Fixing Imo for Tinubu: Inside Uzodimma’s 2027 campaign
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
The story of Imo State and the return of President Bola Tinubu in 2027 is an evolving episode.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who is a long-standing friend of Tinubu, is not shying away from preparing the ground for the president’s re-election in January 2027.
Uzodimma is also pushing the political frontiers for his return to the Senate, where he had served before becoming the governor of the oil-producing state in 2020. From his speech last Friday night when he hosted members of the Presidential Media Team and Renewed Hope Ambassadors to a dinner in Government House, Owerri, it was obvious that Uzodimma clearly understood the burden which fate has placed on his shoulders to deploy for himself and President Tinubu as the battle for the next election ramps up.
Softening the ground for Tinubu
The governor appeared to be aware of the herculean task that lies ahead and the work needed in softening the ground for Tinubu in the Southeastern state. Like a warrior who is preparing for the battle ahead, Uzodimma seems to know exactly the weapon to use and break the opposition that sits in his state and secure the needed victory for himself and Tinubu.
Without doubt, Governor Uzodimma is executing lofty and concrete projects and programmes that address the needs of the people of Imo State and can trigger generational change and value.
The list of projects, which the governor has undertaken and those that are coming, speaks eloquently to the brilliance and commitment of the governor. The projects, which seek in the main to address the key needs of the citizens, appear to have already excited the people, who now sing the governor’s praises and raise his banners of success across the state. Somewhere in Orlu LGA, where the governor has built an innovation university, is a strategically positioned banner with the bold and audacious inscription Hope Uzodimma: the pride of Orlu.
The authors displayed neither fear nor doubt about their conviction in hoisting the banner. They insist the governor has delivered and such a feat cannot be hidden. Across the state, such instruments are uncountable because of what the citizens see as Uzodimma’s unwavering strength and drive to finish his work well. Uzodimma’s winning streak lies in strategically moving away from the path of confrontation to collaboration with Tinubu’s Federal Government in developing and implementing projects that redefine the lifestyles of the citizens and raise their wellbeing and hope for the future.
And, the governor is winning significantly in what has already drawn applause for him and his officials. The state cannot be the same anymore!
There is no doubt that the governor has deliberately designed and constructed more roads than any other project in Imo State. He has built hospitals, educational institutions, convention centres, hotels and digital projects that lift the state above others into the digital arena.
The Imo Digital City, which has already trained no fewer than 75,000 youths, renews hope for a new era of living and the emergence of new leaders in drones, smart phones, security and AI in Nigeria, but Uzodimma is not making noise about it. Although it remains a world class project worth celebrating, Imo Commissioner for Digital Economy and e-Government, Chimezie Amadi, said the Digital City has trained over 75,000 Imo youths in diverse digital skills, from basic to intermediate and advanced.
Amadi said: “They are not just learning theory; they are building products. Inside the facility, young Imo indigenes are assembling smartphones and feature phones on a partial-knockdown assembly line. These devices are being sold locally, reducing capital flight and promoting indigenous manufacturing.
Amadi further explained that most people in Imo State today come to the Digital City to buy their feature phones, smartphones, and other digital devices that are already assembled there. He added that the state is now exporting those talents, and they are helping other states to also advance when it comes to the digital economy.
“The Digital City is home to software engineers, cloud engineers, cybersecurity experts, artificial intelligence engineers and Internet of Things specialists. Startups are being incubated there, solving real-world problems. This is not a training centre for the sake of training; it is a talent factory producing the next generation of technology founders for Nigeria and Africa. The economic implications are profound.
Instead of importing talent, Imo is grooming and exporting it. Instead of importing devices, Imo is assembling them locally. This is what digital sovereignty looks like”.
The state is using the IDC as a bridge to give to society but hopes to attract massive returns now and in the near future.
Uzodimma’s strategic investment
In Imo State, the echo of Uzodimma’s strategic investment and performance are reverberating and the songs accompanying them can be heard from far and near. Beyond constructing and rehabilitating state roads, Uzodimma has ventured into repairing federal roads that are adding value to Imo people and their neighbours, a practice that defies previous acrimony between states and the Nigerian Federal Government.
He has already undertaken the reconstruction of the Owerri-Okigwe and Owerri-Mbaise-Umuahia highways, which currently shoulder traffic smoothly across where potholes once buried vehicles and caused nightmares to motorists. He has also taken control of the Ukwa Road, which was abandoned for eight years and the administration is reclaiming the road from the erosion that had broken the vital road into two at some points.
The 56-km Owerri-Okigwe federal highway stretch, which had been littered with potholes and posed a serious setback to road users, has now been reconstructed by the Imo State Government to provide motorists with a pleasant experience while driving through it.
Uzodimma has also addressed the embarrassment caused Imo and its people when its Convention Centre was dented by a windstorm. He has constructed a new ICC with a 10,000-capacity main hall and other facilities capable of launching Imo into a different stage in event hosting in Nigeria. It is ready for takeoff in August 2026, according to the contractor handling it.
Of all the projects being undertaken by the Imo State Government, the successful arrest of the rampaging erosion that cut off the Orlu-Mgbee-Akokwa-Uga federal highway from use appears as a victory worthy of celebrating by the state and its people. Gully erosion had washed off the strategic road and defied all the efforts by Uzodimma’s predecessors to arrest it.
Reports have it that for more than eight years, the Imo-Abia section was completely cut off from Anambra. The current administration has undertaken massive reclamation, diverted a river and built concrete bridges. The project engineer confirmed to reporters that they were merely completing the minor details and that the road was 80 per cent completed and ready for handover.
Unfinished projects
Governor Uzodimma appears to have unfinished projects. He is trying to complete the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Concorde Hotel and numerous projects that had been abandoned before his emergence all in an effort to give Imo State a new lease of life and status as an investor’s haven.
He has also delved into oil and power projects for the improvement of energy supply to Imo State.
Under his tenure as governor, the Anoh Gas Processing Plant, a joint project between Seplat and Renaissance, came into fruition and the project has started supplying gas to major companies in Nigeria and the governor wants a deal with AGPC to deliver gas in Owerri, the state capital.
At the dinner, the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Public Communication, Mr Sunday Dare, said the Tinubu administration means well for all the country and was painstakingly implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda to solve Nigeria’s problems and give Nigerians a new lease of life and sense of fulfillment.
Dare commended Uzodimma for the nationwide media tour, saying it had enabled journalists to independently verify projects being executed under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Governor Uzodimma did not mince words when he declared the stance of his Imo people towards President Tinubu come 2027 and promised to deliver him to his people.
The governor said: “You have come to Imo not to campaign for our people. You have come to see what we have been able to achieve.
“Our people have already decided that they want President Bola Tinubu back as president because without him and his policies and programmes, this environment we are enjoying today would have been very impossible to achieve,” Uzodimma said
The governor likened Nigeria’s current economic reforms to the biblical journey of the Israelites from Egypt, saying difficult decisions often attract resistance before yielding positive outcomes.
The governor disclosed that when he assumed office in January 2020, Imo State had nothing to cater for itself after paying workers’ salaries.
According to him, the situation changed after the Federal Government withdrew subsidy and introduced other reforms in 2023.
He said monthly allocations to the state rose substantially and enabled the government to invest in roads, healthcare, education, electricity and other infrastructure.
“I saw over N10.7 billion after FAAC. So, when people were trying to oppose subsidy removal, I came out and said subsidy must be removed,” he noted.
Uzodimma also said the state’s monthly internally generated revenue had risen from less than N400 million in 2020 to almost N6 billion in 2026, while its debt profile had dropped from N287 billion to barely N90 billion.
“From 2023 to 2026 is just three years. I have seen another Lee Kuan Yew in President Bola Tinubu,” he declared.
Governor Uzodimma has praised the sustained financial support the state is receiving from the Tinubu administration as the backbone of his brilliant performance in the state and he is well pleased with that.
The governor said that all the positive things that had happened in the state would not have taken place if Tinubu had not withdrawn the fuel subsidy and paid the increased funding to his state and others across Nigeria.
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