With
the registration of the All Progressives Congress by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), concerns have sprung up on who inherits the soul
of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Imo State.
APGA,
it will be recalled catapulted Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to
Government House, Owerri in the 2011 elections defeating the PDP.
Okorocha
has since sought and found political refuge in the All Progressives Congress
(APC), a merger of key opposition parties made up of the Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress For Progressive
Change (CPC).
Okorocha
dragged a faction of APGA loyal to him to the merger.
Based
on this development, there are speculations that Senator Chris Anyanwu and
Chief Martin Agbaso will now inherit the carcass of APGA in Imo State
Senator
Anyanwu is the only APGA senator in the senate. She has been reported to be
interested in the governorship race of the State in 2015, a statement which she
has not aligned herself to.
At
a summit organized by political stakeholders in Imo State recently, Anyanwu
backed the clamour for the return of the Imo governorship seat to Owerri zone,
a zone which it represents at the Senate.
Despite
her frosty political relationship with Okorocha whom she ably supported in the
2011 elections, she still commands vast political followership in the party in
Imo.
On
December 26th, 2011, her convoy clashed with that with Okorocha, a situation which deepened her sour
relationship with the governor. Both remain political cat and mouse.
It
is uncertain if the senator will heed the clamour to revive APGA in the State
which has been polarised into three factions.
However, with the reconciliation of the
Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and the party’s National Chairman, Chief
Victor Umeh, the unity of the party is expected to translate to huge political
capital for the distinguished senator and pale into insignificance fears that
the party will not be the same again.
Chief
Martin Agbaso is also in contention to take over the party in Imo. Agbaso
stirred the party since its inception many years ago in the State.
This
earned him a reward thereafter despite three attempts to become Imo State
Governor under the platform of APGA which ended in futility.
Agbaso
backed Rochas Okorocha for the Imo Governorship seat in 2011 when the latter
vied for the contest. He claims he
struck a deal with Rochas that the latter will handover power to him in
2015. This was in addition to the
nomination of his younger brother, Jude as deputy governor.
Things
went awry for Agbaso when Jude was fingered in a N458 million naira contract scam
which led to his impeachment by the Imo State House of Assembly.
Agbaso
denied the allegations, saying it was trump up charges and a deliberate ploy by
Okorocha to strip his brother of the deputy governorship position and renege on
his agreement to handover power to him in 2015.
Despite
the setback, Agbaso has surged on and has formed formidable alliance with the
APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh. He is also believed to be interested in the
governorship race in 2015.
While
he and Senator Anyanwu remain committed to the ideals of the party in the
State, having suffered political persecution in the hands of Okorocha, it is
unclear if clash of ambitions will not derail the much needed push to reinvent the
APGA phenomenon in the State which swept the PDP off the political landscape of
Imo in 2011.
It
was speculated in the media that he has been handed over the party leadership
in the State after his frosty relationship with Okorocha.
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