CHIDIEBERE IWUOHA seeks to know whether or not Owelle Rochas Okorocha will live up to his promise of not seeking a second term, concluding that if he changes his mind, things might be difficult for the opposition in 2015
Pre-election promise
In the heat of the 2011 electioneering, the Owelle Rochas Okorocha, promised the people of Imo state he would not seek re-election if elected as governor. According to him, at the end of his tenure, the Presidency will be his next target.
Before this time, he had attempted to wrest the All People’s Party (APP) presidential ticket from former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) and that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from late President Musa Yar’adua. So, when he made this promise, Imo voters did not doubt him but accepted it whole-heartedly, especially as the target of the majority was to do everything to oust the then incumbent governor, Sir Ikedi Ohakim whom many had already regarded as a political albatross.
Okorocha’s 2011 electoral victory came to pass and he was later sworn in as governor, thus succeeding his predecessor, Ohakim who only did one term as a result of that forced political ouster.
The uncertainty
It is now eight months to the next general elections in the country, according to the recently released time table of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yet the political atmosphere in the state as to whether the governor would be fulfilling this promise to his people.
To worsen the matter, two groups have now emerged: one, campaigning for his return to Imo Douglas House in 2015 and the other campaigning for his relocation to Aso Rock. Those campaigning for his return to Douglas House are of the belief that he has transformed and made the state better with numerous projects scattered all over the state, made up of both completed and uncompleted ones. According to this group, a second term would make Imo best. The second group, on the other hand, makes it crystal clear that he has transformed Imo and left it better than he met it, and that since he promised one term he should stick to the promise and go for a higher position to maintain his integrity. In addition to this, some people hold the belief that he will make it if he makes an attempt at presidency this time around.
About two men of God had in the past, supported this Aso Rock move with their prophesy. Prominent among them was the General Overseer of Overcomers Christian Mission (OCM), Bishop Alexander Ezeugo Ekewuba who at one time prophesied that Okorocha would one day become governor of Imo and afterwards become president of Nigeria. All these appeared to have put Okorocha in a confused state as he wouldn’t know whether the pursuit of his presidential ambition would lead to losing his second term bid which many believe, he would easily pick no matter the opposition from either the PDP or the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). This confusion is even deafening when you observe that the slogan on his campaign vehicles “Rochas We know 2015” does not specify whether it is for governorship or for presidency as was clearly stated in that of 2011 “Rochas We know for Imo governorship.
Self-confessed Dilemma
In response to a question posed to him by one journalist last year, the governor stated without mincing words that he was in a state of dilemma as he did not know whether to run for governorship or presidency, adding that Imo people should pray God to show him the way. However, while he was addressing a group of journalists sometime last month he made them believe that he would be vying for presidency and even prided himself as the only presidential aspirant from the south east geo-political zone, a position which he declared was not easy to come by and prayed for the actualization of the dream. But political observers believe his promise not to seek a second term, was a mere “political camouflage” being used to deceive the opposition into believing he was not interested in second term.
In what appears as laying credence to that belief, none of his foot solders is being projected and you dare not talk about yourself or else you will be secretly eased out. The former Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Prince Charles Onuoha whose burning desire to govern the state led to his hasty declaration is no longer close to the governor as he is now chatting his own political course.
Opposition’s target
As things stand now, the target of the opposition, mainly PDP and APGA is to ensure that Okorocha and his APC are shown the way out of Douglas House in 2015, whether he is gunning for presidency or governorship.
While PDP still nurses the injury inflicted on them by Okorocha in the 2011 governorship or better still, supplementary election, APGA believes that Okorocha took their hard-earned mandate and handed it over to the APC without their consent, thus drawing the battle line with the governor.
What the Imo PDP led by Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie believes and continues to say is that ‘Imo is a PDP state’ and that what happened in 2011 was a political accident which must be corrected. And they further believe that the correction year is 2015. This belief, the Imo APGA chairman, Sir Chudi Onuzo has continuously disputed, claiming that ‘Imo is an APGA state’ and had earlier declared that Okorocha’s days in the Government House were numbered as all efforts were being geared towards paying him back in his own coin.
Form the ordinary voter
However, the ordinary voters on the streets believe that irrespective of political party affiliations, the governor has done better than the two governors that came before him ( ie Chief Achike Udenwa and Sir Ikedi Ohakim) and that if he finally made up his mind to contest the 2015 governorship, with his power of incumbency, he would definitely be the candidate to beat. They are of the view that the PDP and APGA candidates, no matter whom they are, cannot be his match. Again, with the not-too-impressive relationship between the aspirants in PDP and APGA, one could easily predict that unity of purpose would be lacking as they have started the cold war ahead of the election year. The charter of unity which politicians of Owerri zone were projecting before this time to get favours from Okigwe and Orlu zones in the next election had often met brick wall as people from these zones had also indicated interest in the 2015 governorship of the state.
The opposition in the state would find the contest easy if Okorocha makes up his mind to concentrate on presidency. It will however be a different ball game if he reneges on his 2011 promise and stages a governorship come back.
