{"id":30098,"date":"2014-08-11T16:11:01","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T15:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=30098"},"modified":"2014-08-11T16:11:01","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T15:11:01","slug":"imo-2015-pdp-consider-ohakim-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/imo-2015-pdp-consider-ohakim-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Imo 2015: Why PDP Should Consider Ohakim Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
*By Ebere Francis *<\/p>\n

As the Prof. Attahiru Jega- led Independent National Electoral Commission
\n(INEC) prepares to blow the whistle to officially announce the commencement
\nof political activities ahead of 2015 general elections, political
\ngladiators and elective office seekers have already returned to the drawing
\nboard apparently re-strategizing towards retaining or dislodging those
\nalready in power. Many political parties have equally begun to marshal out
\nstrategies as well as put certain mechanism in place to ensure that equity,
\njustice and fairness prevail while marching towards nominating credible and
\nacceptable candidates for elective positions. Party administrators are also
\nnot unmindful of the unhealthy rivalry and internal wrangling that always
\ntend to weaken political parties that mismanage its internal businesses as
\nregards to primary elections.<\/p>\n

In Imo state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be facing an
\nunusual challenge associated with the nomination its governorship candidate
\nwhose choice would be largely justified by the tripod of equity, justice
\nand fairness. This becomes more challenging as the party cannot easily
\ndiscard the ‘Charter of Equity’ which has remained a deciding factor in the
\ngovernorship of the state since 1999. The journey of Imo Charter of Equity
\nbegan on sound note with Chief Achike Udenwa who governed eight years
\nuninterrupted for Orlu zone. In 2007, this equitable and rotational plan
\nwas threatened owing to internal wrangling and power play that engulfed the
\nPDP. However, Imo leaders and electorate acted and voted wisely to retain
\nthe Charter of Equity as Chief Ikedi Ohakim from Okigwe zone was voted into
\npower as Udenwa’s successor.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Ohakim whose vision for holistic socio- economic
\nemancipation of Imo state as conceptualized in the New Face of Imo and
\ntailored to run for eight years under the spirit of Imo Charter of Equity
\nbecame a victim of blackmail, destructive politics and pull- him- down
\nactivities overtly sponsored by Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume and his infamous Imo
\nAlliance for Good Governance. As Ohakim committed enormous resources to
\nrebuild the demoralized and abandoned PDP, Sen. Ararume was busy recruiting
\nsome agents of darkness like Dr. Alex Obi to pull the party down. They
\nadvanced some hi- tech technologies to blackmail and tarnished Ohakim’s
\nimage for the purpose of scuttling his 2011 re- election project. They also
\nwent as far as deceiving Rev. Fr. Mbaka into believing that Ohakim
\nassaulted a catholic priest. Unfortunately again, Fr. Mbaka overreacted and
\ncomposed a damaging song which raised strong opposition against Ohakim who
\nhitherto enjoyed a very cordial and blossomed relationship with the
\ncatholic community in the state. But today, the same Ararume after
\ndestroying PDP in 2011 is busy junketing all over the state in his
\ndesperation to contest the 2015 governorship election under the same PDP
\nplatform.\u00a0 Ararume’s ambition is not only nauseating but morally
\nunjustifiable as such will remain unacceptable to the PDP.<\/p>\n

It is obviously not an easy task to manage the diverse interests of about
\ntwenty aspirants who have keenly shown interest to take over governance
\nfrom Governor Rochas Okorocha and his wobbling APC. The people of Owerri
\nand Okigwe have legitimately laid claims anchored on the Charter of Equity
\nwhile others advocate for the abrogation of that gentleman agreement. Those
\ndemanding that Imo Charter of Equity otherwise known as zoning be relaxed,
\nequally argued that an open primary devoid of manipulation will guarantee
\nthe emergence of a strong PDP governorship candidate with enormous capacity
\nto defeat Okorocha who equally seeks for re- election.<\/p>\n

With several options on the political chessboard, the PDP should better
\ngive attention to Ohakim’s claims who presently remains the leader of the
\nparty in Imo. Though not his apologist, the former governor has reasonably
\nraised critical issues that bother on equity, justice and fairness. The
\nfour years that would have been eaten by the locusts by 2015 should be
\ncompletely erased out of the present political calculation to avoid denying
\nOkigwe zone their remaining four years. This because all of us in one way
\nor the other are guilty of Okorocha’s election in 2011. My instinct, for
\nsure, has always alerted me that God deliberately allowed Okorocha to have
\nhis way for Imolites including Ohakim to learn some lessons as well as
\nchange approach to issues relating to governance. Nobody should be punished
\nor crucified for the 2011 accident as all that happened was ultimately
\ndesigned for a purpose. That essentially accounts to the reason why before
\npower finally returns to Owerri zone, the people of Okigwe should be
\ngraciously allowed to complete their remaining four years with Ohakim as
\nthe only constitutionally qualified aspirant to do only one term of four
\nyears. Any other aspirant from Okigwe zone stands to shift the goalpost at
\nthe detriment of Owerri zone. Besides, this calculation will provide
\nanother opportunity for Ohakim to fully implement his well articulated
\nprogrammes expected to return Imo back on the path of glory. There is no
\ngainsaying that Okorocha who never prepared for governance has ended up
\ndestroying the state and its economy with his clueless and inept
\nadministration. Today, Imo as a state is presently run as an offshoot of
\nRochas Foundation with his siblings and in-laws visibly milking the state
\ndry with impunity. This unfortunate but sad development has made Imolites
\nto realize the need to re- introduce Ohakim’s vision that obviously led to
\nmassive job creation, youth and women empowerment, industrialization, solid
\nroad construction project, rural development driven by democratically
\nelected local government system and environmental cleanliness that made
\nOwerri the cleanest state capital in Nigeria during his time .<\/p>\n

Finally, the recent revelation by Fr. Mbaka that exonerated Ohakim from
\nthe widespread allegation that he assaulted a catholic priest and also
\nhaving established that he was indeed a victim of malicious blackmail
\nshould be practically acknowledged by the PDP. Hence he still stands as PDP
\ncandidate after the 2011 elections, the party should formally revalidate
\nthe ticket to enable him run again on its platform come 2015. After
\nlistening to Fr. Mbaka’s revelation, I was compelled to completely agree
\nwith the former governor on his earlier submission that he never lost the
\n2011 election. Though I disagreed with him on the second leg of that
\nsubmission which suggested that he lost to miscalculation, Ohakim for me
\nsimply lost to the divine wish of Almighty God who decided to expose
\nOkorocha having paraded himself for long as a philanthropist and man of the
\npeople. That one term he asked for was what God needed to truly unmask his
\nreal person. Today, Imolites are happy that governance has exposed the man
\ncalled Owelle Rochas Okorocha whom many believed was on rescue mission. His
\ndeceit, greed, wickedness and uncontrollable appetite for wealth and landed
\nproperty are now well known by Imo people.<\/p>\n

Therefore, to ensure a more united and formidable PDP ahead of 2015
\ngeneral elections, the national leadership and stakeholders of the party
\nshould treat Imo specially considering the peculiarity of its political
\nterrain to ensure that justice, equity and fairness prevail as Ohakim
\nemerges its governorship candidate ahead of the general elections.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*By Ebere Francis * As the Prof. Attahiru Jega- led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prepares to blow the whistle to officially announce the commencement of political activities ahead of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nImo 2015: Why PDP Should Consider Ohakim Now - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/imo-2015-pdp-consider-ohakim-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imo 2015: Why PDP Should Consider Ohakim Now - 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