By Oscar Okhifo
The political feud between former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and his successor, Hope Uzodimma, has taken a fresh turn, with the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Enyinna Onuegbu, mocking the former governor over his past encounter with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“When EFCC looked for Okorocha, he ran under the bed, and now he runs from hotel to hotel,” Onuegbu was quoted as saying.
The remark has reignited interest in the longstanding rivalry between the two politicians, particularly following a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja which nullified Uzodimma’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Imo West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election and declared Okorocha the winner of the party’s primary.
In the October 29 judgment, Justice Obiora Egwuatu ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish Okorocha’s name as the APC candidate, having found that he won the May 18 primary.
The court held that Okorocha scored 150,780 votes against Uzodimma’s 102,158, faulting the party for forwarding the incumbent governor’s name to INEC despite the documentary evidence before it.
It consequently restrained Uzodimma from parading himself as the party’s senatorial candidate for the district.
The ruling has intensified the political contest between the two camps, with Okorocha using the opportunity to question his successor’s political credentials.
Speaking on television after the judgment, the former governor launched a scathing attack on Uzodimma, insisting that he had never genuinely won an election in his political career.
Okorocha also revived the controversial description of Uzodimma as a “Supreme Court governor”, referring to the January 2020 Supreme Court judgment which overturned the election of Emeka Ihedioha and declared Uzodimma the winner of the 2019 Imo governorship election.
Uzodimma had initially been placed fourth in the results announced by INEC before the Supreme Court reversed the outcome.
Okorocha’s latest remarks have brought back memories of the political disagreements between the two men, whose relationship has deteriorated considerably since Uzodimma succeeded him in 2020.
Adding another dimension to the unfolding political drama, an old video showing Okorocha and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, dancing has resurfaced on social media.
The footage has attracted considerable attention, with some commentators interpreting the cheerful encounter as a moment between two politicians who appear to share a common adversary.
Its timing has also drawn attention to Wike’s increasingly open disagreement with Uzodimma, particularly over the FCT minister’s Rainbow Coalition and the Imo governor’s political ambitions.
The disagreement is rooted in the opposition of APC governors to the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by Wike ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), chaired by Uzodimma, had, at a meeting in Abuja on September 14, rejected political alliances capable of weakening the APC or undermining its candidates in the forthcoming elections.
The governors maintained that while they would support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, they would not endorse arrangements that could work against APC candidates seeking elective offices.
Wike, however, rejected the position, arguing that his Rainbow Coalition was primarily designed to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election and should not prevent politicians from other parties from pursuing their electoral interests.
The minister maintained that Nigerians could support Tinubu for president while voting for candidates of their choice in other elections.
The disagreement became more pronounced during Wike’s appearance on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout on September 21, 2026, when he accused Uzodimma and some other APC governors of opposing the coalition because they wanted to control the emergence of the next leadership of the National Assembly.
According to Wike, the governors were uncomfortable with the possibility that politicians who failed to secure APC tickets could contest on alternative platforms and emerge as members of the National Assembly outside their control.
He specifically linked Uzodimma’s opposition to the coalition to the governor’s reported ambition to become Senate President after leaving office.
“Of course, life or death, I will never support Hope Uzodimma to become the Senate President of Nigeria. Everybody knows that,” Wike declared.
The FCT minister also questioned the propriety of Uzodimma seeking to leave office before the expiration of his tenure in January 2028 to pursue a senatorial ambition.
Uzodimma, on his part, has maintained that there is no Rainbow Coalition in Imo State, insisting that the APC would work for Tinubu’s re-election and the victory of all its candidates in the state.
On October 27, the governor publicly warned supporters of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement against working outside the APC, declaring that there was no Rainbow Coalition in Imo State.
His position has further exposed the disagreement between the two political figures, with Wike insisting that the coalition does not threaten Tinubu’s re-election but allows politicians to support candidates across party lines.
Interestingly, Okorocha has also expressed support for the Rainbow Coalition.
Speaking after the court judgment, the former governor commended Wike’s approach and announced plans to establish a similar coalition in Imo State to mobilise support for Tinubu.
Okorocha said the initiative would bring together politicians across party lines in support of the President, arguing that political considerations should not prevent people from supporting candidates they believe can deliver good governance.
His endorsement of the coalition has added another layer to the political interpretations surrounding the resurfaced video of him and Wike, particularly against the backdrop of their respective disagreements with Uzodimma.
Although the video does not establish a formal political alliance between the two men, its renewed circulation has fuelled discussions about shifting relationships and political interests among influential figures ahead of the 2027 elections.
Meanwhile, Onuegbu’s reference to Okorocha’s EFCC encounter has revived memories of the dramatic confrontation between the former governor and the anti-graft agency in May 2022.
EFCC operatives had laid siege to Okorocha’s Abuja residence in an attempt to arrest him over allegations of financial misconduct during his tenure as governor of Imo State.
The incident attracted widespread media attention, with reports that the former governor had taken refuge inside the residence during the confrontation before he was eventually arrested.
However, the prosecution did not result in a conviction.
In February 2023, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja discharged Okorocha from the N2.9bn fraud charge brought against him by the EFCC.
In a separate case in July 2023, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court dismissed another EFCC suit against the former governor, describing the prosecution as an abuse of court process.
The judicial decisions marked significant legal victories for Okorocha, who had consistently challenged the allegations and the manner in which the commission handled the investigations.
Onuegbu’s latest remark, nevertheless, has brought the EFCC controversy back into political discourse at a time when the former governor is locked in another battle with his successor.
With the court judgment reshaping the contest for the APC senatorial ticket in Imo West, Wike’s opposition to Uzodimma’s Senate presidency ambition, the APC governors’ rejection of the Rainbow Coalition and Okorocha’s renewed endorsement of the arrangement, the political dispute has assumed a wider dimension.
The resurfacing of the Okorocha-Wike video, amid the exchange of verbal attacks between Uzodimma’s camp and the former governor, has further drawn attention to the shifting political alliances and interests ahead of the 2027 general election.