The Untold Secrets Of Imo PDP 2015 Governorship Primaries, By Party's Legal Adviser, Akaolisa (INTERVIEW)

C.O.C Akaolisa is a fiery lawyer and legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State.

In this Interview conducted By This Blog and Re- Published By  a local tabloid in Owerri, he opens up on the genesis of PDP’s problems in Imo State, why the party has been losing elections and proffers the only way the PDP can ride back to power. He also spoke on the Okorocha Administration and the collapse of the LGA system in Imo.

Excerpts:

 As a major stakeholder in PDP and in Imo State, how has it been with the PDP after losing the governorship election and the Court Case?

PDP is in an unfortunate political quagmire in Imo State. This quagmire did not start from the last elections but has its origin from the activities of some leaders of the party who have not allowed the PDP to assume the original, foundational character that gave PDP victory in 1999.

I was part of the struggle by the PDP to take power from the military in 1999. At that time, all the major political big-shots in Imo State were in APP. The Iwuanyanwus, the Enwerems, the Nzeribes, the Araraumes were all in APP.  And the national PDP was asking us if the PDP in Imo State will make it because of the presence of these bigwigs in APP. When APP held their congress and primaries and selected Ezekiel Izuogu, who was a member of one of the factions in the APP supported by Iwuanyanwu, while Enwerem was running for Governor and Araraume who was the chairman of the party were in the same faction.  The APP had a crack and we went into the APP and with the wisdom and leadership character of our then party chairman, Chief I.D Nwoga we succeeded in attracting both Enwerem and Araraume into PDP. Both were given senatorial tickets and they won the election.

There were some PDP members who did not want Enwerem and Araraume to come in. But strategically we impressed it upon them on the need to win the election and if it will take Enwerem and Araraume to help PDP beef up our strength in Owerri and Okigwe zones since our candidate Achike Udenwa was coming from Orlu zone, that will be a welcome development and it was a good strategy that the PDP to employed to win the governorship election.  Nwoga was instrumental to it and he took that firm decision and we also had young men who were willing and ready to work and die for the PDP. Middle class Imo young men who took it as a challenge and worked hard to ensure we got it right.

But what has happened in Imo PDP after 1999 is a situation where those who supposed to be carrying the grey hair of the party have not brought in that grey hair into the management of the affairs of the party resulting in the crisis of nomination in 2007 when Araraume emerged the party’s governorship candidate and the party refused to give him his victory.  This was orchestrated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Imo PDP political leaders who could not resist that imposition in 2007.  They could not tell the then President that since Araraume has won the primaries, denying him the PDP governorship ticket would destroy the party. They started gambling. They started fishing for candidates. Eventually, Ikedi Ohakim, a former member of the PDP but who was the governorship candidate of the PPA was adopted and the party was instructed to vote against PDP. And we had a sitting governor, a PDP governor, yet PDP members were given instruction not to vote for the PDP candidate.

The consequence of that decision is what is affecting PDP till date.   Ikedi Ohakim was an innocent person running for governor who PDP approached. They used him and made him governor under the platform of the PPA. And he later came into PDP.  But what happened thereafter? When he ran for election under the platform of the PDP, he lost. When he was running on the PDP platform, the PDP leadership in Abuja, the presidency, those that control the apparatus of Federal government, the big shots did everything possible to stop Ikedi from winning the election and they instrumented the emergence of Rochas Okorocha. That is PDP working against PDP. They thought they were working against Ikedi. What they did not know was that they were destroying the party.

In the last election, we had a crowd of governorship aspirants in the PDP. Because there was no leadership, because there was absence of credible leadership, nobody could bring these aspirants under one umbrella to harmonize and pick a candidate under an accord of understanding.  So, when Ihedioha emerged, we saw opposition within the party based on interest of the aspirants who felt hurt. Their supporters and agents worked against the interest of the party undermined our candidate. That is why we lost the election.

This analysis will tell you where I am coming from. The PDP in Imo State has a leadership problem, a big leadership problem.  If a credible leadership does not emerge in PDP that will put its house in order our PDP vision for 2019 may be a mirage. If there is no credible leadership that will pioneer the PDP towards 2019, our quest to enter Government House will be a fruitless exercise.

But I have hope in the PDP. The masses like PDP as a political party but the management of the party has not put it into proper shape. I am a member of the State Working Committee we are supposed to be overseeing the affairs of the party, but my experience within this period at the State party secretariat is nothing to be happy about. The State Working Committee, the Exco in Imo State are not in control of the affairs of the party. Some leaders arrogate to themselves the powers to control the affairs of the party from Abuja. That is the experience we had during the time of President Jonathan and that was what undermined PDP.  What was the outcome of all that meetings that these self made leaders held in Abuja with Jonathan?  Failure.

 Based  on Your Analysis of PDP’s Problems, What Steps Should Be Taken To Reconnect PDP to the people.  

The simple way is for PDP to have credible and sincere leadership. And the State Executives that will emerge from the coming congress must be men and women who have the capacity to run the party the way political parties are run. Not people that will be agents of some leaders. Not the houseboys of some leaders who cannot direct the party rightly.

They must be people with experience in party management. A chairman without political experience cannot lead the party to win elections.  A candidate who does not know anything about election management cannot fly the flag of the party to win elections.  And leaders of the party must learn how to cultivate followership. You cannot be a leader because you have money or big-name.  And when they come to their areas, they parade themselves as leaders. When it comes to delivering the votes the party needs; your people cannot follow you.  Such a person is not a political leader. You may be a leader, but you are not a political leader.

Political leadership is borne out of sincere commitment and sincere dedication to the people. Political leaders must recognize the people, be with the people, share with the people and remain with the people.  That is how political leadership evolves. It is not by how much money you have in your pocket and how big-man you are. You can be a big-man but you are not a political leader.

But you can be a small man and be a political leader. And people will come and consult you to bring the votes. That is what makes one a political leader. That is what political leadership is. It is not about big names.  PDP has to look for such leaders, credible leaders in the society to support the cause of taking over power from the incumbent APC in 2019. The search must start now. The reorganization of the party must start now. I am for a credible congress that will bring out the real leaders and officers of the party at all levels, a congress that is devoid of imposition.  Let the PDP membership at the wards and local Governments determine who their officers will be.

  Do you subscribe to the notion that there is segregation in PDP considering the fact that Aararume won the primaries twice – in 2007 and 2014- and yet he was denied the governorship Ticket of the PDP in Imo?

There is no segregation in PDP.   It is a case of some persons in the party not doing the right thing. I have told you what happened in the party in 2007.  Whatever personal problem the then President (Obasanjo) had with Araraume it was not enough for him as a leader of the party to come to Imo with the National Chairman of the PDP to tell us not to vote for the man (Araraume) who won the primaries and whom the Supreme Court- the highest court in the land- has declared as the PDP candidate in Imo State.  But where is Obasanjo now? Is he still in PDP that he was playing God? That is the irony of life. But what he caused Imo has not been cured.

That was a wrong decision, a decision against the interest of the party.  Despite the fact that my friend, Ikedi Ohakim became the beneficiary of that decision, it is no reason why I will say that the decision was right. That decision remains wrong.   That decision was selfish, callous and unfounded.   In the last primaries, the State Exco impressed it on everyone that because of the opposition status of the PDP in Imo, we needed to show Imo people credibility in the selection process.

In the House of Assembly primaries, we opened the space, no one was accused of carrying money and the delegates were free to vote for aspirants of their choice. At the end of the exercise, most of the contestants were happy with the outcome of the primaries. No one went to court over the House of Assembly primaries.   In the House Of Reps primaries, we tried to make it credible. That was the case in the senatorial primaries.  These were primaries handled by the party in the State.

 The governorship primary was handled by officers sent by the national headquarters from Abuja. They conducted it. The entire party executives in the State were sent away by the national officers, they chased us away from the Stadium after voting except the State Chairman who was allowed into the handball stadium inner ring to witness the primaries with the agents of the contestants. That primary was not conducted by the State Working Committee. It was conducted by the Party in Abuja. We were not in a position to say what happened. But what we know is that after the votes were counted, the committee handling the primaries declared Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha the winner.

We later heard that when everybody left the stadium after the announcement of the result, Arararume said he did a recalculation or re analysis and discovered that Emeka could not have won. It became an issue of why he did not ask for recount at the venue.  He was asking for a recount after the results had been collated and everyone had dispersed. He went to see the committee in their hotel rooms asking that the votes be recounted. But the pressmen, security agents, INEC and everyone that was there had picked the results. And no one protested. Araraume’s agents did not protest at the stadium. At that extent, how do you expect a reasonable person like myself to say the primaries was manipulated. If you had seen anything wrong when the votes were being counted, you ask for recount immediately. Therefore, the issue for recount by Araraume became an after -thought. Whether it was wrong or correct, it was difficult to state. What is important is that a declaration was made without protest. If the protest had come at the stadium, it would have been a different thing.

But then, how did the party leaders manage the crisis from the governorship primary. Of course, they failed to manage it. The so called PDP leaders in Imo never met for one day to discuss the primary. Elders, leaders never met for one day to discuss the primary. They never met because they were polarized and had personal interests and because of this, they found it difficult to address the matter or say the truth or even come together to make an appeal to the two people involved and other contestants.

There was no attempt by the party in Imo to  sought- out the issue. It was not only the issue of Araraume, there were other governorship aspirants who were also hurt by the process. Nobody pacified anyone and that became our albatross. So, I hinge the failure of the PDP on the leadership. I m not talking about the State Working Committee, I m talking about the party leadership, the leaders of the party in Imo failed and that failure started from 2007. There was abdication of responsibilities. It is only good leadership that aids a party to win elections.

In the various wards, LGAs, and constituencies, we have strata of leadership, but the leadership strata don’t protect the interest the party. That is why the party is aligned away from the people. We have genuine party members in various wards and Local Governments, but how credible are the leaders.

What Is Your Assessment of the APC led Government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha in the First Tenure and Ongoing Second Tenure 

I was the first person to point out that a government that is running unconventionally is building a foundation for fraud. When the governor said he is an unconventional governor, I said then that unconventional means that the government will not follow the rules in running finances and all the safeguards that have been put in place in the structure of government to streamline administration and check fraud will be ignored. If you are going to award contracts without documentation, it is fraudulent.  What will be the outcome if such fraudulent transaction is allowed?  Someone will rip off the State.   What is happening today in Imo is a vindication of my stand.  I have not seen anything to give a good mark to the present administration in Imo State. An administration that is not following Due Process, which is not law abiding cannot get a pass mark from me.

The Imo leadership has acquiesced to the aberration called the Okorocha administration.  The people will complain, shout, this is not how it is done, but the leaders of Imo State are keeping quite because all of them have acquiesced to Rochas unlawfulness.  No leader in Imo State is ready to come up and say enough is enough. Is it the ordinary man on the street or in the market that will come up to say no to Rochas?  None of them will do that. Imo is in deep problem.

Is There No Remedy In Sight For Imo State?

Remedy for Imo State?  When the leaders of the State fail to speak, what we will see is a continuation of this anomaly. Because those who have the strength, those who can challenge and upturn and direct the reverse of what is presently going on in Imo State may not be interested. Why?, because they are not patriotic enough to fight the cause of the people. And those who can fight will not be encouraged, they will not be given the instrument of authority to enable them carry out the fight. There are many people who resist and fight Rochas government. There are many people who have the experience and guts to take on this government and pull the masses behind them and upturn this administration.

For instance in the PDP, those who can take on Rochas are not given the position to be able to ventilate and fight and you put in people who cannot do anything because of certain sentiments, we will go back to square one, because PDP is the main opposition.  If those who can carry out the fight do not have the position to enable them fight on, those who have the will to fight will go back to their houses and allow those who do not have what it takes to do the battle.

As former Orsu LGA Chairman, What Is the Difference between the Local Government System Then and Presently

There is no Local Government administration in Imo State. It is dead. It is not functional.  When a local Government is functional is when the local people in the LGAs are feeling governance in the local Governments.   It is not now. But I bet you, it will not be for long.  Revolutions and actions start from inspiration.  However, if it is the will of God that somebody will emerge and lead the PDP to restore dignity and honour in Imo State that person will emerge by the grace of God. Maybe the period we are going through is for us to become realistic and to purge our excesses and for Imo people to come to terms with the truth that is there is need to develop Imo State beyond this charlatan exposition.

What is going on here (Imo) is charlatan exposition and massive looting. But if it pleases God to give us someone with the courage, wisdom and authority to come and fight the battle, Imo will be salvaged. And I believe that our destiny is in the hand of God.  And as we pray, God will show us the light and tell us what to do.  What we need in Imo State today is more prayers for the emergence of credible leadership that will up turn all these nonsense that is going on in Imo State.  It is not by power, it is not by might, it is by the special grace of God.