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Tag: Governor Rochas Okorocha

  • Okorocha’s succession plan worked against him -Onuoha

    Chief Bonocks Onuoha is the National President of Greater and Better Nigeria Development Initiative (GABNDI). In this interview with Muyiwa Omobulejo, he highlighted some major issues in the political landscape of Nigeria, particularly Imo State. Excerpts

    In your opinion, why did the candidate former Governor Rochas Okorocha supported fail in the last election?

    It has to do with the candidate. That is the only place I will tell you former Governor Rochas Okorocha got it wrong. By bringing his Son-in-law to succeed him, he got it wrong. No. that was not good enough! I must confess. Imo people felt he didn’t see any other person in the whole of the state except his son-in-law. They believe he wanted to take them for granted and with that he missed it all. That is why they didn’t vote for Uche Nwosu.

    But some people are saying he wanted Nwosu to cover some things for him?

    Which thing? What atrocity? His government is the only government that brought free education in Imo State. He fed our children in the school. Nobody was killed in his reign in government. No MASSOP/IPOB boy was killed or detained in his tenure. So what atrocities are you talking about?

    It is just his succession plan that worked against him. Imo people didn’t welcome that idea at all, and that was how his problem with the people started; had it been that he chose someone else as the governorship candidate and made his Son-in-law the deputy, it would have been okay. Nobody would have blinked an eye. He wouldn’t have fallen apart with the people. Any way; as the case may be, everybody is born to make mistakes because we are not God and when you make mistake, you learn from it.

    What about his Certificate of Return as Senator Elect?

    I, Chief Onuoha is calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the Certificate of Return of Rochas Okorocha because what they claimed that Rochas did, is even minimal compared to what so many of them did and yet their certificates were given to them. They should not persecute him for nothing. They should release his certificate to him immediately.

    Do you think there is any reason they want to withhold the Certificate of Return in the first place?

    Yes! In 2015, APC was saying that if the Southeast vote for Buhari, the presidency will be zoned to them in 2023. In 2019 they still maintained to give it to the Igbos but some said it is the Yoruba’s turn. Immediately after the election, we started hearing that the Northerners will cling to power till 2031. So this is the way they want to remove Okorocha from the scheme of things. They don’t want him to be positioned at all ahead of 2023. They know that he has the ambition to become the President of Nigeria one day. He was born and brought up in the Northern part of Nigeria. He knows everything about them and if Igbos are to get the presidency in 2023, Okorocha remains the only one that can stand them in 2023. That is why they want to silence his ambition now. The same way they will stop any other person that will be a hindrance to them to govern till 2031.

    You claimed Okorocha is the best governor Imo State has been priveledge to have What about former governors of the state?

    The former governors, Achinke Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim’s achievement put together is not worthy of what Rochas Okorocha’s government achieved in one year. I don’t want to start mentioning his achievements one after the other, because if I start mentioning them, this interview will not be over today. But what I want you to do is to just take a look at the picture of the capital (Owerri) nine years ago and then look at the picture of Owerri today. Then you’ll understand what I’m talking about. The beauty of the city today shows clearly that Rochas Okorocha worked every day tirelessly of his eight years tenure in office without resting for one minute so as to achieve what he had achieved in Owerri and beyond. Today, Owerri is a real capital. Owerri is a new heaven, a place of relaxation, a place of emulation. Owerri is now a place you can do any type of legitimate business and you will be happy every day. Owerri is too beautiful. All these and many more are done and achieved by Rochas Okorocha within that short period. We, the Imo people, are supposed to say thank you to someone who have done and achieved this great feat for our state.

  • There’s plot to silence Okorocha politically -Onuoha

    Chief Bonocks Onuoha is the National President of Greater and Better Nigeria Development Initiative (GABNDI). In this interview with Muyiwa Omobulejo, he highlighted some major issues in the political landscape of Nigeria, particularly Imo State. He said Governor Rochas Okorocha remains the best governor of the 4th Republic. Excerpts

    In your opinion, why did the candidate Governor Rochas Okorocha supported fail in the last election?

    It has to do with the candidate. That is the only place I will tell you my great Governor Rochas Okorocha got it wrong. By bringing his Son-in-law to succeed him, he got it wrong. No. that was not good enough! I must confess. Imo people felt he didn’t see any other person in the whole of the state except his son-in-law. They believe he wanted to take them for granted and with that he missed it all. That is why they didn’t vote for Uche Nwosu.

    But some people are saying he wanted Nwosu to cover some things for him?

    Which thing? What atrocity? His government is the only government that brought free education in Imo State. He fed our children in the school. Nobody was killed in his reign in government. No MASSOP/IPOB boy was killed or detained in his tenure. So what atrocities are you talking about?

    It is just his succession plan that worked against him. Imo people didn’t welcome that idea at all, and that was how his problem with the people started; had it been that he chose someone else as the governorship candidate and made his Son-in-law the deputy, it would have been okay. Nobody would have blinked an eye. He wouldn’t have fallen apart with the people. Any way; as the case may be, everybody is born to make mistakes because we are not God and when you make mistake, you learn from it.

    What about his Certificate of Return as Senator Elect?

    I, Chief Onuoha is calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the Certificate of Return of Governor Rochas Okorocha because what they claimed that Rochas did, is even minimal compared to what so many of them did and yet their certificates were given to them. They should not persecute him for nothing. They should release his certificate to him immediately.

    Do you think there is any reason they want to withhold the Certificate of Return in the first place?

    Yes! In 2015, APC was saying that if the Southeast vote for Buhari, the presidency will be zoned to them in 2023. In 2019 they still maintained to give it to the Igbos but some said it is the Yoruba’s turn. Immediately after the election, we started hearing that the Northerners will cling to power till 2031. So this is the way they want to remove Okorocha from the scheme of things. They don’t want him to be positioned at all ahead of 2023. They know that he has the ambition to become the President of Nigeria one day. He was born and brought up in the Northern part of Nigeria. He knows everything about them and if Igbos are to get the presidency in 2023, Okorocha remains the only one that can stand them in 2023. That is why they want to silence his ambition now. The same way they will stop any other person that will be a hindrance to them to govern till 2031.

    You claimed Okorocha is the best governor of Imo State. What about former governors of the state?

    The former governors, Achinke Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim’s achievement put together is not worthy of what Governor Rochas Okorocha’s government achieved in one year. I don’t want to start mentioning his achievements one after the other, because if I start mentioning them, this interview will not be over today. But what I want you to do is to just take a look at the picture of the capital (Owerri) nine years ago and then look at the picture of Owerri today. Then you’ll understand what I’m talking about. The beauty of the city today shows clearly that Rochas Okorocha worked every day tirelessly of his eight years tenure in office without resting for one minute so as to achieve what he had achieved in Owerri and beyond. Today, Owerri is a real capital. Owerri is a new heaven, a place of relaxation, a place of emulation. Owerri is now a place you can do any type of legitimate business and you will be happy every day. Owerri is too beautiful. All these and many more are done and achieved by Rochas Okorocha within that short period. We, the Imo people, are supposed to say thank you to someone who have done and achieved this great feat for our state.

  • Ihedioha’s tenure on intellectual high ground

    Emeka Ihedioha will take the oath of office as the sixth democratically elected governor of Imo State on Wednesday, May 29, a dream come true both for himself and for Imolites who have suffered for long.

    Expectations are high, from the ruling class and from the masses.

    Imo presently plumbs the depths of despair and mediocrity. Governor Rochas Okorocha threw to the dogs due process and the rule of law, the cornerstones of good governance and elevated insouciance to an art.

    That was to be expected, though, from a man who declared from the outset that “I do not believe in the use of files or in due process. Due process is due corruption; whenever I wake up, I move where my mind directs me.”

    The consequence of such buccaneering disposition to governance is predictable.

    Imo is a wasteland, literally; a devastated, barely inhabitable place, so much so that living in the state dehydrades spiritually and emotionally.

    Eze Madumere, Deputy Governor and Okorocha’s political sidekick, put it this way at an All Progressives Congress (APC) fund-raiser late last year:

    “What Okorocha has done to the socio-economic status of this state, quote me, will take 25 to 30 years for the state to recover. The level of damage is simply unimaginable.”

    There couldn’t have been a worse testimonial.

    This is the sorry state Ihedioha will inherit on May 29. And he is under no illusion that rebuilding Imo will be easy.

    But he comes prepared with his four-legged agenda of good governance, human capital development, job and wealth creation and integrated infrastructure development.

    His approach to governance is inimitable and inspiring.

    In a country where razzmatazz soars above substance, Ihedioha says he will tread – out of the two roads which diverge in a wood – in the words of Robert Frost in his poem The Road not Taken, on the one less travelled by, using the compass of intellectualism to navigate his way.

    Will Ihedioha’s approach make any difference? Time will tell. But Imo people are already seeing the difference and are rejoicing

    Activities leading to his inauguration spans four days, starting with an interdenominational church service on Sunday, May 26 at the Grasshoppers’ International Stadium Owerri, and culminating in his swearing in at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, on May 29.

    In-between those two events are others. There will be an arts exhibition at Ahiajoku Convention Centre and a novelty football match at the stadium on Monday, May 27.

    On Tuesday, May 28, there will be an inauguration lecture at the Ahiajoku Convention Centre and a mega youth concert at the Grasshoppers’ Stadium.

    Of all these events, the flagship is the inauguration lecture.

    The Inauguration Planning and Handover Committee headed by Chris Okewulonu is pulling all the stops to ensure it achieves its academic, political and leadership purposes, as directed by Ihedioha, because the lecture is a roadmap of the direction the new administration is headed.

    John Nnia Nwodo (lawyer and economist, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, former Minister of Civil Aviation and Information and Culture), will deliver a keynote address on Problems of Governance in Today’s Nigeria: The Imo Challenge to set the tone for the intellectual harvest.

    The inauguration lecture will be delivered by two outstanding Imolites.

    One of them is Leo Stan Ekeh, philanthropist, businessman and Chairman of Zinox Technologies, a company that has the WHQL certification, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, and the NIS ISO 2000: 9001 QMS Certification.

    He will speak on Creating a Model Imo Economy.

    The topic lays emphasis on Ihedioha’s “Rebuild Imo” campaign mantra, which points to a new beginning anchored on knowledge and human capital development achievable through good governance.

    The icing on the intellectual cake will be Ernest Ebi’s lecture.

    He is a financial guru, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fidelity Bank, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where he handled policy and corporate services portfolios for 10 years and had oversight over External Reserves, International Economic Relations, Trade & Exchange and Research Departments.

    Ebi will speak on Transitioning From Poverty to Wealth: Infrastructure as the Linchpin.

    Just like Ekeh’s topic, the idea is to give Ebi, who chairs Ihedioha’s Transition Technical Committee, the latitude to explore the promise of Imo, and the challenges vis-à-vis the huge expectations of Imolites.

    Paschal Dozie, another quintessential entrepreneur who has played pre-eminent roles in national and global economic development, will chair the occasion.

    The special guest is Peter Obi, former Anambra State Governor and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate in the 2019 election.

    Imo State is agog with expectations. A public lecture presaging the inauguration of a new administration is novel.

    Ndi Imo are looking forward to this fulfilling intellectual exercise and the reality of a new era, and a new beginning is gradually sinking in.

    But it couldn’t have been anything different. For the first time since the state was created in 1976, the affairs of Imo will be superintended by two accomplished lawmakers.

    Some say it is poetic justice that this era comes right after the one that had absolute disdain for due process and the rule of law.

    Ihedioha had a 12-year stint as a federal lawmaker, which culminated in him becoming House of Representatives Deputy Speaker in 2011, and Speaker between May 27 and June 5, 2015, following the withdrawal of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal when he moved on to Sokoto as Governor.

    The deputy governor-elect, Hon Gerald Irona, a chemical engineer and grassroots politician, was elected twice as Councillor and in 1998 became the youngest state Secretary of the All Peoples Party (APP), which transmuted into the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), before his election into the Imo State House of Assembly in 1999.

    In 2011, he was elected into the House of Representatives where he served as South East representative on the Selection Committee and later Gas Resource Committee Deputy Chairman when Ihedioha was Deputy Speaker.

    To borrow a local parlance, Imo State is getting two for one. It promises to be an interesting episode in leadership voyage.

    Ndi Imo, and indeed fellow Nigerians – scandalised by the inexplicable tomfooleries and monkeyshines in the Igbo Heartland in the past eight years – await the new dawn.

    The inauguration lecture points to the direction the new government is headed.

    It will be an administration where the intellect of philosopher kings who possess a love of knowledge, as well as intelligence, as characterised by Plato, rather than the gut instincts of one man, will rule.

    • Amaechi, Managing Director of TheNiche newspaper, is the Chairman of the Inauguration lecture sub-committee of the Imo State 2019 Inauguration Planning Committee

  • I’m not owing any bank, Okorocha insists

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday restated that his administration never borrowed money from any bank within or outside the shores of the land.

    He gave a seven-day ultimatum to any financial institution with a counterclaim to come up with proofs.

    The governor’s explanation came on the heels of a promise by governor-elect Emeka Ihedioha to look into the finances of the state under the watch of Okorocha when he assumed office on May 29.

    Okorocha also disclosed that his administration does not owe workers salary arrears, adding that workers’ salaries have been paid up to February.

    In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the governor challenged any bank with contrary claim to “openly indicate and give details of such transaction for the public to know.”

    The statement reads: “We have come up with this position because the PDP is synonymous with falsehood and propaganda. And even as a party, if they know any bank the government of Rochas Okorocha has borrowed one naira from, they should mention such bank and state the particulars of the transaction so that interested persons can verify or forever, they should keep their mouths shut.

    “Owing to Governor Okorocha’s monumental achievements, opponents of the administration have always erroneously concluded that he must have borrowed heavily from the banks.

    “And that is the reason we are now stating openly that the Rescue Mission administration which Owelle Okorocha has superintended for almost eight years now has not borrowed money from any bank.

    “We also want to state that Imo State government has paid workers’ salaries up to the month of February 2019, and the payment of the month of March salaries is about to commence. In other words, the State government is not owing any outstanding salary.

    Read also: Non-issuance of Certificate of return: Okorocha is on his own, says APC

    “Again, the government of Governor Okorocha is not owing any contractor. And if any contractor has any claim to the contrary he or she should immediately go to the Office of the Secretary to the government of Imo State with the relevant papers before May 29, 2019.

    “We are doing this so that people would not come after the governor has left office to lie against him or make dubious claims.

    “It is also on record that the administration has run free education since 2011 from primary to tertiary and no child pays one kobo as tuition fee, while the government also repurchased state-owned companies sold by the previous administrations, including the Resin Paint Industry Mbaise.”

  • Okorocha: INEC can’t withhold my Certificate of Return

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday faulted a decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withhold his Certificate of Return (CoR) as the senator-elect for Imo West District.

    He described the move as unfortunate and unconstitutional.

    The governor also accused the INEC of allowing itself to be used by those he claimed, were fighting him ahead of the 2023 presidential election by stopping him from going to the Senate.

    According to him, “only the court has the power to nullify any election after a winner has been declared. The electoral umpire does not have the power.

    “In my own case, my Certificate of Return has not been issued and I wonder why INEC will withhold my certificate for a frivolous reason, without hearing from me.

    “I am not a violent person and those who know me know that. This is why we have peace in Imo State. The Returning Officer could not have done that under duress under the watchful eyes of the Police, DSS and party agents.

    “I am not unmindful of the facts that those who are fighting me from Abuja are anxious to see me removed as a senator. I urge INEC to do the right thing immediately by releasing my certificate.

    “Let me tell every Nigerian that I fought no one and no one should fight me. If anyone fights me, he will be the loser at the end of it all. My INEC certificate cannot be touched or seized; doing so is belittling democracy in Nigeria.

    “It is only the tribunal that has the right to say otherwise once a result is declared. INEC cannot seize my Certificate by mere petition written by somebody in a case I was not given the opportunity to present my own side of the story.”

    Okorocha, who addressed thousands of youths, who came on protest over the conduct of the 2019 elections in the state, Wednesday, at the Government House, accused the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof Francis Ezeonu, of bias with the worrisome manner he has handled the Conduct of the 2019 elections in the state.”

    He added: “The REC has shown that he was brought to Imo after the 2015 election to return PDP to power in the state.

    “The REC had acted illegally by ignoring the provision of the Constitution that makes it mandatory for a candidate to have 25 per cent in 2/3 of the Local Governments in the State by announcing the PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha who only met the requirement in 9 Local Governments instead of 18 local government areas, which is 2/3 of 27 councils winner”.

    He wondered why the REC accepted the figures from the three Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise and Ezinihitte local government areas.

    According to Okorocha, the 64,219 votes secured by the PDP from Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area alone, constituted 50 per cent of the total votes polled by Ihedioha from the state’s 27 councils.

    As far as he was concerning, Uche Nwosu, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), who he backed against his All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma, won the election.

    By his calculation, Nwosu got the required spread by having 25 per cent in 21 out of the 27 council areas.

  • Breaking: Imo APC expels Uzodinma

    The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ), on Thursday, expelled its governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma over alleged anti-party activities.

    The state Chairman of the party, Hon Daniel Nwafor, who announced the expulsion during a media briefing at the party’s secretariat, said that the action became necessary to save the party from disintegration.

    According to him, it has been established that the APC governorship candidate is sponsoring opposition candidates against the party’s candidates in the state, adding that such action is capable of ruining the chances of the APC in the elections.

    “Senator Hope has been sponsoring the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Senatorial candidate, Senator Osita Izunaso as against the APC Senatorial candidate in Imo West, Governor Rochas Okorocha, he has also been running parallel Exco in his Omuma Ward and issuing party cards without recourse to party Exco”, Nwafor alleges.

    Read Also: APC enraged over PDP’s N388m U.S. lobbying deal

    A statement jointly signed by the Chairman (Daniel Nwafor) and the Secretary, Hon Obioma Ireagwu, reads “this is to inform you that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Omuma Ward of Oru East Local Government Area in Imo State has expelled Senator Hope Uzodinma from the party due to certain inordinate and anti-party activities perpetrated by him and his cohorts.

    “The Imo State Working Committee (SWC) of our great party has examined the processes and procedures of the sanction on Senator Hope Uzodinma by his Ward as affirmed by the Local Government organ of the party in Oru East. Conclusively, the State Working Committee satisfied with the procedures and decision of Omuma Ward, hereby affirm the expulsion order as well”.

    Further justifying the expulsion, Nwafor submitted that “we are saving the party, we have an election in three weeks time and we cannot allow our governorship candidate to be sponsoring opposition candidates. We will no longer recognize Senator Hope Uzodinma as our governorship candidate because he is no longer a member of our party”.

    He continued that, “we will not allow one candidate to jeopardize the chances of our other candidates who are vying for various positions across the state. We have communicated the National Working Committee of our party on our decision and we have also instructed all APC members in the state not to have anything to do with Senator Hope Uzodinma and his ambition forthwith”.

  • Imo APC adopts indirect primary

    Some stakeholders in Imo State’s APC are stoutly opposed to the party’s adoption of direct primary option, a development that may play up during the governorship primaries, reports Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

    The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is working round the clock to avoid any form of internal crisis that may result from the primaries. To this extent, the leader of the party in the state, Governor Rochas Okorocha, and other stakeholders have been holding talks with the aspirants with the intention of pruning down the number ahead the primaries.

    The State Executive Committee (SEC) has adopted indirect primary as the mode to elect its candidates for the 2019 elections after extensive consultations.

    The decision was reached at an emergency State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting presided over by the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Daniel Nwafor.

    The motion for the adoption of the indirect primaries was moved by the APC Chairman of Nwangele Local Government Area, Mr. Jude Mbamara and seconded by Obinna Egu, member representing Ngor-Okpala Council Area in the state House of Assembly.

    Speaking further on the development, the APC state Chairman said it was the unanimous decision of members of the party.

    He said it reflects the minds of the larger population of members of the party, adding that the APC Constitution allows for both direct and indirect modes for election of candidates.

    According to him, “the NEC was specific that states should adopt any of the modes that best suite its peculiarities and the Imo State chapter, after holistic deliberations among members and stakeholders, has adopted the indirect mode”.

    But members of the Coalition Group, a pressure group within the Imo State chapter of the party, are kicking against the indirect primary and are instead calling for direct primaries’ model.

    Members of the group, including the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, Senator Hope Uzodinma, Toe Ekechi, Hillary Eke, among others, noted that they will be shortchanged in the indirect primary mode.

    But Nwafor has assured of level playing ground for all aspirants.

    He said the priority of the party is to win all elective offices in the state, as well as deliver President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • 2019: I’m still in Imo guber race -Nwosu 

    …Says my ambition is divine

     

    The Chief of Staff to the Imo State Governor, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, has described as unfounded and baseless, reports that he has suspended his governorship ambition over the opposition mounted by the ‘Coalition Group’.

    Nwosu stated that rather, his ambition has been strengthened by the activities of the opposition, which he affirmed has prepared him for the task ahead, stressing that cheap blackmail and propaganda can’t stop his ambition.

    The Chief of Staff and former Commissioner for Lands, who was reacting to a publication in one of the national newspapers that he may have jettisoned his push for the Imo State governorship, following the outcome of the party’s congresses, confirmed that his support base across the state has continued to swell by the day, which he said is rattling his opponents.

    He maintained that he is not disturbed by the political intrigues and controversies that arose during the course of the contentious APC Congresses in the state, noting that his ambition is “divine and cannot be truncated by any man”.

    Read Also:2019: Imo Deputy Gov rejects Okorocha’s Senate offer

    According to him, those behind the report of his purported withdrawal from the race are those who are already losing sleep over his growing acceptance among the Imo electorate, adding that, “no amount of cheap blackmail or sponsored falsehood in the media can distract him or derail God’s plan for Imolites through his mandate”.

    He said, “there is nothing that can be farther from the truth than such report that I have suspended my ambition. It is those in the opposition that have suspended their governorship aspirations because of the fear of Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. They are afraid because they know that they don’t stand a chance against the will of God and the people.

    “We are very focused on the goal and we cannot be distracted. If you observe correctly, you will discover that we are not resting on our oars, we are moving and taking our message to the nooks and crannies of the state, while the so called Coalition Group are running around in hotels in Abuja looking for ways to subvert the will of the people, they are not on ground and none of them can win any election in Imo”.

    Nwosu who urged his supporters and the APC to disregard the malicious rumour, stated that what transpired during the botched APC Congresses in the state has revealed the plans of the opposition parties to infiltrate the APC with the intention of introducing crisis that will mar the chances of the party during the 2019 election.

    He said, “those same people who fought Governor Rochas Okorocha and even called him all sort of uncomplimentary names, some even went as far as selling the falsehood that he was working with President Muhammadu Buhari to Islamize the Southeast when he was building the APC, are the same people who are pretending to love the party. We know their plans and their sponsors but just like we defeated them in 2011 and 2015, we will also defeat them in 2019 and President Muhammadu Buhari will have landslide victory in Imo and other Southeast states”.

  • ‘Nobody can stop me from succeeding Okorocha’

    The Chief of Staff, Imo State Government House, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His endorsement by Governor Rochas Okorocha has stirred controversy. In this interview with correspondent OKODILI NDIDI, Nwosu says the gang up of co-aspirats cannot stop him from succeeding his boss in next year’s election.

    The APC Coalition Group in Imo State are against the governor because of his support for your governorship ambition. Are you under any pressure to pull out of the governorship race?

    Not at all. I am not under any kind of pressure. In fact, I am even more determined to become the governor of the state by 2019. These are groups we have been defeating since 2011 and we shall also defeat them in 2019. If anything, the gang up has made me stronger and ready for the battle ahead.

    Does it means that you are more determined now, despite the stiff opposition?

    Of course. What their action is telling me is that what I am looking for in 2019 has already signed and sealed. Whatever that will succeed does not come easy. Once you have challenges in your businesses, in your private work, what it shows is that you are getting to the end of the tunnel. I think I see what they are doing as part of the journey we are making, just like when you are writing a story, when you have to put coma, but that is not the full stop and the full stop will be when we have won the election.

    There is this insinuation that, following the controversy that marred the APC congresses in the state, you are considering going to another party to actualise your ambition…

    Not all. Rather, the group you see will soon leave the party, you can quote me. You cannot talk about the APC in Imo State and even in the Southeast  without Owelle Rochas Okorocha. You can remember in 2015 when Owelle Rochas Okorocha brought the APC to the Southeast, the same people called him names like Okoro-Hausa, Alhaji in Government House, they said he has aligned with President Muhammadu Buhari to Islamize the Southeast. They same group of people sold the message to the Churches and they were criticizing and abusing Rochas Okorocha, these are the same people who made the allegations, so they have come today to join Rochas to Islamize the Southeast, that is the question I want to ask them. Without Owelle Rochas Okorocha, there is no APC in Imo State and they know that very well. Owelle cannot go to another party. Rather, they should leave the party and go and join any other party, or they humble themselves and Join Owelle in the course. We are in APC, the party belong to the members and the founding fathers. So, whoever wants to come to the APC must humble himself and join the queue.

    There is this allegation that the Coalition Group is asking the governor to renounce his open endorsement of your ambition as the only condition for peace to reign in the party.

    Our condition for them also is that they should all drop their ambitions too because they are all politicians that are of no value to Imolites. It is not about dropping ambition, rather it is about what you can offer to Imolites. If my becoming a governor is a headache to them, then they will have migraine very soon. So, my ambition is an ordained ambition and God has made it and there is nothing you can do about it. It is only God that makes a King, so if God has made it that one day I, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, will be the Governor of Imo State, there is nothing any man can do about it, except you want to stop what God say will be and that will amount to playing with fire. Even, Owelle Rochas Okorocha knows that there is divine hand in my ambition.

    Some people are of the opinion that the power play in Imo APC may destroy it before the election. Do you see the party coming out in one piece?

    I believe the APC will be coming out stronger, it is all about political interests and intrigues. It is everywhere, I don’t think that there is any political party survives without any kind of intra party politics. So, I don’t think it is any problem, so at the end everybody will come back together, they are all members of the APC but being a member of the APC does not mean that you should, destroy the party. At the end, the party will certainly come back stronger because Owelle Rochas Okorocha is a governor that has tolerated a lot from some of these people that have gone to play dirty politics and being a leader of the party in the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha that I know will after this come them together and then make.ggg sure that the party moves forward.

    There is also this speculation that the national leadership of the party is conspiring against the  governor because of his open support for your ambition.

    That is not true. The conspiracy is just between two persons, the National Organising Secretary and the National Chairman of the party. And the conspiracy is because the governor asked, that the issue of tenure elongation be stopped and lets go for congress because in the APC Constitution, there is no provision for tenure elongation. It simply means that if we admit this tenure elongation, after we have won the elections and somebody from PDP or APGA takes the matter to court and it is found out that we don’t have tenure elongation in our constitution, at the end the Court will tell us that everything we did from the House of Assembly members to Senators, to Governors and even the President is a nullity, that means that other parties will take over what we labored for and the President understood what the governor said, so those of them that want their tenures elongated so that they will remain in office, it was a bad omen for them, so they started fighting. I don’t think Rochas Okorocha had any issue with the national chairman before the issue of the tenure elongation, Osita Izunation, it was Owelle Rochas Okorocha that made him the National Organizing Secretary from the Southeast. If you remember vividly,  Owelle Rochas Okorocha came from the APGA extraction and that faction was asked to bring the National Organizing Secretary, Deputy National Woman leader and the rest and it fell on the shoulders of Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the only governor from the Southeast to produce these people.

    There was hostility against the governor during the botched APC Congresses by men who were very close to him. Are you not worried by that?

    In every twelve disciples, there must be a Judas. For you to be a political guru and claim to know the political arithmetic, you must ask God to help you know the end from the beginning. Simply put, in politics, you do not put 100 percent trust in any person because politics is all about interest. Probably, anybody that decides to go to another person may have his reasons. But, maybe, when you have hundred persons and two decide to leave, you still have 98. It is normal in politics. It is not new. So, it is not a problem, you can decide to pitch your tent wherever you think will favour you. We had similar scenario in 2015 and Owelle Rochas Okorocha still won.

    The gang up against you by the political giants is real. How do you hope to surmount the challenge?

    In 2011, for instance, Senator Arthur Nzeribe , Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Ifeanyi Araraume, Hope Uzodinma, Emeka Ihedioha, Kema Chike, Ikedi Ohakim among other big names were not with us, but we came out victorious and in 2015, we had a sitting President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that was against us and then, in the state, all the political gladiators were not with us and we won. Power does not come by displaying your muscle or affluence or money. Power comes from God. I, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, and Owelle Rochas Okorocha who is our leader, we are nothing seeing anyone among them that can even defeat the smallest among us, so we are not afraid of them, we are not intimidated at all, there is no cause for alarm, the same thing that happened in 2011 and 2015 will repeat itself in 2019.

    Supposing at this time the governor asks you to drop your ambition, will you obey?

    Of course, that is my leader and if my leader says Ugwumba Uche Nwosu I don’t want you to continue as a governor, which I know the governor will say, because he has already made up his mind and you know it is a divine project and of course you know that before Owelle Rochas Okorocha came openly to support my ambition he must have been convinced that it is divine, because the Owelle I know believes so much in prayers. I know he has consulted exhaustively with his God before he said that it will be Ugwumba Uche Nwosu. So, the issue of him coming back to say that I don’t want you to continue with your ambition will not arise at all.

    With what happened in the APC during the Congresses across the Federation, people are wondering if the party believes in internal democracy at all…

    There is no problem in APC. The ability for people to disagree and agree makes the party stronger. There is no political party or organization that people do not disagree over interests. We are one family but everybody has his interest. When you have an organisation, where everything is moving on and no one is complaining, you need to watch it. Also, if you are travelling on a busy road for more than one hour and there is no single vehicle from the opposite direction, you have to stop and check if there are no armed robbers on the way. It is normal in politics, but what is most important is the ability of the party, to after this, call all the warring factions together and forge ahead to 2019. Let the party reconcile those states where there were parallel congresses and in those places where the Congresses never held, it should be conducted and the party will be stronger before 2019.

    People say Governor Okorocha wants Adams Oshiomole to emerge as the national chairman of the party or he will leave the party…

    Owelle Rochas Okorocha is a serious stakeholder in the APC. So, Oshiomole or no Oshiomole, Okorocha has a stake in APC so the issue of relying on Oshiomole does not arise. So Oshiomole coming as national chairman of the party, does not mean that he is coming to install Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Owelle does not need another person to make him a stakeholder in APC, he is already one. If you are inside a house already, you don’t need someone outside to ask you to come inside the house.

     

  • Okorocha to probe Oguta blackout

    The Imo State government has promised to probe years of power blackout in oil-rich Oguta, Ohaji/ Egbema local government areas of the state, The Nation has learnt.

    This was made known during a visit to Governor Rochas Okorocha by a delegation of Oguta indigenes led by a House of Representatives member Hon Uzoma Henry Ezediaro (Oguta constituency).

    Speaking at the Government House on behalf of the people, Hon Ezediaro chronicled the suffering of the community in the past five years without electricity and appealed for a solution.

    He said, “We are here to intimate the Governor on the longtime suffering of Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema constituency as regards the issue of electricity in the area of total darkness over the years from EEDC despite the contribution of the LGAs in the revenue of the Imo state.

    “The people want to know why EEDC to has refused to provide light to our communities. On the other hand, we request that oil-producing companies operating in the communities consider citing power sub-station to generate electricity for the people.”

    Responding, Governor Okorocha said the problem will be looked into as soon as possible while immediately instructing the ministry of works to find out the cause of the problem and report back to him, adding that Oguta LGA people cannot be joked with considering the stuff they are made of.

    Members of the delegation included the traditional ruler of Oguta Ameshi HRH Eze Chinedu Nzeribe, Oguta political leaders, clergymen, youths and women groups.