Imo 2015: Battle of three zones, three parties

PDP, APC, APGA in fight of their lives

By Sayyourmind9ja

The journey to the seat of power in Imo State, otherwise known as Douglas House, is usually tough and rough. The road is littered with thorns and landmines. Though located in the heart of Owerri, capital of the state, where every eye can see it, taking up residence there exerts sweat and blood, so to say.

In 2011, for instance, the governor­ship election in Imo held on April 26 was declared “inconclusive” by the Inde­pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when other states were home and dry. INEC hinged its position on the fact that election did not hold in four local government areas of the state, namely Ohaji Egbema, Ngor Okpala, Mbaitoli and Oguta. So, INEC had to dig deep to conduct “supplementary election” on May 6, 2011 in those places outside the time frame stipulated by the constitution. The constitution stipulates that there should be a governor-elect, at least, 30 days before the end of an incumbent administration. The election was so keenly contested until the last vote was counted, a winner could not emerge.

Then the judicial fireworks began and, eventually, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okoro­cha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) won but he later defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which later merged with some parties and became known as the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the previous exercise, in 2007, to be precise, Imo also showed the stuff it was made of. The governorship election held on April 14 that year was cancelled by INEC and rescheduled for April 28. Chief Martins Agbaso of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was not favour­ably disposed to the cancellation of the April 14 election, but he, nonetheless, par­ticipated in the rescheduled poll of April 28. Chief Godson Ikedi Ohakim, who ran on the platform of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) was returned by INEC but he later defected to the Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP).

Ohakim’s victory resulted in intricate, confusing and endless legal tussle through various levels of court. It was learnt that 24 cases were instituted against Ohakim in various courts and some of the cases got to the Supreme Court. The final case was disposed off on July 16, 2010 in Ohakim’s favour.

Make up of Imo politics

Supine attitude is not a feature of Imo politics. Indeed, politicking in the state is dynamic, robust and highly competi­tive. The state parades a lot of politi­cal heavyweights, who try to influence political events. They include Chief Achike Udenwa, Chief Athur Nzeribe, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chief Tony Chukwu, Chyna Iwuanyanwu, Dr. Alex Obi, Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu, Chief Tony Ezenna,Chief Emma Nwoga, Col. Lambert Iheanacho (rtd.), Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), Dr. Love Ineh and Innocent Nwoga, among others.

X-raying the content and character of the politics of the Eastern Heartland, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Ben Uwajumogu, told the reporter: “Imo politics is very challenging and ex­citing. Right now, it is stable, I would say. It is challenging because Imo people are essentially republican by nature. We are people who insist on having our political views expressed and we are quite egalitar­ian. Our people are very well educated; the literacy level in Imo State is higher than what obtains in many states. So, it makes it challenging. It is exciting in the sense that when you are dealing with edu­cated people, there are lots of issues; there is always constant debate in the state. You have the opposition and you have your supporters. It is a very robust politics that we are doing in Imo State.”

The issues, determinant factors

With 2015 around the corner, political activities in the state are in an upward swing. Politicians across the parties are forming alliances and mending fences. Determined and/or desperate, some of the politicians have adopted all manner of tac­tics and antics to actualise their dreams, such as forum shopping, media trial and judicial ambush. And in the days ahead, after the primaries, that is, it is expected that there will be more movements. Many of the politicians who are not satisfied with the outcome of the primaries in their parties will move elsewhere to seek politi­cal salvation.

The race for Imo Government House in 2015 could be said to be essentially a contest between the APC and PDP. But a party like APGA could spring a surprise because of the recent revival it got with the arrival of people, like former Minister of Internal Affairs, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho. In fact, Iheanacho’s emergence on the political turf, as a governorship as­pirant is like a shot in the arm for APGA.

Governor Okorocha’s popularity is not in doubt but it appears to be waning some­what. On assumption of office, Okorocha endeared himself to the common people of Imo with mass-oriented programmes embarked upon by his rescue mission government. He promised free education at all levels and sent caterpillars to tear through bushes and create roads for vari­ous communities. It was novel because many of the communities never experi­enced such. But more than three years after, the performance of the Okorocha administration is being seriously ques­tioned in some quarters.

Consider this from Hon. Nzenwa Nwosu, state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM): “The present administration is full of deceit. People will say there are many things happening now that never happened in the days of PDP but cumulatively when you come closer to assess it, you will see the truth. For instance, more roads are opened but fewer are passable.”

The government is accused of deliver­ing poor quality projects, particularly roads. “As a matter of fact, the Okorocha government has built many roads across the state but most of them were poorly done. Some of the newly constructed roads by the present government started failing after about three months. In Imo, we call them China Roads because of their poor quality,” remarked Tobias Ngerem, an Owerri resident.

Another ‘sin’ of the Okorocha gov­ernment, according to critics, is that it misapplies state resources by embarking on projects that are not needed or well thought-out. Someone queried: “How can a government build 27 general hospitals in the state at the same time? Who needs all these hospitals? Will they equip the hos­pitals to international standard? It would have been better to upgrade the existing hospitals and, perhaps, build three new ones in the three zones. The projects have been abandoned.”

However, deputy governor of the state, Prince Eze Madumere, debunked the allegation that the projects had been abandoned. He said: “This is one of those things our detractors continue to peddle because they don’t have any excuse; they don’t have anything to offer. The gen­eral hospitals are ongoing projects, the projects haven’t been abandoned. If you go to the 27 local government areas of the state, you will see that there is some kind of work going on in those hospitals. None of the projects have been abandoned. How can the projects be abandoned. We are still in government; we are still rescuing the state; we are still working. I am assuring you that the projects are ongoing and any project that we started in this state will be completed.”

Madumere also justified the establish­ment of 27 new hospitals rather than re­habilitating the old ones. Siad he: “Those are not general hospitals. You won’t even like to be treated there. Those are poultry houses that they converted; they are not general hospitals. That is why His Excel­lency, on assumption of office, said we needed to rescue hospitals and do modern hospitals. Nigerians are complaining that people are going overseas; what we want to do is to bring modern hospitals that anybody in Nigeria can be comfortable to attend. And these are different specialist hospitals that we intend to create in those areas. They are not going to be normal, conventional hospitals. Every hospital will have something they will be known for.”

Another issue on the front burner is zoning. It was gathered that Okorocha, who is from Orlu zone (Imo West) pur­portedly signed an agreement to the effect that he would do only one term in office. Now, Owerri zone (Imo East) is claiming that it is their turn to produce the governor while Okigwe zone (Imo North) argues that it should be allowed to complete its turn because former governor Ohakim, who is from the area, spent only one term of four years in office.

To be sure, Orlu Zone has garnered 12 years in office in this dispensation while Owerri zone is yet to taste power. Former Governor Udenwa, who spent two terms of eight years (1999 – 2007) in office hails from Orlu zone, just like Okorocha (2011-? ). Ohakim, from Okigwe zone (Imo North), was in office between 2007 and 2011. So, some quarters are complain­ing about the ‘marginalisation’ of Owerri Zone. Indeed, the politics of zoning is taking a rather dangerous turn in the state, as ethnic cards are being played. A source said: “Some people from Orlu Zone are insisting that Okorocha must be returned in 2015 because, according to them, no one knows when power will come to Orlu Zone again. I think it is a reckless state­ment for anyone to make. It is dangerous; it is divisive.”

According to Senator Chris Anyanwu, Imo has always had a tradition of peace­ful devolution of power; so the tradition should be maintained. Said she: “Power goes from one part of the state to another peacefully; no contest. I don’t even under­stand why there should be a contest at this time. What happened the last time was an aberration and it was brought upon us by, maybe, the conduct of the people that were at leadership at that time. Because if things had gone right or if things had been done right, the man that was there should have continued and finished his second term. But somehow, there must have been things that he did that completely turned off the people and without even saying it, decided this guy had to go. So, there was an aberration. Rochas is, in fact, an ac­cident of history. It was unplanned. At that time, anybody else could have taken the job because of that general decision that this guy would not return.

“What happened was an aberration and I think it is best for the state to get back on track with its tradition of peaceful devolution of power. The people from my zone deliberately pulled out of the last election; they could have gone in and if they had gone in, maybe they might have gotten it. But the people from my zone are very peaceful, very understanding and they like equity a lot. So, even when they could have grabbed power, they always restrained themselves from that because they know it is better they take it when it is their turn than they jump ahead and cause disequilibrium in the system. So, the equity thing makes sense. Every state has its own way of doing things and if you cause things to go out of track, in the future it might cause a problem. But I think it is a recipe or tradition that has en­sured, over history, peaceful co-existence. I think it will be a mistake for people to now cause disequilibrium in it and start jumping in and out when it is not their turn. We should abide by that tradition; it has served us very well and I think we need peaceful co-existence for us to have progress.”

Ordinarily, it appears as if PDP is determined to take over the reins of power in Imo. Sometime ago, the ‘timbers and calibres’ who left the party and formed an ‘opposition’ against Ohakim in 2011 have returned. With fanfare, they were welcomed back into the family in the presence of President Goodluck Jonathan in Owerri. Now, the PDP is bubbling, so to say.

But the APC insists that the realign­ments and fence-mending will not affect its chances of retaining power in the state in 2015. According to Uwajumogu: “I don’t know how many people that have left. Imo State politics is not an elite politics. More than 70 per cent of the vot­ers do not belong to the class of the elite. Big men do not determine where we vote in Imo State; the issues in Imo remain the welfare of the people, the progress of the people and the physical development in the state. Imo people would always vote based on who they perceive as the best person that affects the interest of the people, not on the basis of one godfather or another. In any case, as far as politics is concerned in Imo State, godfatherism is dead.”

While the state chairman of APGA, Barrister Peter Ezeobi, stressed that his party had the magic key to unlock the hearts of the electorate, Mr. Damian Ezeagu, a political analyst, opined that PDP could retake Imo but it needs politi­cal sagacity to do so. Exhibiting sagely disposition, he argued that PDP’s choice of candidate for the election will make the difference. According to him, “to beat Okorocha, PDP needs someone who can be described as a breath of fresh air. PDP needs someone who is not carrying a bag­gage. You know, the longer you have been in office, the more baggage you carry.”

Maintaining that the bane of Imo, like Nigeria, is unemployment, Ezeagu said the state needed someone who could create wealth by creating the enabling en­vironment for people to achieve their full potentials. He added that the ticket ought to be given to somebody from Owerri Zone for equity sake.

But can the PDP present a candidate acceptable to its plethora of aspirants and supporters? Already, bad blood is brewing in the family, following the November 1 delegates congress said to have been manipulated. Will the bubble burst again for PDP? The answer rests in the womb of time.

The contenders and pretenders

Although Okorocha is yet to officially declare his second term ambition, rather insinuating that he is considering going for a higher office, investigations revealed that he is eyeing a return. Perhaps, that’s why no other APC member has publicly declared interest in the governorship. Yet, it may not be smooth sailing for him because his choice of party seems to be a hard-sell. The APC is facing acceptability challenge in the South East or so it seems.

For the PDP, it is a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly. At the last count, 23 candidates had submitted their nomination forms.

Interestingly, women are also show­ing their hands in the exercise, including Senator Chris Anyanwu, who says she is the best ‘man’ for the job, Lady Clara Igolo Njoku and Mrs. Ifeyinwa Maureen Okafor. Indeed, Chris Anyanwu is regard­ed as representing the leadership the state desires. A former presidential candidate, Dr. Batos Nwadike, remarked: “Senator Chris Anyanwu is prepared for leadership. Unlike some people who have not worked anywhere before but want to be governor, she has paid her dues at various levels. Apart from her degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication, she has attended several leadership and conflict resolution trainings at Harvard and Oxford. She has a solid reputation; UNESCO rates her as one of the Most Outstanding 60 Women in the world.”

PDP aspirants include Mr.Ken Ojiri, Prof. Jude Njoku, Barr. Ken Njemanze, Barr. Charles Onyeagbakor, Barr. Hum­phrey Anumudu, Amb. Obi Adim, Evang.ChrisBrown Amadi, Chief Martin Agbaso, Hon. Bethel Amadi, Chief Emeka Ihe­dioha, Sen. Ifeanyi Araraume, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), Chief Ikedi Ohakim and Sen. Bright Nwanne.

Others are Engr. Chuka Odom, Dr. Julius Kpaduwa, Emma Ojinere, Chidi Oforegbu, Dr. Charles Amanze and Chief Charles Onuoha. While some of them are perennial or ‘professional’ contestants, obtaining governorship forms every elec­tion season, Ojiri is one of those without baggage, a breath of fresh air.

Investigations revealed that across the parties, more than 40 contenders and pre­tenders have obtained nomination forms.