There were levels of drama at the January 29 All Progressives Congress (APC) rally at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
This is how the Imo State governor introduced himself while addressing President Muhammadu Buhari at the rally: “Let me remind you sir, I am Owelle Rochas Okorocha, I am the founder of APC in Imo State and I am the only governor in the whole of Southeast from APC. As it stands today, those that challenged us, those that came with the Army and Police and DSS are now sitting boldly as the owners of the party. Let me say to you that, it is Iberiberism Chapter I vs I.”
The party’s chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had presented the APC governorship candidate in these words: “The APC is not in alliance with any party; we are capable of delivering the President. We have come to present a new hope to Imo people; Senator Hope Uzodinma will win and restore good governance in Imo. APC will win in Imo State.”
Interestingly, Okorocha’s son-in-law and Action Alliance (AA) governorship candidate, Uche Nwosu, was at the APC rally. Okorocha wants Nwosu to succeed him, and has said so loud and clear. Okorocha, who is an APC senatorial candidate, is supporting Buhari for president and Nwosu for governor. Nwosu had defected to AA from APC after failing to get what he wanted. The state chapter of AA has endorsed Buhari, and promised to secure one million votes for him in the presidential election.
Buhari obviously needs all the votes he can get. His re-election campaign is a serious matter and he means business. So the AA endorsement may well be attractive to him. Perhaps this explains why he dramatically asked his party members to vote for a candidate of their choice in the Imo State governorship election, and not necessarily the APC governorship candidate.
A report of the APC rally said: “President Buhari, who broke his silence on the crisis rocking the party since the party’s governorship primaries, urged APC members to vote for any candidate of their choice across party lines irrespective of inter or intraparty squabbles.”
This means Buhari and Oshiomhole are not on the same page regarding who APC members should vote for in the Imo governorship poll. This also means Buhari and Okorocha may be on the same page concerning the governorship election.
Obviously, Okorocha doesn’t want the APC governorship candidate to win. Obviously, he wants the AA governorship candidate to win. Though Buhari stopped short of endorsing another party’s governorship candidate, his non-partisanship was odd because he was expected to endorse his party’s governorship candidate.
The rally was a partisan event. In partisan politics, there is no room for non-partisanship.
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