The Government of Imo State also called The Imo State Government consists of elected representatives and appointed officials responsible for the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Imo State has a population of over 4 to 5 million people, and is one of the 36 states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The state government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, whose powers are vested by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

in the House of Assembly, the Governor and the High Court. The judiciary operates independently of the executive and the legislature. At the local level, elected officials are in charge of local government areas.

Executive

The executive branch is headed by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, assisted by the Deputy Governor, both elected. The governor appoints the principal state officers, the heads of parastatals, state-owned bodies, judicial officers, permanent secretaries and members of the Executive Council with the exception of the deputy. The

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

is administered by the head of service, a career civil servant, with each ministry managed by a

permanent secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

. The commissioner is responsible for policy implementation, while the permanent secretary provides functional continuity and is responsible for operations within the ministry.

The Governor

The Governor of Imo State is the highest-ranking official, the chief executive officer and chief security officer of the statem He wields significant influence in matters relating to the governance of the state. As in most

presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...

s, the governor is both the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

and

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

. The governor is empowered by the

to preside over the Executive Council, as well as to appoint, dismiss or reappoint its members–excluding the deputy governor–at will. In addition the governor may sign legislation passed by the House into law or may veto it. Legislation automatically becomes law after 30 days, with or without the governor's signaure. A vote by a two-thirds majority in the House can overrule the governor. The same vote is required to initiate an impeachment process of the governor or his deputy. In all cases where the chief executive is unable to discharge his or her duties, the deputy governor assumes the office of Acting Governor until the governor resumes duty, or until

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of a new one. Since achieving statehood, Imo State has had a total of 7 governors.

The Deputy Governor

The position of Deputy Governor of Imo State constitutes the vice-

and

, created when the federation returned to civilian authority under the Second Republic. Whoever holds the post is considered the second highest official in the executive branch. The deputy governor is also seen as the first official in line of succession to the Governor of Imo State, should the office be vacated. Placid Njoku formally hold the position of the Deputy Governor of Imo State since January 15, 2020 till January 14, 2024. The current governor

Hope Uzodinma Hope Odidika Uzodimma (born 12 December 1958) is a Nigerian politician who serves as Governor of Imo State. On 14 January 2020, the Supreme Court in Nigeria declared Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2019 govern ...

chose him to be his

running-mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

during the 2019 general elections The Current-deputy-governor since January 15, 2024 is Chinyere Ekomaru.

Executive Council of Imo State

Principal Officers

Commissioners

Legislature

The

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

is the unicameral legislative body of the state government. It was established in 1979 by part II, section 84 of the

Constitution of Nigeria The Constitution of Nigeria is the written supreme law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria has had many constitutions. Its current form was enacted on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated the Fourth Nigerian Republic. History Nigeria's st ...

, which states . Led by a

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

, the House of Assembly consists of 32 members, each elected to four-year terms in single-member constituencies by plurality. Its primary responsibility is to create laws for the peace, order and effective government of the state.

Powers

There are numerous powers the Constitution expressly and specifically granted to the House of Assembly as they are necessary for its relevance. These include the powers to approve budget estimates presented to it by the executive; to make laws establishing the chargeable rates and the procedure to be used in assessing and collecting the rates charged by each local government council; confirm gubernatorial appointments, oversee and monitor activities of government agencies, review policy implementation strategies of the executive, summon before it and question a commissioner about the conduct of his or her ministry especially when the affairs of that ministry are under consideration and to initiate impeachment proceeding in order to secure the removal of the governor or the deputy.

Judiciary

The administration of justice in

is one of the fundamental duties of the judiciary of the state. This branch of government explains and applies the laws by hearing and eventually making decisions on various legal cases. It has a regulatory or supervisory body known as the Judicial Service Commission, which takes care of appointment, promotion and disciplinary issues of the judiciary. The Chief Judge of Imo State is appointed by the

Governor of Imo State The Governor of Imo State is an elective political position. He's one of the governors of the thirty-six states in Nigeria. The governor of Imo State is the chief executive officer of Imo state and its executive branch with the assistance of the De ...

, screened and confirmed by the Imo State House Assembly and recommendation of the National Judicial Council. The chief judge is the appointed head of the judicial branch. The chief judge is also the most senior judge and presiding member of the High Court of Justice. Among other responsibilities, the chief judge has the ceremonial duty of administering the oath of office of the Governor of Imo State. In modern tradition, the chief judge retires voluntarily at sixty years of age, or statutorily at sixty five. Most appointments to the judiciary are made by the governor, but acting upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.

References

{{Reflist Politics of Imo State Imo