have even performed better than they did,” stated Emelumba during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

He further noted that numerous PDP leaders in the state defected to the APC following Samuel Anyanwu’s emergence as the PDP’s candidate, contributing to the challenging electoral landscape for these parties.

The election results, declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday morning, underscored the significance of internal party unity in shaping electoral outcomes, leaving the PDP and LP candidates with an uphill battle amid internal discord.