Dickson Okafor
Former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration and Convener of the Coalition Group that pushed for the governor’s ouster, Dr. Theodore Ekechi saidthe fight to remove Okorocha will be in vain if the incoming government fails to probe the ‘Rescue Mission’ administration.
You predicted the defeat of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son in-law and governorship candidate of Action Alliance (AA), Uche Nwosu, what gave you such confidence?
Simply put, we have being vindicated. When I said Uche Nwosu will not succeed Okorocha I mean all true democrats of Imo extraction would resist the privatisation of the state by the governor. As you can see, all lovers of fairness, justice and equity within the state rose up against impunity by Governor Rochas Okorocha and inconsistency in policy of the Rescue Mission government in the state. There was unprecedented spontaneous agitation across party lines and across various divides in the battle to remove Okorocha from the height where he has placed himself. I feel very fulfilled that Imo people have proved that we are the bona fide Igbo race and that we are republicans and as republicans, we cherish so much our personal dignity. No matter what you offer to us, no matter the level of your wealth, no matter how much power you wield, the day you tinker or tamper with the dignity of an Igbo man, you are in trouble. So, Imo people spoke overwhelmingly that there is no room for impunity or rascality in Igbo land and there is no room for irresponsibility in Igbo land. Okorocha and his family particularly his wife represents impunity and rascality.
I’m concerned that my party lost Imo State. Imo before now was the only APC controlled state in the whole of South-East and as a partisan politician, I’m not happy that we lost Imo State. But it is more important to note that before becoming a member of the party, I’ am first of all a citizen of Imo State and as a citizen of Imo State I should be driven by my passion to be a patriot than to be driven by my passion to be a partisan politician. So, for me, the passion to be a patriot is more important than my passion as a partisan politician.
Why didn’t you people work to ensure that the APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodima, wins?
It will be unfair to say we did not work to ensure Senator Hope Uzodima wins. The leaders of APC in the state worked for Hope Uzodima to become governorship candidate of the party in the state. If you look at Imerienwe declaration, APC have been destroyed in the minds of Imolites because of the irresponsibility and rascality of Governor Rochas Okorocha. It got to a point where Rochas behavior and character was perceived by Imolites as the character of APC. It took time for us to convince Imo people that Okorocha’s character was not that of APC; rather what Okorocha stood for was contrary to what the ruling party stood for. It was difficult getting people back to believe in APC particularly when you look at the drawn battle between the coalition and Okorocha which continued even up to the last hour of the election. Don’t forget that even during the elections, most of our polling units had no proper APC agents because Rochas in his own manner was able to hoodwink Electoral Officers in all the polling units with court order recognising Mr. Nwafor as the party chairman in the state which had nothing to do with powers of the National Working Committee to identify who is and should be the agents of the party at the polling units. So, Okorocha was able to use that to confuse them and they ended up using Action Alliance (AA) members as agents of APC at the polling units.
What do you expect from the incoming PDP administration in Imo State?
First, I want to use this medium to congratulate Chief Emeka Ihedioha on his election as the Executive Governor of Imo State. I find him to be very persistent and consistent. I also find him to be very dogged and he has by my assessment native intelligence and commonsense which have taken him to the height he is today. But I want to caution him just as I cautioned Okorocha in 2011, Rochas did not win 2011 election, rather Ikedi Ohakim lost. That was how I described the 2011 governorship election in Imo State and many people found it difficult to agree with me. Rochas did not win, Ohakim lost. What I meant then was Imo people rejected Ohakim and it was the rejection of Ohakim that provided the best alternative to them which was Okorocha who we had not really tested. So, we voted massively for Okorocha in protest against what Ohakim was doing in the state at that point in time. So, my advice to Emeka Ihedioha is that he should avoid the banana peel that brought Rochas Okorocha down. He should not be carried away by the attraction of power and ensure that his advisers are those who can look at him in the eyes and tell him the truth.
But more importantly, I’m very confident that Ihedioha is not going to go the way of Okorocha because one problem Rochas has is that he had a wife that was more ambitious than himself.
Do you support the clamour for Okorocha’s probe?
Any new government particularly the incoming one that fails to probe Okorocha would have set the agenda for its down fall because when you are voted into government, your actions should be a reflection of what the people expect. I don’t think there is any common man on the street of Nigeria today who would not expect Imo people to recover substantially the lands that have been fraudulently acquired in Owerri and in other urban areas. I don’t think there is any Imo person who would not want to know how a full-time housewife acquired so much wealth to build estates that some states cannot build. I don’t think there is any Imo person who would not want to know how a land that was originally allocated and earmarked for a state university in Ogboko suddenly became a private university.