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 orYour 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

Imo State, located in theSouth East geopolitical zone ofNigeria,^[a] has been governed by a succession ofmilitary governors,administrators, andelected governors since its formation on 3 February 1976, when it was carved out of the formerEast Central State. This action was part of a nationwide state-creation reform under the military regime ofMurtala Mohammed. Before 1976, the area was part ofEast Central State, which had been created in 1967 whenYakubu Gowon dissolved theEastern Region during theNigerian Civil War and split it intoEast Central State,Rivers State, andSouth-Eastern State.^[b] East Central State covered much of theIgbo-speaking area until its division in 1976. During that period,Ukpabi Asika served as administrator until 1975, followed byAnthony 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), andSunday Ajibade Adenihun (1978–1979). With the advent of theSecond Republic in October 1979,Samuel Mbakwe of theNigerian Peoples Party (NPP) served as the firstcivilian governor from October 1979 to December 1983. Military rule returned by the end of 1983, and between 1984 and 1992 the state was led byIke Nwachukwu (1984–1985),Allison Madueke (1985–1985),Amadi Ikwechegh (1986–1990), andAnthony Oguguo (1990–1992).

During theThird Republic,Evan Enwerem of theNational Republican Convention (NRC) held office from January 1992 until the1993 coup. Subsequent administrators wereJames Aneke (1993–1996), andTanko Zubairu (1996–1999). Since the return of democracy under theFourth Republic in 1999, all of Imo's governors have been elected. The incumbent governor isHope Uzodimma of theAll Progressives Congress (APC), who has been in office since hiselection in March 2019.

BeforeNigeria's independence in 1960, the territory that now constitutesImo State was part of theEastern Region, one of the country's originaladministrative divisions.^[5] During thecolonial era, British officials governed the Eastern Region, withClement Pleass (1954–1956) andRobert Stapledon (1956–1960) serving as governors. After independence,Francis Akanu Ibiam (1960–1966) became the first Nigerian governor of the Eastern Region, whileMichael Okpara served as its premier (1960–1966). However, following Nigeria's firstmilitary coup in January 1966, the military dismissed the civilian premiers and appointed military governors, withChukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu governing the Eastern Region from January 1966. The regional system itself was dissolved in May 1967, whenYakubu Gowon created 12 states out of the four regions during theNigerian Civil War.^[5][6] A premier was responsible for the region's executive functions.^[7] Administrators were usually appointed to rule a state when there was a political crisis or state of emergency.^[8]

East Central State was created on 27 May 1967 by themilitary government ofYakubu 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 formerEastern Region and was composed predominantly of Igbo-speaking populations.^[10][11] Its capital wasEnugu.^[12]

The state existed from 1967 until 3 February 1976, when it was divided into two separate states—Anambra andImo—under the nationwide state-creation exercise carried out by the military regime ofMurtala Mohammed.^[13][10] During its nine-year existence, East Central State was governed entirely by military-appointed officials. The first wasUkpabi Asika, who was appointed as administrator in 1967 and remained in office until July 1975.^[14][15] His tenure covered the entire duration of theNigerian 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 byAnthony Ochefu, a military officer who governed the state until its dissolution in February 1976.^[17]

A military governor was the head of a state duringNigeria'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, anexecutive governor is thedemocratically elected chief executive of a state under the1999 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 was created on 3 February 1976 following the subdivision of the formerEast Central State intoAnambra and Imo States.^[19][10] From its creation, Imo has undergone multiple phases of military and civilian governance. The first military governor of Imo State wasNdubuisi Kanu, who governed from March 1976 until 1977.^[20] He was succeeded byAdekunle Lawal (1977–1978), followed bySunday Ajibade Adenihun, who served until the end of military rule in 1979.^[21] In theSecond Republic,Sam Mbakwe of theNigerian Peoples Party (NPP) became the first elected civilian governor of Imo State, holding office from October 1979 to December 1983, until the1983 Nigerian coup d'état ended the civilian administration.^[22][23] Following the coup, military governors resumed control, beginning withIke Nwachukwu (1984–1985), thenAllison Madueke (1985–1986),Amadi Ikwechegh (1986–1990), andAnthony Oguguo (1990–1992).^[24] In the short-livedThird Republic,Evan Enwerem of theNational Republican Convention (NRC) was elected governor and served from January 1992 until the return of military rule in November 1993.^[25] Subsequent military administrators wereJames Aneke (1993–1996) andTanko Zubairu (1996–1999), who remained in office until the restoration of democratic governance in 1999.^[26][27]

Under theFourth Republic,Achike Udenwa of thePeople's Democratic Party (PDP) was elected and served from 1999 to 2007. He was succeeded byIkedi Ohakim, who initially won under theProgressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) but later defected to the PDP, serving until 2011.Rochas Okorocha, who initially contested the2011 election under the umbrella of theAll Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and decamped to theAll Progressives Congress (APC) for hissecond tenure, governed from 2011 to 2019.^[28][19] In the2019 election,Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP was declared the winner and sworn in as governor. However, on 15 January 2020, theSupreme Court of Nigeria overturned the election result, ruling that votes from 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded. The court declared that the APC candidateHope 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]
				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]

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

• Governors of Imo State
• Lists of state governors of Nigeria

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