As Uzodinma finally admits that his topmost mission is stop Okorocha’s presidential ambition: What Okorocha really wants from him:
At a meeting of Governor Hope Uzodimma‘s appointees and other group of favour-seekers, Senator Uzodimma, in an obvious attempt to pass the buck of his inability to hold the State and the Party together, tried to propagate a completely false narrative about his relationship with His Excellency Distinguished Senator Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
However, any discerning listener and reader of what the governor tabled as his points of disagreement with Owelle Rochas Okorocha, would need no special pundit to tell him that the story is simply coined around the Omuma born politician’s deal with some politicians to act as the mercenary who would stop Okorocha’s well-received, but yet to be confirmed ambition to be President of Nigeria.
Nigerians are no fools, and Imolites are among the most enlightened set of people in Nigeria, so, I know that majority of those who have read this story would have dismissed it as a very poorly scripted lie, but for the purpose of those who may be confused about what the true situation is, let me state what I know about the issues;
1. For a start, there was no APC State caucus meeting in Imo on the 14th of August, 2020, as erroneously reported by some newspapers. The APC Constitution is very clear on the modalities for convening a State caucus and the individuals and officials to attend. If the meeting that held at Sam Mbakwe Exco Chamber of Imo State Government House deserves any official designation, it could best pass as an expanded State Executive Council Meeting, where some favour-seekers and probe phobic individuals came to pledge forced loyalty to the governor.
2. His Excellency Distinguished Senator Owelle Rochas Okorocha, to the best of my knowledge, is not afraid of being probed. If anything, he would be very excited to submit himself before any fair investigation, as he has nothing to hide. Owelle utilized his mandate judiciously and kept to his covenant with God and man, in his eight years as the governor of Imo State.
What Okorocha has always requested and for which he has gone to Court is that impartial panels should be constituted to probe his stewardship and not the present situation, where key stakeholders of the opposition People’s Democratic Party constitute 95% of the membership of the panels probing him. The former governor and current Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District is convinced that these panels would only do the bidding of those who set them up, and which is, to impel him on the cross of corruption, for the purpose of whittling down his political influence, as admitted by Governor Uzodimma.
B. Hope Uzodimma‘s claim that majority of Imo people are in support of the vindictive probe which he is continuing with cannot be farther from the truth. Imolites are more interested in having their aged pensioners paid their entitlements, civil servants paid their full salaries and also, to see a level of transparency in the governance of the State.
C. IMO people would be more interested in knowing the secret behind Okorocha’s ability to deliver the many legacy projects he delivered in his eight years in power, so much so that the only projects Senator Uzodimma has commissioned in his seven months on the seat is the Somtoochukwu road, which was expanded, modernized and commissioned by the Okorocha administration.
Imolites would want to know where Owelle Rochas Okorocha got the funds to deliver over 1,000 roads in the State, built 27 general hospitals, Imo State Command headquarters of the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Correctional Services headquarters, Police College, about ten tertiary institutions, total reconstruction and modernization of the Imo State Government House, construction of 15 kilometers of road in each LGA of the State, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Court Complex, Imo International Modern Market, artisans cluster, Imo Modern Mechanic Village, and other legacy projects, too numerous to mention.
3. Governor Hope Uzodimma’s claim that one of his areas of disagreement with Owelle Rochas Okorocha is on the issue of Party structure in the State betrays him as someone with no regard for democratic processes. If he had respect for democratic norms, he wouldn’t need Okorocha to remind him to respect the Constitution of the Party, many extant court judgements and most importantly, the mandate of majority of Party members who elected Mr. Daniel Nwafor and other officials of the Party from ward to State level. His preference for impostors as against the authentic officials of the Party, couldn’t have been Okorocha’s fault.
B. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha had proposed was for Governor as the leader of the Party in the State, to take steps to resolve the impasse in the Party leadership by inviting everyone to a round table discussion and decide on ways to fully resolve the impasse.
If His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha, decides to run for the presidency of the country, which he is eminently qualified for, he knows that the Imo State executive of the Party alone cannot guarantee him the Party’s nomination, and he also knows that by the Constitution of our Party, the tenure of the Daniel Nwafor led executive would have elapsed before the presidential primaries. Okorocha is more interested in having a strong and united Party in the whole country and not concerned about Imo State alone. Maybe, I should remind the governor that Party officials are not appointed but elected.
4. Again, the governor betrayed his disdain for democratic norms by boldly stating that he refused to work with elected LGA officials, even after his dissolution of them has been nullified by a federal judge in Owerri. The governor should rather have the law to contend with on this issue, as it is clear that he is in contravention of the Nigerian Constitution and his action is not very different from a coup de tat. Okorocha did not write the 1999 Constitution, neither is he a party to any of the suits which had long been decided in favour of these elected LGA officials.
5. The truth is that His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha does not have any personal disagreements with Governor Uzodimma and if there is anything, the former governor would want from Uzodimma it would be to request of him to continue with some of his laudable projects that benefit the generality of Imo people, including but not limited to; the free education policy up to tertiary education level, maintaining the over 2,000 public infrastructure built by the Rescue Mission administration, prompt payment of salaries of civil servants, resolution of pension claims by our senior citizens, and other people-oriented policies and programs which remain the undeniable legacies of the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration.
6. One cannot but sympathize with Governor Uzodinma’s desperate struggles for legitimacy and validation, but it would be all fair to advise him once again, that the best way to gain this so much sought legitimacy is by working for the people, protecting State assets and resources and also making the many life-saving projects initiated by the Okorocha administration available to the people. The governor must be advised that fighting Okorocha will not earn him legitimacy and trying to stop his people-driven prospects is futile, as neither the people nor God can be stopped.
While my governor continues on his new pastime of stopping Rochas’ rumored presidential ambition, maybe, as a payback to those who made him governor, let him remember the immortal words or Cicero; “Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.” A leader lacking in those attributes should rather hang onto the straw of excuses, for he lacks excellence.
