Despite the promise by Gov. Theodore Orji to hand over power to the Ukwa/
Ngwa zone in 2015, rumours are rife that the now retired Chief of Army
Staff, Lt. Gen Azubuike Onyeabo Ihejirika may throw his hat into the ring
for the Abia governorship contest in 2015. The rumours which was discussed
in hushed tones when Ihejirika was still in service, has now spread like
wild fire since the ex Army chief retired.
His retirement as the Chief of Army Staff appears to have upped the stakes
in the race for the gubernatorial election in Abia state in 2015. Reason
is that rumours have been rife that the ex Army Chief is interested in the
governorship position of the state. In fact, in the last two weeks,
rumours of an alleged pact with Gov. Orji to hand over to Ihejirika for
his support particularly during the era of kidnapping, has dominated
political discourse in Abia state.
Another issue is that Ihejirika’s people in Isiukwuato Local Government
Area of the state have been agitating that 2015 is their turn as they have
not produced a governor of the state since it was created. The Isiukwuato
people are laying claims to the Abia Charter of Equity on the ground that
it favours them to produce an Abia governor in 2015. They contend that the
acronym, ‘ABIA’, means Afikpo, Bende, Isiukwuato and Aba and Isiukwuato
must take their turn before the Aba zone.
According to a PDP chieftain from the area who did not want his name in
print, “Abia Charter of Equity as a document goes that after the Afikpo
people took their turn through Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, the Bende people
through Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and Gov. Theodore Orji, it is now the turn of
the Isiukwuato bloc in 2015 before we hand over to Aba zone. Isiukwuato is
a clan different from Bende, we are on own” he said.
Though Ihejirika is yet to declare his interest for the seat, a section of
the Abia political class believe that it is a matter of time before he
makes a statement. Such people readily point to the fact that the former
soldier has the ears of the presidency as well as Gov. Orji arising from
the loyalty and support he gave the duo during his tenure as Army Chief.
There appears to be a plot by Ihejirika’s Isiukwuato people to throw a
spanner into the promise by Gov. Orji to support a successor from the
Ukwa/ Ngwa zone. The plot said to be a secret shared among the retired
soldiers from the area led by Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, is to use all their
contacts to ensure Ihejirika becomes governor in 2015.
Beside Ihejirika’s rumoured ambition, other aspirants from Isiukwuato area
have been scheming to have one of their sons as governor in 2015.
Prominent among them is the owner of Master Energy Group, Chief Uche Ogah
who has been accused of fronting for the ex Army chief. In the last three
months, Ogah’s country home at Uturu in Isiukwuato council have played
host to various groups calling on him to join the governorship race of the
state.
The situation appears to have brought tension to the governorship race in
the state as the Ukwa/ Ngwa people insist it would be a great injustice to
deny them a chance to produce an Abia governor in 2015. Come to think of
it, how would Ihejirika or any other person from Isiukwuato and other
parts of the Old Bende aspire to succeed Theodore Orji as governor in
2015? Is Isiukwuato no longer part of Old Bende zone which would have
governed the state for 16 years by 2015? Is their ‘favoured candidate’,
Ihejirika a member of any political party? Will Abians accept another Old
Bende after Orji Kalu and Theodore Orji?
The people of the state must be reminded of Isiukwuato has had its fair
share of the governance of the old Imo state as well as Abia state when
Ndubuisi Kanu and Ike Nwachukwu became Military Governors and later
dictated who ruled Abia state during the Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim
Babangida and Sani Abacha junta. So, why would Ihejirika not put his
rumoured ambition on hold for his Ukwa/ Ngwa brothers who have been
marginalized since the creation of Abia state, to have a shot at the
Umuahia Government House in 2015?
Why will Ihejirika who was credited with redressing certain imbalances in
the Nigerian Army during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff, agree to be
used to cause harm to peaceful co-existence and brotherly love in Abia
state? Having conquered the world in his eventful military career, will
Ihejirika now turn to a local champion? These are questions begging for
answers.
Close watchers of the Abia politics insist that there is no justification
for the Isiukwuato people to lay claim to the governorship position in
2015. Such people adduce reasons that on the basis of senatorial zones
which have now assumed the new power sharing formula, Isiukwuato falls
under Abia North senatorial zone which has taken its turn through Orji
Uzor Kalu.
Across the state, majority opinion is in favour of the Ukwa/ Ngwa clan to
produce a governor in 2015. Again, every factor counts against the
ambition of Ihejirika and his kinsmen to produce a governor. The Ukwa/
Ngwa people comprising nine local governments boasts of a huge population.
If only they could pull their resources together, Isiukwato which is only
a local government stands no chance.
Speaking on the rumours making the rounds that Ihejirika may soon declare
for the governorship, a political analyst, Steve Adindu posited the
Isiukwuato clan should wait for when the seat rotates to Abia North zone
again after Abia South zone might taken its turn.
According to him, Abia is divided into three zones; North, Central and
South. The North and Central has taken their turns while it remains the
South. So, in 2015 it is only right that they be supported to produce a
governor. If you look at the Abia Charter of Equity, I think it Hs been
overtaken by events. The senatorial zone has become the basis for sharing
political positions in the states. If the Abia Charter of Equity is still
working, after his eight years tenure, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu would not have
handed over power to Gov. Theodore Orji who is from the same old Bende
zone. Abia South should be supported to produce the next governor to
ensure the peaceful coexistence of the component units of Abia state,” he
said.
Reacting to the agitation by the Ukwa/ Ngwa people to emerge governor in
2015, legal practitioner and frontline governorship aspirant in Abia
state, Chief Friday Nwosu described it as an act of grave injustice to
deny the Ukwa/ Ngwa the chance produce a governor of the state in 2015.
“If the Ukwa/Ngwa people become governor in 2015, it will be in line with
the dreams of the founding fathers of the state who initiated the Abia
charter of Equity to promote unity among the component units in the state.
We had a slogan,” Onye aghala Nwanne ya” (Be your Brother’s Keeper); but
it seems some brothers have forgotten the slogan in political positioning
of the state. So, if an indigene of the Ukwa/ Ngwa zone emerges Abia state
governor in 2015, it would go a long way to correct the imbalance in the
political structure of the state. Most importantly, Gov. Orji has
declared that after him, a person from the Ukwa/Ngwa zone, particularly
Abia South will be the next governor. He has told people at several fora.
I have read it in the newspapers that after him and as a man from Abia
Central, his successor will come from Abia South. The governor is a man of
his words. We have not seen any form of deceit in that statement,” Nwosu
said.
The legal practitioner said he was convinced on the grounds of equity,
fairness and good conscience that since Abia North have put in eight
years, and Abia central by 2015, must have put in their eight years, Abia
south should be allowed to put in their own eight years.
It is evident that the ex Army chief may meet a stone wall if he decides
to run for governor in 2015. Granted that power is not given but taken,
Ihejirika or anybody from the Isiukwuato area is highly disadvantaged by
the fact that the local government remains a part of Abia North which has
taken its turn from through former Gov. Kalu 1999 to 2007. Even If the PDP
delivers its platform to Ihejirika to contest the governorship election,
the chances of protest votes from Abians, particularly the Ukwa/ Ngwa clan
is sure to make the PDP in Abia an endangered specie in 2015.
As a time tested General well versed in strategy, Ihejirika is too
polished and wise to engage in a fight he cannot win.