DECLARE FOR ORLU SENATORIAL SEAT, INCUR OPOCA WRATH.
--As OPOCA bans all Orlu Senatorial aspirants from contesting against GOV. Hope Uzodinma.
By Innocent Osuoha.
The Orlu Political Consultative Assembly (OPOCA) has declared Gov. Hope Uzodinma as its 2027 Senatorial sole Consensus Candidate.
The pronouncement was made last Sunday at OPOCA World Press Conference held at its National Secretariat in new Owerri.
This political development now bars any aspirant from Imo West Senatorial District from contesting the 2027 Senatorial election against Governor Hope Uzodinma.
Addressing journalists and political stakeholders, the OPOCA National President, Chief Barr Rex Anunobi, described the body's position as “total, unanimous, and irrevocable,” which leaves no room for internal contest within the All Progressives Congress (APC) or across the zone’s political landscape.
According to Chief Barr. Anunobi, the decision of the Assembly’s leadership, is a direct consolidation of the overwhelming endorsement earlier demonstrated by APC leaders and stakeholders across the twelve local government areas of Orlu Zone.
Trumpeta can authoritively report that earlier before now party leaders in the zone had purchased and presented the Senatorial nomination form to Governor Uzodinma through his Chief of Staff, Barrister Nnamdi Anyaehie, in what observers described as a rare show of unity and political coordination.
OPOCA said its resolution is premised on what it called “visible and unprecedented transformation” which the State and particularly the zone had witnessed under Uzodimma’s leadership over the past six years citing improvements in infrastructure, security, and economic activity as key factors behind what it termed a collective decision rooted in performance rather than sentiment.
According to the Assembly, the same governor’s prior experience as a ranking senator would give him a distinct advantage, combining legislative depth with executive experience. It also argued that Governor Uzodinma's return to the Senate would strengthen the zone’s access to federal opportunities, particularly within the framework of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
OPOCA then warned that any individual from Orlu Zone who chooses to pursue a Senatorial ambition would be incurring its wrath as such act runs against the collective interest of the Orlu nation.
There was no dissenting voice at the forum which had representatives of traditional institutions, youth groups, professional bodies, and grassroots political gladiators.