List of governors of Imo State

Imo State, located in the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria,^[a] has been governed by a succession of military governors, administrators, and elected governors since its formation on 3 February 1976, when the former East Central State was divided into Imo and Anambra. This action was part of a nationwide state-creation reform under the military regime of Murtala Mohammed. Before 1976, the area lay within the Eastern Region. After the regional system was dissolved on 27 May 1967 by Yakubu Gowon during the Nigerian Civil War, the Eastern Region was split into East Central State, Rivers State, and South-Eastern State.^[b] East Central State covered much of the Igbo-speaking area until its division in 1976. During that period, Ukpabi Asika served as administrator until 1975, followed by Anthony Ochefu until the state's dissolution. From its creation in 1976, Imo State was governed by military appointees: Ndubuisi Kanu (1976–1977), Adekunle Lawal (1977–1978), and Sunday Ajibade Adenihun (1978–1979). With the advent of the Second Republic in October 1979, Samuel Mbakwe of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) served as the first civilian governor from October 1979 to December 1983. Military rule returned by the end of 1983, and between 1984 and 1992 the state was led by Ike Nwachukwu (1984–1985), Allison Madueke (1985–1985), Amadi Ikwechegh (1986–1990), and Anthony Oguguo (1990–1992).

Governor of Imo State
Seal of Imo State of Nigeria
Flag of Imo State of Nigeria
Incumbent Hope Uzodimma since January 2020
Government of Imo State
Style	Governor (informal) His Excellency or Your Excellency (courtesy)[1]
Member of	Executive Council of Imo State[2]
Reports to	President of Nigeria
Seat	Awka
Appointer	Popular vote[2]
Term length	Four years, renewable once consecutively[2]
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Nigeria
Inaugural holder	Sam Mbakwe
Formation	October 1979
Deputy	Deputy governor of Imo State
Website	imostate.gov.ng

Location of Imo State in Nigeria

During the Third Republic, Evan Enwerem of the National Republican Convention (NRC) held office from January 1992 until the 1993 coup. Subsequent administrators were James Aneke (1993–1996), and Tanko Zubairu (1996–1999). Since the return of democracy under the Fourth Republic in 1999, all of Imo's governors have been elected. The incumbent governor is Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who has been in office since his election in March 2019.

List of governors

Eastern Region

Before Nigeria's independence in 1960, the territory that now constitutes Imo State was part of the Eastern Region, one of the country's original administrative divisions.^[5] During the colonial era, British officials governed the Eastern Region, with Clement Pleass (1954–1956) and Robert Stapledon (1956–1960) serving as governors. After independence, Francis Akanu Ibiam (1960–1966) became the first Nigerian governor of the Eastern Region, while Michael Okpara served as its premier (1960–1966). However, following Nigeria’s first military coup in January 1966, the military abolished the regional system, dismissed civilian premiers, and appointed military administrators, with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu governing the Eastern Region from January 1966 until its dissolution in May 1967.^[5][6] A premier was responsible for the region's executive functions.^[7] Administrators were usually appointed to rule a state when there is a political crisis or state of emergency.^[8]

East Central State

East Central State was created on 27 May 1967 by the military government of Yakubu Gowon as part of a national restructuring effort that dissolved the regional system and replaced it with twelve states.^[9] The new state was carved out of the former Eastern Region and was composed predominantly of Igbo-speaking populations.^[10][11] Its capital was Enugu.^[12]

The state existed from 1967 until 3 February 1976, when it was divided into two separate states—Anambra and Imo—under the nationwide state-creation exercise carried out by the military regime of Murtala Mohammed.^[13][10] During its nine-year existence, East Central State was governed entirely by military-appointed officials. The first was Ukpabi Asika, who was appointed as administrator in 1967 and remained in office until July 1975.^[14][15] His tenure covered the entire duration of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), during which he oversaw the East Central State government’s efforts to manage war-related devastation, provide relief, and reintegrate the region into Nigeria.^[16] In July 1975, he was replaced by Anthony Ochefu, a military officer who governed the state until its dissolution in February 1976.^[17]

A military governor was the head of a state during Nigeria's military era, appointed by the head of the federal military government to administer states, as established by Decree No. 14 of 1967. He exercised executive powers on behalf of the central military government.^[18] In contrast, an executive governor is the democratically elected chief executive of a state under the 1999 Constitution, empowered to lead the state government, implement laws, and oversee public administration. The deputy governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor and serves as the second-in-command, assuming the governorship in the event of the governor's death, incapacitation, or resignation, and assisting in administrative duties as assigned.^[2]

Imo State

Imo State was created on 3 February 1976 following the subdivision of the former East Central State into Anambra and Imo States, as part of a nationwide restructuring executed by the military government of Murtala Mohammed.^[19][10] From its creation, Imo has undergone multiple phases of military and civilian governance. The first military governor of Imo State was Ndubuisi Kanu, who governed from March 1976 until 1977.^[20] He was succeeded by Adekunle Lawal (1977–1978), followed by Sunday Ajibade Adenihun, who served until the end of military rule in 1979.^[21] In the Second Republic, Sam Mbakwe of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) became the first elected civilian governor of Imo State, holding office from October 1979 to December 1983, until the 1983 Nigerian coup d'état ended the civilian administration.^[22][23] Following the coup, military governors resumed control, beginning with Ike Nwachukwu (1984–1985), then Allison Madueke (1985–1986), Amadi Ikwechegh (1986–1990), and Anthony Oguguo (1990–1992).^[24] In the short-lived Third Republic, Evan Enwerem of the National Republican Convention (NRC) was elected governor and served from January 1992 until the return of military rule in November 1993.^[25] Subsequent military administrators were James Aneke (1993–1996) and Tanko Zubairu (1996–1999), who remained in office until the restoration of democratic governance in 1999.^[26][27]

Under the Fourth Republic, Achike Udenwa of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was elected and served from 1999 to 2007. He was succeeded by Ikedi Ohakim, who initially won under the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) but later defected to the PDP, serving until 2011. Rochas Okorocha, who initially contested in the 2011 election under the umbrella of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC) for his second tenure, governed from 2011 to 2019.^[28][19] In the 2019 election, Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP was declared the winner and sworn in as governor. However, on 15 January 2020, the Supreme Court of Nigeria overturned the election result, ruling that votes from 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded. The court declared that the APC candidate Hope Uzodimma had the majority of lawful votes and ordered him sworn in as the duly elected governor. Ihedioha's certificate of return was nullified, and Uzodinma became governor on the same day, and is the incumbent governor.^[29][28]

Heads of the government of Imo State

Governor		Term in office[c]	Party		Election	D. Governor
	Ndubuisi Kanu (b. 1943, d. 2021) [20][30]	March 1976 – August 1977 [20][21]		Military governor	—	Office did not exist
	Adekunle Lawal (b. 1934, d. 1980) [31]	10 August 1977 – 23 July 1978 [24][32]
—	Sunday Ajibade Adenihun	25 July 1978 – 30 September 1979 [24]
	Sam Mbakwe (b. 1930, d. 2004) [22][33]	1 October 1979 – 31 December 1983 [34]		NPP [35]	1979 1983 [35][36]	Isaac Uzoigwe [37][38][d]
—	Ike Nwachukwu (b. 1940) [39]	4 January 1984 – 27 August 1985 [25][24]		Military governor	—	Office abolished
—	Allison Madueke (b. 1944) [40]	4 September 1985 – 28 August 1986 [24]
—	Amadi Ikwechegh (b. 1951, d. 2009) [41][42]	29 August 1986 – 2 September 1990 [24]
—	Anthony Oguguo	3 September 1990 – 2 January 1992 [24]
—	Evan Enwerem (b. 1935, d. 2007) [43][44]	2 January 1992 – December 1993 [45]		NRC [25]	1991 [46]	Douglas Acholonu [47][48]
—	James Aneke (b. 1947) [26]	December 1993 – August 1996 [25]		Military administrator	—	Office abolished
—	Tanko Zubairu (b. 1947, d. 2021) [49][27]	22 August 1996 – 29 May 1999 [27]
—	Achike Udenwa (b. 1948) [50]	29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007 [19]		PDP [25][28]	1999 2003 [28]	Ebere Udeagu [51]
—	Ikedi Ohakim (b. 1957) [52]	29 May 2007 – 29 May 2011 [19]		PPA [28]	2007 [28]	Ada Okwuonu [53][38]
				PDP [28]
	Rochas Okorocha (b. 1962) [54]	29 May 2011 – 29 May 2019		APGA [28]	2011 [28][55]	Jude Agbaso 29 May 2011–28 March 2013[e] [56]
				APC [28]	2015 [28][54]	Prince Madumere 29 March 2013–29 May 2019 [56][57]
	Emeka Ihedioha (b. 1965) [58]	29 May 2019 – 15 January 2020 [29]		PDP [25][28][29]	2019 [28][29]	Gerald Irona [59]
—	Hope Uzodimma (b. 1958) [60]	15 January 2020 – Incumbent [29]		APC [28][29]	2019 [28]	Placid Njoku 2020–2024 [61]
					2023 [62]	Chinyere Ekomaru 2024–Incumbent [61]

Explanatory notes

1. Geopolitical zones are administrative groupings of Nigeria's states into six broad regions. Introduced during the military rule of Sani Abacha, the zones were designed to reflect regional cultural, economic, and political distinctions and have since served as frameworks for allocating resources, infrastructure, and representation across the country.^[3]
2. Nigeria's regional system of government was a decentralised political structure where the country was divided into autonomous regions—each with its own legislature, executive, and judiciary—allowing them to govern internal affairs and manage resources independently, while still operating under a central federal authority.^[4]
3. For elected governors, the date of inauguration is listed.
4. Bernard Amalaha was originally Mbakwe's running mate but Amalaha was disqualified by the Supreme Court, and Mbakwe nominated Uzoigwe as new deputy.^[38]
5. Impeached

See also

• List of governors of Anambra State
• List of governors of Enugu State