Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and governorship aspirant in Imo State, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, said that ‘’all well-meaning citizens’’ in Imo State are in agreement to stop Governor Rochas Okorocha from further destroying the state.
He stated this in Abuja on Sunday in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. I k Ogbonna.
According to Senator Araraume, ‘’From the political class to the academic, from professionals to the clergy, the traditional institutions and even artisans in Imo State are in agreement, beyond partisan, sectional, religious and cultural boundaries to stop Governor Rochas Okorocha from further destroying the state, economically, politically, culturally etc.
‘’In the last couple of months, Governor Okorocha has been raining abuses on every political leader of note in the state, including his predecessors, dead or alive.’’
Reacting to a recent press statement by the Imo state governor in which he made some scathing comments on Araraume and some other political leaders in the state, the statement added that the interest of strong political forces in Imo State that are determined to stop Okorocha goes beyond the allusions made by the governor.
‘’It is worth pointing out that by his statement, the governor has admitted that he is at war with the entire political class in the state. For instance, his inclusion of his two immediate predecessors, Governors Ikedi Ohakim and Achike Udenwa, as being members of a certain coalition that intends to distract him is a clear demonstration of this.
‘’Added to this is the fact that he is at loggerheads with his deputy and the two senators in his party. It was perhaps for want of proper language that the governor resorted to the use of the word coalition. But even a fresh man in a political science class knows that the word coalition is a clear misnomer in the present circumstances in Imo State.’’
Senator Araraume, a national commissioner in the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), added that the ‘’good people of Imo state’’ have so become used to the governor’s reckless and uncouth utterances that they no longer take him seriously each time he goes to town with the type of statement.
He said the governor’s recent utterances against him and others merely reinforces the feeling among Imo people that the governor harbours a morbid fear because of his wide acceptance by the people in his bid to emerge as their next governor and thus become the arrow head of the collective quest to end Okorocha’s dangerous hold on the affairs of the state.
Senator Araraume further stated, ‘’Governor Okorocha deludes himself as a political giant; but it is not a hidden fact that in his career, he has contested over 15 elections and lost all; even the 2011 governorship election in which he was declared winner was a make belief.
‘’In 2015, he ran for a second term but the election went into second balloting and he almost lost because of his abysmal performance in his first term. Prior to being finally railroaded into the office of governor in 2011, Chief Okorocha had moved from one party to another in search of political appointments.
‘’Even so, he was sacked as Chairman of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, by the person who gave him the appointment, President Olusegun Obasanjo.’’
Araraume added that contrary to Governor Okorocha’s claim that he joined the APC just to contest for the office of the governor, the truth is that he was talked into joining the party by people that belong to certain political circles that are outside the reach of the governor.
‘’It was only a matter of circumstances that it was during the 2015 general elections that I finally decided to join, in my continual insistence that there must be fairness and internal democracy in politics’’, he added.
The APC chieftain added that even if he joined later, especially to ensure his second term election victory, what about Governor Okorocha’s deputy, Prince Eze Madumere; the state chairman of the party, Chief Hillary Eke, and others who joined the party the same time with him and who are currently part of the coalition to stop him.
He added, ‘’It is not in doubt that the good people of Imo State are conversant with my political pedigree, which includes propensity for performance, consensus building, honesty, integrity and human capital development, attributes that are completely lacking in Governor Okorocha.’’
