Gov. Uzodinma picks female lawyer as running mate, dumps deputy ahead of guber poll

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma has dropped the incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, Placid Njoku, as his running mate ahead of the 11 November governorship election in the state.

Mr Uzodinma, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, picked a female lawyer, Nnedinma Ekomaru, as a replacement for Mr Njoku.

Mr Njoku was Mr Uzodinma’s running mate during the 9 March 2019 governorship election in the state.

Both were sworn in as governor and deputy governor of the state in January 2020 after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Mr Uzodinma, the winner of the governorship election.

The governor, who will be completing his first tenure in January 2024 had reportedly submitted the name of the State Commissioner for Works, Ralph Nwosu, as a placeholder, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the exercise.

However, Mrs Ekomaru was confirmed as the governor’s running mate in the final list of candidatesparticipating in the governorship election released by INEC on Tuesday.

Mrs Ekomaru is the wife of a former governorship aspirant of the PDP in the state, Chukwuma Ekomaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

While she hails from Umunoha, a community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state, her husband, Mr Ekomaru, is a political ally of the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Samuel Anyanwu, who hails from the Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state.

The governorship election is one of the off-cycle elections in Nigeria and is scheduled to be held on November 11 alongside the other two States of Kogi and Bayelsa