By Baron Ike
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is confronting his worse fear ever over his future political journey following recent developments in his state that have seen most party men and aides throwing in the towel and hitting him below the belt for what they consider his dictatorial, despotic and deceitful leadership style.
The governor was said to be lamenting his fears and political fate to reporters recently during a news conference he held with them in Owerri, the state capital.
His greatest worry according to sources is his political future and ambition after the completion of his tenure in May 29, 2019. He is afraid some people are working to destroy him politically and bring to naught whatever he thinks he has “achieved”.
It is Okorocha’s ambition to run for the Presidency if Buhari fails to do so or in the alternative, position himself to be a Vice Presidential candidate after two term as governor. All his political calculations have tended towards going to the centre after being governor, including settling for a senatorial seat as the last option.
But recent events in the state where the governor is said to be pushing for the governorship candidacy of his son in-law, one Uche Nwosu who is his Chief of Staff, and who is also without the requisite experience, by trying to destroy existing zoning arrangement in the state to accommodate such ambition has further brought Okorocha’s regime and person to the limelight and for closer scrutiny.
Sources said Okorocha’s sack of his entire cabinet and members of the local government transition committee were pointers to the fear that he was being attacked from within.
According to sources close to the governor, to continue to keep the cabinet members and others at the council level believing they were loyal to him will further hurt his political interest.
Last week, a major crack surfaced in the Imo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) over the leadership style of Okorocha.
A chieftain of the party, Uche Onyeagocha, one of Okorocka’s appointees, threw in his towel and took the governor to the cleaners on matters he said border on selfishness, highhandedness and failure to carry all party men along.
Onyeagocha resigned his appointment as a member of the State Development Council (SDC) purportedly representing his Obinze Ward in Owerri West.
He wrote an open letter he dispatched to the governor that went viral on Thursday, May 25, noting that his appointment into the Council was first and foremost a grand design to desperately foist Nwosu on the good people of Imo State by Okorocha. He wrote the letter on May 18.
Onyeagocha complained that part of the things which Okorocha is believed to be pushing for ahead of 2019 election is the candidacy of his son in-law, and that he wants to do away with the existing power sharing formula in Imo because of selfishness and greed.
A prominent member of the APC in Imo State, Onyeagocha, a lawyer and tested civil rights activist is at the forefront of the campaign against the ills of the governor, and would want the buy-in of several well-meaning stakeholders before Okorocha pulls the wools before their eyes.
Onyeagocha not only said Okorocha’s style was full of deceit, but that he has drifted towards dictatorship and despotism, features that do not make room for free speech under a democracy.
He also condemned the manner Okorocha has dealt with issues concerning the Imo pensioners, saying that he was “compelled to join forces with well-meaning and egalitarian APC leaders to rescue APC in Imo State and the State itself from you.”
Few days after Onyeagocha’s resignation, another former commissioner in Okorocha’s cabinet, Nick Oparandudu, then one of Okorocha’s trusted ally wrote another lengthy letter to the governor and itemized the things he has done that are not in tandem with the Imo office sharing formula.
Sources said Okorocha is in a fix over the big fishes in Imo politics, like Ifeanyi Araraume, who probably joined APC to use the platform to contest for governorship on the grounds that the Imo Charter of Equity will make it possible for power to shift away from Orlu where Okorocha comes from which has produced two governors that would have served for eight years each from 1999 to 2019.
If the power sharing formula is followed, Owerri and Okigwe zones are the two zones that can take a shot at the governorship contest after Okorocha’s eight years since 2011.
Armadanews.com got it on good authority that Okorocha wants to install his son in-law as a way of covering his tracts as most Imo politicians are in agreement that he ran a one man show as governor regardless of those he called his cabinet members and advisers.
“Okorocha does not trust anyone except himself. Even if he succeeds in planting his son in-law into office which will likely not happen, Okorocha will still want to rule Imo from his home or where ever he may be because Nwosu cannot look him in the eye for anything,” said our source.