Imo North (Okigwe) Senatorial Re-Run: Litmus Test For Senator Araraume (ANALYSIS)

BY EXCEL CHIMA

ARARARUME

The race for Imo North Senatorial (Okigwe Zone) re- run polls scheduled for February 20, 2016 is indeed a litmus test for Senator Ifeanyi Araraume.

The zone is made up of six local government areas. And it is the home of many political titans from Imo State including former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim.

Araraume is perceived to have a governorship ambition in 2019. He has vied for the governorship of the State for a record four times without success on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

 He joined the All Progressive Congress, APC barely few weeks to the guber supplementary election in April 2015 decamping from the PDP where he was unjustly denied the party’s governorship ticket.

Araraume said he won the PDP governorship primaries and accused the party leadership of “awarding” the PDP guber ticket to then Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha.

He said based on his re count of votes cast by delegates at the primary, there was no way Ihedioha could have emerged winner of the primaries.  He had faced similar ordeal in 2007 when he was denied the same PDP governorship ticket after winning the guber primaries. Then President Olusegun Obasamjo had arrived Owerri in a chopper to strip Araraume of the party’s governorship flag.

He was peeved with the same unjust treatment in 2015 and the inability of the PDP leadership to address the issue forced him to join Rochas Okorocha of the APC who was desperate to win re- election as governor of Imo State.

His alliance with Okorocha succeeded as Araraume “delivered” Okigwe zone (Imo North Senatorial District) to the governor and the APC.

However, the re run senatorial polls is a new ball game because Imo North is considered a PDP stronghold. And this is why no other political party has produced the zone’s senator or even a member of the House of Representatives.   

The strength of the PDP in the area was the propelling force that catapulted Athan Achonu to win the senatorial polls in March 2015 despite the strong incursion of the APC riding on the political weight of the then Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Benjmain Uwajumuoju who is also the party’s Senatorial candidate.

With Achonu’s victory nullified by the Appeal Court and February 20^th, 2015 set for the re- run polls, Araraume now has a serious political obligation to “capture” the senatorial zone for his new found political party as a bait to strengthen his guber ambition in three years time.

How he achieves this task is a monumental issue considering how politically explosive Imo North Senatorial district can be. 

A political analyst, Okey Ewuzie said Araraume might be a political force but in Okigwe zone, it is a political landmine for him if one takes into consideration his political feud with key stakeholders in the area such as former Governor Ikedi Ohakim.

It is a fact that Araraume and Ohakim fought a bitter war when the latter was Imo State governor between 2007-2011. He had dragged Ohakim to almost all the courts in the land and such rivalry manifested again when the duo were in the PDP vying for the party’s guber ticket.

“At a point, both nearly exchanged blows publicly at the Imo PDP Secretariat, Owerri when the issue of selection of party delegates became a thorny issue” said Kevin Onyeahala, a PDP chieftain.

However, if Araraume falters in securing victory for APC in the zone on February 20, it may not be a good start to for his rumoured 2019 gubernatorial bid. It will also send strong signals to his colleagues in the APC that he (Araraume) has lost some political firepower and he is not politically invincible afterall.

However analysts contend that demystifying the PDP will be a herculean task for the two time senator. Some of his political associates such as Ikenna Sammuelson Iwuoha had cautioned the senator against backing the former Speaker in the re- run polls.

Iwuoha advised the senator to cease his support for the former Speaker.

Many contend that the APC’sucesss or failure should be put on the shoulder of the senator on the basis that he is not the one flying the party’s senatorial flag at the polls.

Samuel Ezendu, an ardent supporter of the senator said the failure or outcome of the polls has no direct political consequence for the senator

He said “He is not the one contesting for the senatorial seat. He is not the party candidate. Uwajumuogu and Araraume have different political perceptions in the zone.  Uwajumuogu is the one contesting against Achonu, so, there is no basis to bring Ararame into the picture.

“Araraume will definitely provide support to his party but the voters will focus more on the candidates taking part in the election. Whoever they choose will be the one to win the election.