Onyedika Agbedo
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is not new to political controversies and battles. Since he entered the political arena, he has taken many daring political steps that many observers felt were not well thought out, but which proved to be masterstrokes in the end.
For instance, he won the governorship of the state on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2011, but chose to be part of the realignment of forces that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a move that was considered suicidal in many quarters given that the majority of the people of the Southeast zone loathe the party. But he defied the odds and won his re-election on the platform of the party in 2015. He also delivered 24 out of the 27 members of the House of Assembly to the APC, two House of Representatives members and the only APC senator from the Southeast in the 8th Senate in the person of Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu. Against all permutations, he won the election to represent Imo West Senatorial District in the 9th Senate during the February 23 national assembly elections. Indeed, Okorocha has always got the longer end of the stick in the majority of his political exploits.
But his quest to make his son-in-law, Mr Uche Nwosu, succeed him is threatening his political ascendancy. Many political heavyweights in the state, including members of his own party, are united against him. They made sure that Nwosu did not get the ticket of the APC during the governorship primaries, but Okorocha would take none of that. After fighting tooth and nail to upturn the result of the primary to no avail, he inspired Nwosu to defect to the Action Alliance (AA) and pick the governorship ticket, while staying back in the APC. But he vowed not to have anything to do with the APC governorship candidate in the state, Senator Hope Uzodinma. Uzodinma must campaign for himself and win by himself. Only his (Okorocha) election into the Senate and the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari was of concern to the Imo governor.
Okorocha, however, forgot that in politics, loyalty must be total or else no one would take you seriously. So, despite winning a senatorial seat for the APC and ensuring that Buhari got an impressive votes tally in the state in the presidential election, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) suspended him from the party on March 1 over alleged anti-party activities. The NWC also recommended his outright expulsion from the party to the National Executive Committee (NEC). Since then, the governor and his loyalists have been pouring invectives on the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole. In fact, he has drawn a fresh battle line with the party, declaring that “the purported expulsion can’t stand because the law has taken care of it even long before now.” But that can easily passed for a self-consoling statement because even if the court nullifies the NWC’s decision, the party can decide to render him completely irrelevant in the scheme of things for as long as they remain in power, if they truly want to punish him. And what would Okorocha do in that instance other than to complain. In the wake of the suspension, his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, had alleged that “Oshiomhole coming up with the purported expulsion this time was only acting out of the fear that God in His infinite mercy could give Governor Okorocha a role to play in the Senate in the overall interest of the nation.” He has also accused Oshiomhole of “playing the politics of 2023 in 2019”, probably implying that the party chairman is trying to edge him out of the 2023 presidential race which the Southeast zone is laying claim to. One would not be surprised to see these kinds of lamentations and accusations from Okorocha’s camp in the months ahead.
What’s clear is that irrespective of whether Nwosu wins the election or not, Okorocha will have some price to pay for his actions. In pursuit of the objective, he severed ties with virtually all politicians of note in Imo State some of who were his long-term allies. He is now at loggerheads with the leadership of his party. As one of the brains behind the formation of the party and the only governor in the Southeast on its platform, it would have served his political interest better to respect the decision of the party and move on than to rock the boat. But he chose the latter option. The doctrine of eating one’s cake and not having it is applicable even in the political circle.
Born in 1962, Okorocha is a successful businessman, philanthropist and politician.