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By Ebere Uzoukwa
It is an indisputable fact that Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume’s last minute
political mutiny enhanced the second straight victory Gov. Rochas Okorocha
recorded over the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Imo State. After
defeating Chief Ikedi Ohakim, who re-contested the governorship under the
platform of the PDP, the rescue mission governor in 2015 also defeated
Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, who was nominated as the PDP governorship candidate
during the 2015 governorship election in Imo.
After a rancorous governorship primary election that produced Ihedioha,
the former Deputy Speaker of Federal House of Representatives, Sen.
Araraume had outrightly rejected the result as pronounced citing severe
irregularities. He threatened to doom the PDP and ruin its chances of
wrestling power from Okorocha should the party leadership fails to reverse
the outcome to his favour.
When it became glaring that PDP was not amenable to Araraume’s conditions
of flying the 2015 governorship flag, the Isiala-Mbano born political
warlord changed his game as he aversively activated another dangerous
political plan. He had quickly oiled and reassembled his political
arsenals to make good his threat of downing the umbrella party.
As Araraume battled his former party and its hierarchy, Okorocha whose
reelection bid was earlier greeted with a stiff opposition adjusted and
clandestinely reached to Araraume. The governor, however, succeeded to
lure Araraume who shockingly decamped to APC with some notable Imo
politicians shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner
of the 2015 presidential election. He was audaciously received by
President Buhari who attended in person as well as top APC leaders.
It is appropriate and most likely that Sen. Araraume had struck a
political deal and agreements before undertaking the onerous task of
delivering Okorocha in 2015. It is equally ideal to suggest that the
political agreements may have been tagged and expressly tailored for 2019
political project hence Ararume was not relenting on his yet-to-be
actualized gubernatorial aspiration.
Through an orchestrated rebellious act against PDP, Araraume closely
worked with other aggrieved members and successfully ruined the PDP and
its earlier foreseen chances of taking over power from Okorocha. He
upturned the known traditional voting pattern in Imo as PDP was dislodged
in Okigwe zone for the first time to democratically seal Okorocha
landslide victory. Also through his solidly rooted political structure,
Destiny Organization, Ararume greatly influenced and sealed a pronounced
victory for Okorocha in Owerri and Orlu zones as he sternly directed all
his supporters and associates across the state to vote for Okorocha and
APC in the governorship and state assembly elections.
The political alliance and frolicsomeness of the duo actually began on a
peaceful footing. Okorocha had appreciated Ararume’s contributions by
engaging his son, Ifeanyi Ararume Jnr, as a commissioner in his first
cabinet after reelection. Though Ararume denied knowledge and endorsement
of the appointment, it was later unraveled as a strategy deployed to
position and politically nurture his son for deputy governorship against
his 2019 governorship ambition. It was also gathered that Okorocha
strategies were targeted to politically dwarf, detonate and morally knock
Araraume out of 2019 governorship race with his son preferred anositioned
for deputy.
Unfortunately, the political tide, as at today in Imo APC, is fast turning
against Okorocha. By inducing and procuring a marathon endorsements for
Uche Nwosu, his chief of staff and son-in-law as the next governor,
Okorocha consciously or unconsciously ignited a fierce political battle in
his party. Besides his relationship as the father-inlaw, Nwosu also hails
from Orlu zone with Okorocha. After removing the four years Chief Ikedi
Ohakim held sway(2007-2011), Orlu zone has continuously occupied the
governorship seat of Imo State since the return of democracy in 1999.
Chief Udenwa had an uninterrupted eight years(1999-2007). By 2019,
Okorocha shall be adding another undistorted eight years of governorship
for the same Orlu zone. Regardless of this obvious lopsidedness and
political enslavement of Owerri and Okigwe zones, Okorocha in a desperate
manner, defied all entreaties as he resorts to shenanigans that tend to
domicile the gubernatorial power in Orlu beyond 2019.
But Okorocha’s succession agenda as greedily crafted has been completely
rejected by the stakeholders of Imo APC. The opposition against his
proposed ‘familiocracy’ has swollen hence Ararume reached out to other
stakeholders who are mutually opposed to Okorocha and his son-inlaw. A
coalition known as ‘Allied Forces’ in Imo APC was formed to wrestle the
party structure from Okorocha during the congresses. With the calibre of
Sen. Ararume, Sen. Osita Izunaso, the national organizing secretary of the
party, Sen. Benjamin Uwajimogu, representing Okigwe zone in the senate as
well as the of APC National Convention Planning Committee, his counterpart
representing Orlu zone, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, the deputy governor, Prince
Eze Madumere, Hon. Goodluck Opia, representing Ohaji-Egbema/Oguta/Oru West
federal constituency, Chief Tony Chukwu, a business mogul, Chief Felix
Idiga(Jafac), Chief T.O.E Ekechi, Ichie Best Mbanaso, Sir Jude Ejiogu,
former secretary to the state government and other notable politicians
within the broom-waving party, Okorocha, at the moment, and to say the
least, is profusely suffocating in Imo APC.
After loosing out in the recent Ward and Local Government congresses to
the politically sophisticated ‘Allied Forces’, a terribly bullied and
horrified Okorocha had raced to Daura and Abuja crying for help. Those he
reportedly met at Daura and Abuja did not mince words as they turned him
back with an advice that he mends fences with the party stakeholders. But,
Okorocha, who had earlier and publicly announced the retirement of notable
politicians across party lines in Imo would never heed to wise counsel.
Only him, and him alone, will decide the next governor for Imo people, the
3 senators with himself as one, the occupants of the 12 House of
Representatives seats as well as the 27 state assembly positions.
While the ‘Allied Forces’ prepares by perfecting plans for the forthcoming
state and zonal congresses, the brutally dazed and wailing Okorocha and
his son-in law, Uche Nwosu, are rather busy scoring own goals by
effortlessly leading an obviously dejected supporters to ‘fruitless’
protests.
Like a warlord lacking tact and strategy, the seemingly frustrated
Okorocha to the surprises of many also extended his battle to Oyegun’s
doorstep and the entire National Working Committee(NWC). He openly accused
the outgoing national chairman of ‘criminally’ conspiring with Ararume,
Izunaso, Uwajimogu and other members of the ‘Allied Forces’ to hijack the
party structure. He equally claimed to have become a victim of ‘Abuja
conspiracies’ for opposing the proposal that could have fetched Oyegun and
other party exco members an additional one year in office.
But Okorocha’s unsubstantiated assumptions and outburst were swiftly
countered by the national publicity secretary of APC, Mallam Bolaji
Abdullahi, who berated the governor and accused him of mismanaging his
relationship with those that ought to have queued behind him.
Apparently referring the governor as a frustrated fellow, Abdullahi said,
“Governor Okorocha is being malicious and unfair to the NWC. If he has
mismanaged his relationship with his own people, in a way that they now
constitute an encumbrance to him, he should not transfer his frustration
to the NWC.
“It is certainly not right to set fire to the village because you want to
kill a rat. If Governor Okorocha has any specific grievances, he should
come forward with them rather than making this generalized accusations”.
While ‘Allied Forces’ steadily dismantles Okorocha as the sole proprietor
and owner of Imo APC, other stakeholders across party lines in Imo as well
as the keenly watchful Imolites have endlessly celebrated the political
demystification and apparent downfall of the ‘rescue mission’ governor.
This is as virtually all opinions and commentaries canvassed in the social
and mainstream media in respect to the development are pointedly tailored
to mock, demystify and downgrade Okorocha whose recent destructive
programmes such as ‘Urban Renewal’ have terribly inflicted hardship and
excruciating difficulties on the people people living in the state
capital, Owerri.
Adding to the spontaneous celebrations that have greeted Okorocha’s
humiliation, Sen. Ararume attributed the dismantling of Okorocha and his
family members to a collective battle all Imolites must fight to secure
the state from further destructions. Araraume through a recent statement
released by his media aide, Ik Ogbonna had warped and derided Okorocha for
brutally exhibiting dictatorial and anti-democratic tendencies.
The Isiala-Mbano businessman and politician further enjoined “all
well-meaning citizens, from the political class to the academia, from the
professions to the clergy, the traditional institutions and even artisans
are in agreement, beyond partisan, sectional, religious and cultural
boundaries to stop Governor Okorocha from further destroying the state,
economically, politically and culturally.
He also added: “In the last couple of months, Governor Okorocha has been
raining abuses on every political leader of note in the state, including
his predecessors, dead or alive. The good people of Imo state have so
become used to the governor’s reckless and uncouth utterances on the
former that they no longer take him seriously.
“Governor Okorocha deludes himself as a political giant but it is not a
hidden fact that in his career, he has contested over 15 elections and
lost all; governor, party chairman, senator, president etc. Even the 2011
governorship election in which he was declared winner was a make belief.
In 2015, he ran for a second term but the election went into second
balloting and he almost lost because of his abysmal performance in his
first term”.
With the endorsement of Imo APC Ward congress by the party’s appeal panel
deployed to Imo, the power tussle over the soul of APC appears to be over
for Okorocha. The governor has lost the battle and finally the
monopolistic control of Imo APC. He is therefore expected to activate his
plan ‘B’ for 2019.
Believing that Imo electorate are still glued to his side, the governor
may consider routing his son-in-law and obviously depleted supporters to
another political party. Okorocha’s desperation to foist his son-in-law as
the next governor of Imo State shall then be decided by the electorate if
he finally activates such plan.