Imo North And The Secret Manoveuring In Imo APC Over 2019 Guber Ticket (INVESTIGATIVE REPORT)

Secret political maneuverings is said to be ongoing in the Imo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC, as the Imo North senatorial re run election scheduled to hold on July 23, 2016 seem to be exposing some political undercurrents that will significantly shape the political tempo in the ruling party by the time 2019 governorship election holds in Imo State.

This newspaper had consistently reported in the past that not all the political gladiators are on the same page in the party as what exists in Imo APCis peace of the graveyard.

  

Governor Rochas Okorocha has been criticized  to be on a solo run in the party considering his non consultative style of politicking as critical stakeholders of the party are kept in the dark on the direction of the APC in the State. 

According to them, hardly the governor as leader of the party in the State summon meetings of stakeholders- a ploy many chieftains of the party see as part of a grand design to install one of his cronies as Governor of Imo State in 2019.

.Aside the governor's no consultation posture, it is observed that such traits have trickled down to the Ward levels as Ward meetings are seldom held except in areas a political juggernaut holds sway and has the wherewithal to fund such meetings. Unconfirmed reports available to INNONEWS.COM shows that party officials hardly receive a dime to run party functions in the local governments, a situation which prompted one of the leaders of the party to place party officials from his geo- political on monthly stipend.

“This is one year plus the APC took over power both in Imo State and at the centre. Yet, we have not been able to celebrate as the party in power. No support, no incentive is forthcoming from those we elected into public office on the platform of the party in Imo State” said Kevin Onyegbule, an APC leader in Nwangele LGA.

While party officers in the hinterlands groan over abandonment and neglect, one of the chief factors responsible for the slow pace of activities in the ruling party in Imo State is a cold war ongoing between the leaders of the party at the state level over who takes 2019 governorship ticket of the APC.  Okorocha will leave the saddle in 2019 but rumour mill has it that he may front his son- in law for the APC guber ticket. This emerging scenario seem to be unsettling key party leaders in the State.

According to reports, the camp of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume is not taking this development lightly. Araraume dumped the PDP in the build to the 2015 governorship election and backed Okorocha to defeat Emeka Ihedioha the PDP governorship candidate at a time the PDP was so close to defeat Okorocha. Before the governorship election, the PDP had won the three senatorial seats and eight out of the ten House of Reps seat in Imo State. And it was damn sure that the governorship seat will not be elusive.

However,  combination of two factors- Araraume’s sudden defection to the PDP and the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan by the APC at the presidential polls- changed the equation and paved the way for the APC and Okorocha to snatch victory from the PDP in a contest that stretched up to a supplementary poll .

An agreement well discussed in the public domain till this-day in Imo State was said to have been extracted by Araraume from Okorocha before the guber polls in 2015. The agreement was said to be hinged on the basis that Okorocha will support the governorship bid of Araraume in 2019. The Okorocha camp has not confirmed or dispelled this much talked about agreement.

Despite the appointment of Araraume’s son as Commissioner by Okorocha in his cabinet in January 2016 a move political observers say is Okorocha's Thank You gift to Araraume, the senator is said not to be satisfied with the body language of the Governor who has visibly shown preference for one of his in- laws to succeed him as governor of the State in 2019. 

 Another unsettling fact for Araraume's camp is Okorocha's perceived intention to run for Orlu senatorial seat  (Imo West) on completion of his tenure as governor of Imo State.  He recently announced that he will not seek for the office of the President in 2019 thus strengthening his speculated senatorial bid in future. 

Based on this perceived political interests, a source told this online newspaper that the Araraume camp is now "engaging" a powerful politician from Okorocha’s  Orlu (Imo West) zone who was shortlisted  for ministerial appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari but later schemed out for the position.

Festus Odumegwu, former Managing Director, Nigeria Breweries PLC and one of Buhari’s staunch supporters during the 2015  electioneering was surprisingly dropped as a ministerial nominee by the President after his name had popped up in the national media as ministerial nominee from Imo State. In his place, Okorocha’s in- law, Anthony Anwuka, was appointed Minister.

Many fingers pointed to Okorocha. He was fingered as the one responsible for Odumegwu’s inability to get ministerial appointment, a claim roundly denied by the Governor's media team. Pro Okorocha loyalists contend that " it was impossible for the APC leadership to shut out Okorocha's nominee for ministerial appointment because he is  one of the leaders of the APC in the South East who significantly mobilized the region for the party".

Irrespective of this postulation, this newspaper was told Odumegwu's loss of a ministerial slot in Buhari's cabinet served as the basis for him and Araraume to now find a “meeting ground” in Imo APC.

The duo were in the PDP and put up a fierce contest for the party's governorship ticket in 2006.Odumegwu is said to be allegedly interested in running for  the Imo West senatorial ticket in 2019 and is believed to have the backing of Araraume and Senator Osita Izunaso., a national officer of the APC. He has not confirmed or refuted this claim.  

Izunaso, according to reports, is been persuaded to take up the deputy governorship slot under senator Araraume.  Izunaso was one time senator that represented Imo West (Orlu Zone) but failed to stage a come – back after losing to PDP’s Senator Hope Uzodinma.

  

Newspaper reports said Araraume may back Odumegwu to wrestle Imo West from Okorocha if the latter fails to stick to the terms of a much trumpeted agreement they reportedly entered into in 2015. A the moment, the senator is striving to "deliver" the APC senatorial candidate in the rescheduled Imo North Senatorial election and former speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Benjamin Uwajumuogu.

Allegations are rife that Uwajumuogu is not getting sufficient green light from the man in Government House, Owerri to triumph over Athan Achonu, the incumbent senator and PDP candidate in the re run polls because of his romance with the Araraume group.  A local tabloid had reported last week that the re run election for Imo North was scuttled the first time because a top politician in the APC had mobilized youths in the State to carry out the protest that forced INEC to cancel the election.

 There are strong indications that Araraume who was senator that represented Imo North for eight years in the senate is throwing his weight behind Uwajumuogu to strengthen his grip in Imo North (Okigwe zone). if his calculations work in Imo North and Imo West, the it implies he may have an upper hand to capture the governorship ticket of the APC in 2019. 

For now, Uwajumuogu has combined forces to contend with both within and outside the APC before he can smile to the senate. One is Senator Achonu, the PDP senator who has ground swell of support and an APC House of Reps member who is alleged to be secretly working for the PDP candidate.   But if succeeds at the polls and align with Araraume in the long run, then it means Okorocah really has multiple forces to contend with in a party he strengthened and rooted in Imo State.

How Imo North Senatorial re run turns out on July 23 will shape and determine the political direction of the APC on or before 2019.


BY COSMAS NWACHUKWU, Editor At Large, INNONEWS.COM