How Uzodimma survived palace coup

By Uzo Isaiah

It is no longer news that there was an attempt last week to remove the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma. What is news is how he survived the coup attempt.  The first thing was that the coupists’ were tipid.

Perharps because they were moving against the wind, they lacked the courage to see their plot to fruition. 

As Nigerians woke up in the wee hours of Friday to the disturbing news that a few of the governors had met at Abuja and removed Uzodimma as their chairman, replacing him with the Enugu State Governor,  Mr  Peter Mbah, many searched in vain for any evidence of the rumour. No communique, no video clips or photographs to identify those behind the plot. From day one,the coup suffered credibility issues. Even the story making the rounds on the issue had no attribution to authenticate it. There was no photograph showing the governors speculated as having participated in the meeting.  Worst of all, the Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum,  Mr Folorusho Aluko, was in the dark as regards the strange happening.  Not even a single governor, including Mbah, had publicly owned up to the meeting. 

Soon, questions arose why Uzodimma, who a few hours ago had led some of his counterparts to submit the nomination form of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR could have been removed unceremoniously? If he was to be replaced, why Peter Mbah who is still a rookie in the party as against even Uzodimma’s deputy Uba Sani?

But it didn’t take too long for the Palace coup to be crushed.  More than 23 governors, on hearing of the rumour immediately converged on Imo State Governor’s Lodge to reaffirm their support for Uzodimma as the PGF Chairman. 

After a closed-door meeting where they passed a vote of confidence on Uzodimma,  they also reiterated it in a press conference addressed by the Chairman himself. 

The mover of the motion and Kebbi State Governor Dr Nasir Idris said, among other things, that there is no division in the PGF and that Uzodimma remains their leader. Gov Uba Sani of Kaduna State, who seconded the motion, corroborated the stand. 

Interestingly , the governors were not perturbed by the rumoured Palace coup as they forged ahead to declare their unflinching support for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. 

The speed with which the 23 governors rallied behind Uzodimma confirmed that he has thus led them well, that they are comfortable with his leadership, and that they believe in his capacity. 

But what was the motive of those who planned to topple Uzodimma? They are many speculations, one of which is that the man is becoming too powerful and needed to be cut to size.  The other is that the plotters are really after Tinubu and want to remove Uzodimma, whom they see as a barrier towards the attainment of their goal. 

While the speculation rages,  one lesson to learn from the events of Wednesday up to Friday suggests that there exist internal enemies within APC who do not wish Tinubu well. As with everyday experience,  internal enemies are more difficult to identify and isolated because of their close proximity. 

Both Mr. President and Gov Hope Uzodimma should take a second look at those they regard as confidants and staunch supporters.

Once biten, twice shy, goes the popular adage.

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