2027: Governor Hope Uzodimma screens for Senate while still in office

By Abu-Sufuyan Isa

In a twist that only Nigerian politics could script, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma showed up at APC headquarters to be screened for the Senate.

Yes, that Hope Uzodimma. The man currently running Imo State.

The governor walked into the screening room for Imo West Senatorial District aspirants and sat before the committee led by APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda. The mission: get a green light to contest the 2027 Senate race.

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If he wins in January 2027, he’ll have to quit the Government House before swearing in as senator in June 2027. His current term as governor runs until January 15, 2028.

– The oddity/rarity-

It’s not illegal. But it’s rare, even by Nigeria’s standards. A sitting governor positioning to replace himself in the Senate while still holding executive power. He once occupied Imo West seat in the Senate from where he transitioned to the Imo Government House.

Think of it as auditioning for your next job while still employed at your current one — and knowing you’ll have to resign if you get it.

For Imo West, it means the possibility of a governor vacating office 13 months early, triggering a new political calculus in the state. For Uzodimma, it’s a bid to swap Douglas House for the Red Chamber after 8 years at the helm.

The screening was routine on the surface. The subtext was anything but. In a system where incumbency is king, the image of a governor submitting to a screening committee for a “lower” office struck many as both strategic and surreal.

-What happens next-

THE CONCLAVE reports that if Uzodimma clears the primary and wins the general election, Imo State will have to prepare for an early transition. If he loses, he keeps the governorship until 2028.

Either way, the move has already set tongues wagging about 2027’s political chessboard — where even sitting governors aren’t waiting to be pushed out. They’re jumping ahead to claim the next seat themselves.

For now, Uzodimma remains governor. But in Abuja, he’s already being vetted as Senator-in-waiting.