Rochas Okorocha, I should be preparing my hand over notes for the next
governor of the state. I am talking of the giant strides of Deputy
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, the Peoples
Democratic Party, gubernatorial candidate in the April 11, 2015
governorship elections. Emeka has had a powerful campaign so far and
he has managed to gather all the strong leaders of the party in the
state under one umbrella, just as the party supporters are poised for
his coronation on May 29, 2015.
Those who know Imo political terrain very well will surely agree that
time is up for the incumbent, Rochas Okorocha. Emeka has assembled the
major stakeholders of the PDP in Imo state under one umberella and
they have fully endorsed the candidature of the prominent House of
Representatives Deputy Speaker who is set to cross the fence from the
legislature to the executive branch at the state level.
There are for instance, Chief Arthur Nzeribe, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu,
former State Governor Achike Udenwa, Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe, Senator Hope
Uzodimma and various others who are all rooting for Ihedioha's quest
to become the next governor of Imo state.
A new era has dawned in the state even before the first votes are cast
for the 2015 general elections. It is a state that has had the problem
of getting good leaders that can take them to the next level, but has
always fell short of the requirement for progressive governance. On
paper, the incumbent has done well but there is certainly a disconnect
between the leader and the followers. Imo is one state I have
travelled widely over the past two years, not only because during the
presidential campaign in which I was on the trail with the National
Chairman of the party and the Presidency and its apparatchik, I have
made several trips to Imo in the course of social networking visits.
Governor Okorocha had won the governorship in 2011 via the All
Progressive Grand Alliance, a party that late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo
originated, using Chief Chekwas Okorie for the legwork, but later
hijacked by others that included Chairman Victor Umeh who was ripping
where he did not sow before late General Odumegwu Ojukwu popularized
it into a political force in the South East. After getting power
through the party, Okorocha insensitively factionalized it, taking his
wing of the party to the All Progressive Congress to the consternation
of the Igbo nation.
Now the knives are out for him to pay for his costly mistake. No one
is interested now in the infrastructural feat he wrought on Imo state
and the wily deputy speaker moved in fast to sow the seed that he is
now reaping a huge harvest, including the keys to Government House,
Owerri. Even if Rochas does a summersault by leaving APC, a party that
cannot win anything east of the Niger for any other party, it is too
late. Emeka has permeated the length and breadth of Imo state,
unleashing a charm offensive that is hard to change even with APC's
din of Change mantra sweeping everywhere but getting nowhere.
Chief Ihedioha has even managed to reconcile the irreconcilables in
the state, to the point that the man he defeated in the contentious
primaries is now rooting for him. The first to endorse his aspiration
is the indefatigable Chief Arthur Nzeribe, the iroko of Imo politics
who may have retired from active politics, but certainly not tired of
making his position well known in the state and the wider nation.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, another Imo political juggernaut has joined
the train of Ihedioha-mania sweeping the state. Former Governor Achike
Udenwa is also on the Emeka Ihedioha train while the National Woman
Leader of the PDP, Chief Mrs. Kema Chikwe, who is a distinguished Imo
daughter and a former ambassador to Ireland is a permanent fixture on
the Emeka Ihedioha campaign trail.
It is widely expected that with Ihedioha on the saddle of leadership
at the highest level in Imo governance, a long existing void will be
filled. It will be a true government of the people, by the people and
for the people. That is when the people of Imo will enjoy true and
real democratic dividend that has long been sought after by the
people.
Read more at ThisDay:
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/emeka-ihedioha-has-imo-in-his-grasp/205985/&c=SxctTc6z1TogfQRssAEaf0KcHLGjX75Q2rAr2wXJtT4&mkt=en-us
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