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| OHAKIM |
Ikedi Ohakim, the Okohia Village Chief and former Governor of Imo State
was reported to have said he is interested in the 2015 Imo governorship
contest.
Barely 24 hours after his pronouncement, his Owerri private home was attacked by unknown arsonists.
Hear him “"I don't know who could have hatched such dastardly act
against me and my family. Throughout my four-year tenure as governor of Imo
State, there was no single assassination or arson in the state.............”
Believe it or not, Ohakim has
harnessed sufficient political capital from the attack on his private abode in
Owerri barely few days to his public declaration to contest for the
governorship of the State for the second time.
Today, he enjoys tremendous sympathy from majority of Imolites who rose
in unison to condemn the attack while a good number of the people also believe
that any form of political stunt can be used to by a desperate politician to
achieve any political purpose.
Having stayed away from the political scene for four years, Ohakim can
boast that he has bounced back on the political landscape of Imo State by
taking advantage of the attack on his Owerri home as a springboard to echo his determination
to chase Rochas out of Government House.
He can now blow hot. He can talk tough again on account of his present
ordeal, basking on the euphoria that he is a victim of terror who deserves sympathy.
His new political voyage can be described as one step in a journey of a
million miles in a State the pattern the political wind, blows is unpredictable
and the political road path full of bumps.
However, his “second missionary
journey” to Government House, Owerri certainly adds a new dimension to the
governorship contest- especially in the PDP in the State, which has over 21
persons eying the party’s governorship ticket.
Certainly, Ohakim’s entrance and
the increasing number of governorship aspirants in Imo State PDP strengthens
insinuations that the PDP in Abuja is bent on recapturing Imo State which is
presently an APC State governed by Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
Thus, there is the belief among aspirants on the party’s platform that
any of them that get the party’s ticket automatically has the backing of
powerful political forces in Abuja.
Therefore, the entry of Ikedi Ohakim into the governorship contest has
compelled many to believe that those forces in Abuja are interested on who govern Imo State in
2015.
This blog had reported in May, 2014 that the PDP leadership is bent on
fielding a dark horse for the PDP ticket in Imo. A dark horse in political parlance
can be described as an aspirant that is not seen early enough, does not join
the race early only to end up winning the contest. How that remains feasible in fractured political party in the State is left for time to tell.
However,this is the same scenario in Ekiti State where despite the influx of
governorship aspirants , the party’s ticket was given to Ayo Fayose, a former
governor of the State who joined the guber contest barely a month to Ekiti PDP
primaries.
Based on the foregoing, Ohakim’s
entrance into Imo governorship race portends far reaching political consequences
for the PDP in Imo State. It has both positive and negative effects.
One, it opens up a fresh rivalry with Ifeanyi Araraume, a senator and his
kinsman who fought Ohakim bitterly throughout
the duration of his tenure in office.
Both Ohakim and Araraume, come from Isiala Mbano LGA in Okigwe zone.
Ohakim believes that Araraume was
partly responsible for his downfall at the 2011 elections because Araraume who
was the governorship candidate of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN took
away a huge chunk of the votes from Okigwe zone that would have enabled Ohakim
to defeat Rochas Okorocha.
This rivalry is yet to abate moreso when Araraume remains aggrieved with Ohakim
for snatching from him the governorship seat of the State in 2006.
The political bickering between the duos is expected to accentuate to an
unprecedented level since Araraume returned to the PDP after his political
sojourn to the ACN and has declared his intention to contest for Imo
governorship seat.
Ohakim also has the herculean task to woo back key leaders of Okigwe zone
who fell apart with him after his political misadventure in 2011.
One of them is Tony Black Nduka, the Mayor of Okigwe zone and a powerful grassroots mobilizer in the zone. Nduka
regarded as Ohakim’s political Man-Friday before they fell apart has pitched
tenth with Okorocha’s All Progressive Congress, APC.
He is unlikely to return to the camp of his former boss despite serious
moves by the former Governor to drag him back to his fold.
Further, the former Governor’s political camp has shrunk considerably in
size and shape.
Some of his loyalists have either died or paddled their political
boat elsewhere. Among the dead include Pini Jason Onyebadue and Aloy Aguwa,
etc. But the former Governor can take solace in the
fact that none of them were core politicians. The late Jason was respected for
his success in journalism, while Aguwa was an economist.
One of those who matter and have left Ohakim’s political fortress is
Barr. Ken Njemanze, (SAN) who has decided to run for the Imo governorship in
the PDP alongside with his erstwhile boss.
Also, the bulk of his aides with some political value have since left,
leaving behind some hangers on and those who are looking for a rallying point
to revive their ailing political careers. The potency these categories of
loyalists remain doubtful and possibly incapable to rebrand Ohakim before the
Imo electorate.
Intra party politics in Imo PDP will be Ohakim’s major headache.
Many party members are unhappy that the “template system” he introduced
in the party before the elections contributed to the loss of the PDP at the
2011 governorship polls. His resort to
imposition of candidates was also another dark spot of his leadership of Imo
PDP that saw the party crumble before APGA in 2011.
These factors are further fuelled by the fact that the present PDP
leadership in the State may not be favourably disposed towards handing over the
party’s flag to him considering the entrance of newer, fresher and acceptable
aspirants who have declared their intentions to contest.
There is also an unspoken consensus among party members that one good
turn deserves another. In otherwors, what is good for the goose is good for the
gardener. The concept of recycling a particular candidate for positions of
authority is an old jingle that will not entice party members anymore.
There is also another category of aspirants who feel they have suffered
injustice in the party and deserve to be rewarded. Barrister Humphrey Anumudu and Senator Ifeanyi
Ararume belong to this category.
Anumudu from Owerri Zone won the PDP governorship ticket in 1999 but
handed over the baton to Achike Udenwa from Orlu Zone when leaders of the party
prevailed on Anumudu to do so in line with the Imo Charter of Equity, an
unsigned agreement binding the three geo political zones to rotate power.
For Araraume, he was unfairly treated.
He was a victim of political conspiracies, treachery and blackmail in 2006 when he was
denied the PDP governorship ticket for reasons best known to the architects of
the conspiracy against him.
Aside this fact, the agitation of
Owerri Zone to produce the next governor of the State is a strong factor that
would rear its ugly head against Ohakim.
This fact is fuelled with the entrance of over 15 governorship aspirants
from the zone who have different political leanings but have a unifying agenda.
They collectively insist that the party must produce a Governorship flag bearer
from Owerri Zone.
Top contenders from the Owerri zone include Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy
Speaker, Federal House of Representatives and Bethel Amadi, President, Pan
Africa Parliament.
The marketability of Ohakim’s candidature remains a major issue that will
seriously sway opinions if the PDP will give him a second chance to fly the
party’s flag again for the governorship contest.
The party will not forget Owerri
residents who went ecstatic when he was declared loser of the 2011 governorship
election. His billboards bearing his image were destroyed by enthusiastic
Imolites, a development which may have forced him to shy away on the day he was
to publicly hand over the reins of governance to his successor, Rochas Okorocha
This is one fact that stare the party leaders on the face. Can it afford to
gamble with the party’s chances at the polls by fielding the same candidate that
was jeered and booed when he lost power? Is Ohakim ripe to fly the PDP again
barely three years Rochas Okorocha made a mice meat of him at the polls?
His political nickname remains a sour talking point. The name Ikiri remains fresh and evergreen in the
memory of Imolites who also accuse his administration of paying excessive
attention to planting flowers and grasses on major streets and roads of Owerri.
Many contend that the ex governor should have allowed the present
political dispensation to elapse before taking another plunge into the contest
especially now that Owerri Zone is strongly clamouring for the governorship
seat.
Political analysts, however agree that there are many pluses to his
aspiration.
One, a huge financial war chest to carry out a governorship campaign and
the fact that Okigwe zone’s tenure was abruptly interrupted by Rochas Okorocha
from Orlu Zone.
These are Ohakim’s latest political gospel, his unique selling points,
but how his jingle is accepted by Imolites remains another question.
Whatever Ikedi lacks, he has it in finesse, style and good dress code.
His appearance on the streets of Owerri also elicits some sort of excitement in
the people, though it is believed that some of Okorocha’s misguided policies
gave room for such.
Steve
Uzoeshi, an Owerri based journalist, said about Ohakim’s public perception ratio
after he left office
He
wrote “All you need to shut down traffic in Owerri is the appearance of Ohakim
on the street. For every single error the Okorocha administration makes in Imo
today, Ohakim gains even more prominence. Also for most people who have faulted
Okorocha in any area of his administration, Ohakim becomes a better option”.
It is difficult
to say if such public reception for Ohakim in recent times translates to
political gain and reflects if Imolites want him back as their governor remains
a puzzle.
Imolites remember Ohakim more for the fact there was no cash squeeze in
the State and Owerri was a clean and green city. His vision for the State was
commended by the elites, but not so for the non elites who saw his ideas as
utopian, cosmetic and bogus.
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