THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF EQUITY IN IMO: WHY OWERRI ZONE MUST CLEAN UP ITS POLITICAL MESS BEFORE DREAMING OF THE GOVERNORSHIP AGAIN
By Dr. Chinwe Nweke, PhD (Political Science), Columbia University; Research Fellow, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
There is no polite way to say this anymore: Owerri Zone is the chief saboteur of the moral and political order in Imo State. There was once a naturally evolving Charter of Equity in Imo, a moral framework that had set the state on a path of justice, unity, and peaceful rotation of power among its three senatorial zones: Orlu (Imo West), Okigwe (Imo North), and Owerri (Imo East).
But that sacred understanding was shattered, not by Orlu, not by Okigwe, but by Owerri Zone, whose actions in 2011 and beyond have proven that power, not principle guides their politics.
The zone’s political elite, driven by selfish ambition, lust for power, and a chronic sense of entitlement, launched an unforgivable assault on this unwritten Charter.
Though informal, the Charter was binding in conscience and spirit, a moral agreement to rotate power and allow every section of the state a fair shot at the governorship.
Let the truth be told and not sugar-coated: the Charter was on track, until Owerri betrayed it. Their betrayal was not only premeditated, it was executed with a brutal political assault, characterized by lies, falsehoods, and a campaign of calumny, culminating in a federally-assisted civilian coup d’état that fraudulently ousted the legitimate government of Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.
From 1999, a just and logical political sequence had begun to emerge in Imo State. Chief Achike Udenwa of Orlu Zone took his full turn—eight solid years. Then came Dr. Ikedi Ohakim from Okigwe Zone in 2007. Ohakim’s mandate was meant to naturally complete Okigwe’s 8-year slot by 2015, after which Owerri Zone would take its rightful turn in the rotation—without controversy.
Ohakim’s government was the bridge to complete Okigwe’s legitimate eight-year turn.
But what happened?
Rather than allow Okigwe Zone to complete its course and hand over to Owerri Zone in 2015—as fairness demanded—Owerri politicians collaborated with federal forces in Abuja to sabotage the process. They launched a civilian coup d’état, armed not with rifles but with propaganda, character assassination, and manipulation. Through a campaign of lies, betrayal, and Federal-backed intimidation, they orchestrated the illegal removal of Ohakim and replaced him with an Orlu-born governor, Rochas Okorocha, in 2011.
Owerri Zone couldn’t wait. They didn’t want fairness. And they certainly didn’t believe in justice.
So, they conspired, connived, and collaborated with desperate forces in Abuja to execute a civilian coup d’état against Okigwe’s mandate. They launched a barrage of slander, blackmail, and media warfare against Ohakim, culminating in his illegal ouster in 2011. And who benefitted from this betrayal? Not Owerri. Ironically, they handed power back to Orlu Zone, installing Rochas Okorocha and plunging the state into an unbroken 16-year reign of Orlu dominance.
With that treachery, the natural Charter of Equity was not just paused, it was violated, truncated, and murdered in cold political blood. Owerri did not only shoot itself in the foot, it aimed the gun at justice and murdered it.
Today, the same Owerri elites, who wilfully destroyed the very Charter they now cry about, are parading themselves as victims of marginalization. This is political fraud, historical revisionism, and moral bankruptcy of the highest order, and the most dangerous hypocrisy in Imo politics.
You cannot sabotage a bridge, then cry that you cannot cross the river.
You cannot burn the ladder, then demand to reach the rooftop.
You cannot murder justice, then preach equity and fairness.
Justice comes before equity, and he who calls for equity must come with open and clean hands.
Ever since their betrayal, Owerri Zone has tried to sell the public a false narrative that they have been marginalised in the political leadership of Imo State.
This is a fraudulent claim. The truth is that Owerri sabotaged their own chance by prematurely hijacking a process that would have organically favoured them.
Instead of waiting their turn, they disrupted the sequence, thinking they could outsmart the rest of the state.
They gambled and lost. The consequences of their political greed must now be carried by them, not by others. Justice must come before reconciliation. Restoration must precede rotation.
Owerri’s political class must be called what they are: power saboteurs, architects of injustice, and enemies of political order in Imo State.
They must be reminded that equity is not a buffet, you don’t cherry-pick it when it suits you, then discard it when you can’t benefit. The same process they destroyed is the one they now hypocritically invoke in their desperate quest to return to Douglas House.
Karma is real.
The evil that men do, they must live with.
No zone should be allowed to benefit from a process it wilfully derailed.
Until Owerri Zone cleans up their political mess, they should not near the Douglas House.
Let this be made clear: Owerri Zone should not aspire to the governorship of Imo State again until they help restore what they destroyed.
The state must return to the exact point where the equity arrangement was interrupted. That point is Okigwe Zone, and that name is Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, the rightful candidate to complete the second leg of the natural Charter before the baton moves.
Until that happens, any attempt by Owerri to push forward again amounts to rewarding betrayal, encouraging injustice, and perpetuating political impunity.
Equity is a circle, it is not a shortcut.
A true Charter of Equity moves in a circle: Orlu-Okigwe -Owerri- and back again.
Owerri tried to skip the queue, and must now wait.
If Okigwe had completed its tenure, Owerri would have governed from 2015 to 2023 without resistance. But since that did not happen, they cannot skip ahead and act like nothing happened.
Let us also remember that no zone can claim entitlement to power while having no moral right to it. Owerri’s moral right was forfeited in 2011. Only when they acknowledge this betrayal and support a return to the natural sequence can the spirit of unity be restored.
To political actors, traditional leaders, youth groups, and the Imo electorate, this is not a time for sentiment. It is a time for justice.
It is time to defend our collective memory and protect the soul of our democratic foundation.
Let no one be deceived by Owerri’s crocodile tears of exclusion.
They are not victims, they are the original violators of the same equity they now pretend to champion.
Let us call a spade a spade:
Until Owerri cleans its political mess and supports the completion of the Okigwe tenure, they must never be allowed near the governorship seat again.
Anything less is betrayal repeated.
Anything less is injustice repackaged.
Anything less is history doomed to repeat itself. On
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