The Race for Imo Government House 24 Aug 2014 By Tony Amadi One of the trickiest gubernatorial races in memory will take place in Imo State in 2015. It will not be because power of incumbency has been nullified in view of the present governor’s quirky hold on the levers of power in that politically charged environment. It will not be because the state is one of those the People’s Democratic Party controls the House of Assembly and the All Progressive Congress hold Government House. And it will not be because the incumbent has not performed. There is probably no governor since the state was created on February 3, 1976 that has developed the state as Rochas Anayo Okorocha, except perhaps late Chief Sam Mbakwe. I have personally been marveled at the rate of growth in the State, both infrastructural, educational and perhaps in open governance. My friends from that part of the country tell me not to be fooled by Okorocha’s penchant for taking the bull by the horn in development terms and getting quick results. I tell them that I watch the governor’s regular AIT shows where he showcases all the structures he has built, from massive health infrastructure to housing for the poorest of the poor. And I have not seen an abandoned project. Is it a case of the more you see, the less you are getting or just sheer magic? It therefore puzzles me why everyone appears certain that he has become unelectable for a second term even with all the massive work he has done. He made education the centre piece of his administration by redesigning the school environment to the delight of pupils and above all brought free education to the state. For a non Imo indigene, it is not easy to understand why education is so important in the state. Imo has the highest enrolled student population at all levels in Nigeria, highest number of teachers and consistently producing the best science students since the seventies when late Sam Mbakwe brought PHYWE, the German science equipment manufacturer to provide the best in all Imo secondary schools. The governor’s opponents are many, ranging from ex-governors who looted the state dry, ranking and non-ranking senators, ex-ministers and members of the House of Representatives. Rochas’ problems must therefore be something to do with his public perception and the way he has played out those who helped him get to the Government House. For instance, he was quick to checkmate his Deputy Governor Jude Agbaso, whose senior brother, Martin, surrendered his All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) political structure for the former Abuja based Rochas to clinch the governorship in 2011. Before his 100 days in office, Rochas had begun a lasting romance with opposition parties, pushing APGA out of the way before a pact with the Tinubu engineered APC formation. He was made to believe that he stood a good chance of becoming the presidential candidate for the 2015 election before he was zoned out of contention by the smart boys that rule the APC conclave. Rochas has also ensured that his relationship with other governors of the southeast geopolitical zone was non-existent even on matters that affect the people of the area. Now the die is cast. A motley crowd of aspirants are rummaging the Imo landscape hoping to become the governor of the state in 2015. Those who are in contention, I am told, include ex-minister of Interior Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, Martin Agbaso who is said to have the APGA structures in Imo intact, ranking Senator Chris Anyanwu and Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Aviation Committee Chairman at the upper chamber. Others include Barrister Ken Njemanze SAN, who was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Imo State, Bethel Nnaemaka Amadi, president of Pan African Parliament who has spent some four terms in the House of Representatives and last but not the least, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the wily veteran of the House of Representatives leadership and the highest federal officer from Imo State and the No. 6 in the national order of precedence. It is not a ruse that Emeka Ihedioha probably occupies pole position in the run up to the contest. He has been subtly setting out strong structures across the Imo landscape, using his position not only as a member of the Federal House since 2003 to develop his constituency but as Deputy Speaker, has attracted a lot of federal presence to the state since 2011 in the form of roads, water supply, scholarship for the teeming students of the state at all levels. When I met him in the swanky Asokoro district of Abuja before he jetted out to London this week, he was upbeat and confident of wrestling the governorship from the tough crackpot incumbent. Emeka’s leadership potential was noticed early in his political career when he learnt the ropes in the midst of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and most importantly, late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo whom he served efficiently as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity during the rough days of senate politics when impeachment galore was the order of the day. His all-hands-on-deck approach to managing the media and publicity for Senator Okadigbo, ensured a high flying media presence for his principal in those heady days of senate politics. Now as deputy speaker, he is working assiduously to ensure that the next assignment moves along to a successful conclusion. One of his senior advisers told me that his main concern for now is to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan is re-elected for his second and final term as president, carrying the whole southeast zone along in the process, while he anchors his Imo development programme for governor and make the state of Imo to become the most progressive state in the country. Those who know the young man know that he is a go-getter. He was fully present and delivered a powerful speech at the Awka Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) rally to urge Mr. President to throw his hat into the ring for the 2015 presidential election. Politically astute and determined to achieve any objective he sets for himself, he surprised many when he forged a House ticket with Tambuwal to become the Deputy Speaker in 2011. There is no doubt that he is the man to beat in the 2015 gubernatorial race in Imo state. To show his preparedness for a tough fight he has already issued notice to the Imo incumbent to get ready for a race of his life. He was piqued by the way the present government sold off vital Imo assets so cheaply that he has vowed to return them to the people. According to a Political Correspondent with the New Telegraph, Mr. Steve Uzoechi, “recent developments saw the Deputy Speaker deliver some precision knocks on the governor’s administration of the state, literally took the government by storm. Like a day, they prayed would never come, Okorocha and his handlers had to take quite some time to analyze the slant and severity of the ‘assault’ from the Deputy Speaker, who is also a governorship hopeful on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Reaching back to the last time Okorocha threw a jab at Ihedioha, one easily remembers the era of the All Progressives Congress (APC) brief stint as the majority party in the lower chamber of the National Assembly. Okorocha had at a public function derided Ihedioha, urging him to safeguard his job which at the time, seemed at risk due to the shift in majority vote from PDP to APC”. The deputy speaker’s handlers are confident that their man will carry the day when the time comes. They have been consulting for some time now, visiting every part of the state and meeting with stake holders, traditional rulers and local government chairmen, most of who are from the PDP. Presidential advisers are also keyed into the Ihedioha phenomenon, clearing the way for his inevitable primaries that will fit Emeka and Anayo for the race proper. Imo is one of those states that the PDP must win the Government House after years of difficulties caused by greedy chief executives at the helm of affairs in the state and the party’s presidency in Abuja. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was part of the problem when he pulled the PDP out of the 2007 governorship race and allowed Ikedi Ohakim, then of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) to have a free ride to Government House, Owerri. Though Ohakim joined the PDP after a year or so as governor, he ensured that his new party became instantly unelectable because he failed to carry the people along while in government. It is clear that with a personality like Emeka Ihedioha, the Imo problem which has often dogged the People’s Democratic Party since Achike Udenwa finished his two terms in 2007 is coming to an end. First the state has some of the most politically astute population in the country, yet the politicians that have been in power there are enmeshed in scams of sorts which usually ensured that accountability is missing in the governance of the state. Secondly, with the political experience that Emeka has garnered over the years at the Federal level, there is no doubt that he could be coasting to a well deserved victory in 2015. And with the progressive stance of the new PDP Chairman, former Governor Adamu Muazu is very determined to retake all the lost PDP states across the country as he magnificently did in Ekiti state, using the strategy of allowing a level playing field and a free and fair election at the primaries in the process. A snippet of what will happen in Imo in 2015 occurred at the Iriji Mbaise Festival last week when This Day correspondent in Owerri Amby Uneze reported that Governor Okorocha felt the heat and had to withdraw from the yam festival when the people accused him of not slotting the Owerri senatorial district into his development programme even when the Deputy Speaker welcomed him like the gentleman that he is. The Ihedioha/Okorocha Showdown promises to be a huge blockbuster. Nollywood scriptwriters should take note. Amadi wrote from Abuja (tonyamadi2009@yahoo)
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:29:54 +0000
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