Araraume Replies Okorocha: “Okorocha Is Afraid Of Me”
Loading ...Senator Ifeanyi Araraume Media Office
Destiny House, Onitsha Road, Owerri.
Re: With Due Respect, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume Lied. He Is Not One Of
The Founders Of APC And Has Never Been A Good Party Man
The attention of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume’s media office has been
drawn to a press statement by the Imo state governor, His Excellency,
Chief Rochas Okorocha, through his chief press secretary, Mr. Sam
Onwuemeodo, on the above subject from which he, however, went ahead to
pass several other scathing remarks on the senator. Overall, our take
on the governor’s statement is that it confirmed our earlier fears
that Governor Okorocha was the one who planted recent stories in the
media to the effect that Senator Araraume wants to leave the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Okorocha’s current antics is a clear indication that he sees
Senator Araraume as the main stumbling block to his blind ambition to
pocket the Imo APC and install a puppet as the next governor of the
state and in a final bid to cover his tracks after leaving office. We
recall that the senator, in answer to questions by reporters at the
Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja recently, had refuted the
lie over his speculated exit from the party and went ahead to
acknowledge that the rumour was the handiwork of those who are afraid
and worried that they have lost control of the APC in Imo state.
Evidently, those rebuttals angered Governor Okorocha and rather than
face realities, he has gone further with his campaign of calumny
against the senator. Hence, his latest press statement.
But even the least discerning observer of events in the Imo APC knows
that the governor’s latest antics is in desperate pursuit of a remedy
to his loss of relevance in the party as clearly illustrated by
recent developments. Only a few weeks ago, the party held the first
ever State Executive Committee/stakeholders meeting in the state
devoid of any inputs from the governor, the so-called leader of the
party in the state. It is common knowledge that Governor Okorocha did
everything to sabotage the meeting once the State Working Committee
(SWC) refused to bow to pressure from him to have the meeting held at
the government house. That refusal by the SWC, headed by Chief Hilary
Ekeh, angered Governor Okorocha who not only avoided the meeting but
rather allegedly sent thugs to disrupt it. But that plan failed and
the stakeholders went ahead to hold the meeting at which crucial
decisions were taken and even went further to raise funds to the tune
of over N50 million, the first of its kind since the coming into being
of the APC in the state.
Needless to say, the main significance of the huge success recorded by
that meeting is that Governor Okorocha has lost grip of the party
which he hitherto ran as a private company; just as he does for the
entire state. This is where His Excellency, Chief Rochas Okorocha, is
now. . Add to this the fact that the governor had only a few weeks
before that crucial meeting, embarked on the misadventure of having
all elected officials of the party sacked but which backfired, and it
will become quite clear why Chief Okorocha, who has become almost a
pariah as far as the Imo APC is concerned, is now running from pillar
to post. Hence, his current diatribe on Senator Araraume who he
believes is his nemesis
PARTY MAN
Senator Araraume is, of course, right in claiming that he is a
founding member of the APC. The discussions for merger started in 2011
when he was a caucus member of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN,
and part of the merger talks. The discussions went very far between
the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, the ACN, the All Nigeria
Peoples Party, ANPP and others. However, the merger could not be
consummated then, due to the closeness of the 2011 presidential
elections.
Governor Okorocha was still in the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA). Even with his clout as a governor and claim as a political
leader in the Southeast, he could not bring APGA to be part of the
legacy parties of the APC. He only joined as an individual much later.
Now, the question is, who, between the two was a foundation member of
the APC? In his press statement under reference, the governor claimed
that Senator Araraume “has never been a good party man”. This
statement is a good example of the pot calling the kettle black.
Governor Okorocha should first examine his own trajectory since the
beginning of the current dispensation. He started with the Democratic
Party of Nigeria (DPN), then to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
After the PDP governorship primaries in 1998 in which he lost, the
party compensated him with the senatorial ticket for Orlu zone. But
he was roundly defeated by Chief Arthur Nzeribe of the then All
Peoples Party, APP; while Chief Araraume won handsomely in Okigwe zone
and Chief Evan Enwerem in Owerri zone.
Shortly after the 1999 general election, Chief Okorocha formed the
Action Alliance (AA) party but abandoned it for the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP) where he was allegedly sponsored to reduce the
chances of the party by joining its presidential race which he also
lost. He later returned to the PDP and was settled with the position
of an Adviser to the president. The outcome of that appointment is in
the public domain. Upon getting sacked from that job, he again
returned to AA for a short while before again going back to the PDP
where he ran for the office of the national chairman in September 2007
and failed woefully. In 2011, he berthed in APGA. Now he is in APC. In
2015 he was again in his usual routine of a “game spoiler” as he was
allegedly sponsored to torpedo the chances of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at
the APC presidential primaries. Reports have it that Governor Okorocha
is one of the five governors that have secretly joined he Social
Democratic Party, SDP and only waiting for an auspicious time to
unveil himself. We then ask, can Chief Ethelbert Anayo Okorocha beat
his chest and pride himself as a “GOOD PARTY MAN”?
Even so, Okorocha always left behind a trail of woes in each party he
berthed in. Let’s take the newest examples. He destroyed the Imo state
chapter of APGA after it had given him a governorship ticket on a
platter of gold and helped him win the 2011 governorship election. But
how did Okorocha reward the party? He criminalized all the people he
met in the party. A good example is that of his erstwhile deputy,
Chief Jude Agbaso. Of course, the story is too well known to be
repeated here. Eventually, he left the party battered and shattered.
Today, he is at it again with the APC. Nearly all the politicians of
note in the state who came into APC with him have left for other
parties.
We ask, what is Governor Okorocha’s relationship with the following
personalities who assisted him to his present position today: Prof
Anthony Anwuka, Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, Senators Osita Izunaso and
Benjamin Uwajumogu, Chief PC Onuoha, Hon Uche Onyeagocha, Hon Mathew
Omegara, Chief Best Mbanaso, Chief TOE Ekechi, Chief Ejike Uche, Chief
Esiobu, Barr Iheukwumere Alaribe etc. They have all seen him for who
he is and abandoned him. The most pathetic is the case of Prince Eze
Madumere, who served him for over 20 years without blemish and later
went to jail so that Okorocha could become governor. What is his
relationship with Madumere today? The only fellow with Governor
Okorocha today as a political ally is his son-in-law, Mr. Uche Nwosu,
whom he wants to foist on the state as his successor.
SENATOR ARARAUME AND HIS DEMOCRATIC BATTLES
Governor Okorocha is fond of alluding to the various instances in the
past when Senator Araraume stood his grounds to fight for the
enthronement of internal democracy in the parties. It is a well-known
fact that in all the cases, he came out triumphant. A case in point is
that of the PDP in 2006/2007 when the apex court in the land, the
Supreme Court, affirmed that he was the authentic governorship
candidate of the party. That the election went the way it did is a
different matter. Today, the case is a Locus Classicus.
He almost repeated that feat in 2015 but for the fact that the matter
became time barred. Even so, Chief Okorocha became the beneficiary of
that insistence by Senator Araraume that there must be fair play in
party politics. Even a school boy in Imo state knows that had the
Senator not decided to fight what happened at the PDP 2014 primary
election, Chief Okorocha would not have been re-elected for a second
term. There have been only three instances where Senator Araraume had
to leave his party. The first was in 1999 when he left the then APP as
state chairman to contest for the Okigwe zone senatorial seat under
the PDP. And which he won. The second was in 2008 when the national
leadership of the PDP dissolved the elected state executives of the
party, whose tenure was yet to expire, and handed it over to the then
governor, Ikedi Ohakim, following his return to the party.
The third was in 2015 when he won the PDP primary election which was
fraudulently manipulated in favor of another aspirant. After several
meetings with the leaders of the party including President Goodluck
Jonathan, Chief Tony Anenih and the national chairman, Ahmed Muazu,
there were so much foot-dragging until the matter became time barred.
As such, the Senator rightly felt cheated and betrayed his own party.
The final point to note is that it is becoming too late in the day for
Governor Okorocha. The APC in Imo has left him behind. However, the
train can be momentarily halted to let him in if he is ready to
cultivate team spirit and eschew greed and insatiable appetite for
grabbing. As noted earlier, the APC faithful made a bold statement on
Sunday, March 18, 2018; which is that they have taken back their party
from him. It is not about Ifeanyi Araraume or Rochas Okorocha. It is
about repositioning the party for the great task ahead.
Signed:
Ethelbert Okere
Media Consultant to Senator Ifeanyi Araraume
