SIR: On two occasions in the month of September, Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume, had good reasons to issue two disclaimers that were not largely dissimilar. Both disclaimers, the second reinforcing the first, were contained in statements issued by some of his aides and they essentially bordered on rumours doing the rounds in some sections of the media about either his plan to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State or his plot to deploy his formidable structure in support of the Labour Party, LP, in the state.
Both preoccupations, by his adversaries, at those intersections, defined the scope, shape and texture of the accusatorial and conspiratorial moves orchestrated within the Imo State Chapter of the APC and fervidly mounted to discount his political influence as it were. The fact that some powerful forces are uncomfortable with Araraume’s politics and ever-growing influence in Imo State is writ large; otherwise, they would not have, for instance, moved against his appointment as chairman of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, as announced in September 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
When on January 5, Araraume’s appointment was reversed after about four months of delay in inaugurating the board, and Senator Margery Okadigbo, wife of the late Dr Chuba Okadigbo, from Anambra State, was announced in his stead, it was clear to the public that power play had crept in to upend the process. But the incident did not in any way diminish the magnitude of his (Araraume’s) persona and influence. What it discounted, in the main, was the place of Imo State in the overall configuration of political and economic empowerments.
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Having stoically accepted the denouement that was foisted on him by the sleight of the hand, one had really thought that the forces that launched into a supremacy battle with him over the NNPC Ltd ill-fated appointment would have just allowed Araraume to pursue his politics in the Imo APC with equanimity. They would not. Rather, they would want to push him out of the APC; which was why in accordance with their devious stratagem, they concocted the spurious narratives about Araraume’s plan to defect from the APC. This was the lie that the September 6 disclaimer attacked. The September 26 disclaimer dismantled the propaganda that Araraume was planning to deploy his solid political structure in support of the Labour Party, LP, in the state.
Whereas, the fear of Araraume is always the beginning of wisdom in the political calculations and equations in Imo State, his staying power or how he has continued to remain relevant in the field should not escape essential deconstruction or scrutiny. His mythical political prowess dates back significantly to 1999 when he won his Imo North Senatorial election on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP). Although, he had sought, after his senate outing, to govern Imo State, investing formidable energy and megabucks in the enterprise, some negative forces had always intervened to frustrate the agendum.
But the forces cannot perpetually succeed in upending Araraume’s march towards his political destination. This, perhaps, is the reason establishment forces are up in arms against him. This is also, perhaps, the reason they remain unconvinced that Araraume does not have his eyes sharply focused on Imo governorship on another platform.
With a PhD in view, he would appear to have covered the entire field in his political odyssey and trajectory in terms of cerebral and psychological preparedness to govern. Meanwhile, his traducers can continue to seek to demonise him even as he settles in to play a significant role in the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the victory of the party’s presidential ticket in 2023.
•Sufuyan Ojeifo,
ojwonderngr@yahoo.com