Chief Tobby Anumaka, Patron Okpoko Igbo, a Pan Igbo Socio-Cultural Organisation and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has explained how the coalition of major political actors in Imo APC against imposition of candidates ahead of 2019, tamed the governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha.
He also dismissed speculation that the results of the party congresses in the state may be cancelled to accommodate Okorocha, insisting that the governor has no option but to heed President Muhammadu Buhari’s advice to put his house in order and forget the idea of his son in-law succeeding him in 2019.
Governor Rochas Okorocha said some of you ganged up against him in the just concluded APC congresses. What would you say made many, including you, his friend turned against Okorocha?
We didn’t conspire against Governor Rochas Okorocha who was and still my friend during the recent congresses of my party, APC in Imo State. The governor is supposed to join hands with us to ensure APC retain Imo State in 2019, instead he chose to be an emperor and a stumbling block on the way of the party by trying to impose his will on the people. As stakeholders, we cannot fold our hands and watch Okorocha destroy our party because of his selfish interest. So, leaders of the party both at ward and state levels have clearly told the governor that he cannot impose his son in-law on the people as his successor.
You were an exponent of Okorocha up to few months ago, why the sudden change?
Governor Okorocha and I are still and will always be friends and only a true friend can tell his friend the truth. The way Okorocha is going about who succeeds him turned him against most of us his friends and other stakeholders in our party. I called and advised him to forget about plotting for his son in-law to succeed him and that he can’t impose somebody on the people of Imo with over five million people and that the governor cannot force his will on us. He didn’t listen to some of us who campaigned and ensured he won his second term to govern the state. To tell you how much I supported Okorocha’s administration, I used my personal money to construct projects and I told my people that it was done by Okorocha’s government. He refused to consult major stakeholders in the state especially members of our party on who succeeds him in 2019, rather he went about it as if he has pocketed the people and nobody would have the gut to ask him why.
But Okorocha in a recent statement vowed that the executive produced by the congresses will not lead APC in Imo and since there were parallel congresses of the party in the state, do you consider the governor’s statement as mere threat?
There is no parallel executive of APC in Imo State because the National Secretariat told us that any congress not supervised by representatives of the national body will not be recognised. So, we had a successful ward and state congresses.
Is there any plan to resolve the matter before the national Convention of your party slated for Jun 23?
The governor remains the leader of the party in the state, but that doesn’t mean we won’t tell him the truth. We won’t allow him to continue to act like an emperor or maximum leader. There is a difference between leadership and rulership, so Okorocha is supposed to be a leader and not a ruler. We have known the governor as a leader but at a point in time he started acting like an emperor. You will agree with me that most emperors are rulers and not leaders.
Imo is just one case out of many where APC had parallel congresses, is it not going to affect the party’s chances in 2019?
The case of Imo is unique unlike other states where there are misunderstandings but not the governors trying to impose candidate on the people or making attempts for their son in-laws to take over from them. What Okorocha want to prove is that after his wife has become First Lady his daughter will become First Lady and we say the governor cannot achieve this in Imo State. There are a lot of people who have shown interest in the governorship seat and all they are asking for is a level playing field. Okorocha ought to know that the party constitution is supreme and the constitution states that we should accommodate rotation of positions.
If that is true why not allow Owerri zone to produce the next governor?
APC has not produced any other governor apart from Okorocha in Imo. Nobody is saying Owerri zone should not contest; rather what we are demanding from the governor is to allow for a level playing ground for all contestants to convince the electorate or delegates to nominate or elect them as candidates of their choice. Okorocha should remember that there are other political parties in the state ready to wrestle power from APC in 2019 and that is why we must unite to ensure we retain the state because a house divided against itself shall not stand. So, we must go to the political battle as a unified body, but I’m surprised the governor is going about it alone.
What is the way out?
Okorocha has ran to President Muhammadu Buhari twice and making statements, yet we have not made any statement. What we are waiting for now is the National Convention which will produce the national leadership of the party and finally nominations of candidates that will fly the party’s flag in various positions. However, after the national convention of our great party, we would address the fallout of the congresses in all the affected states. Whatever internal crisis we face in APC, I consider it as a family affair and would be resolved before we go into the general election.
Many will be on the side of Okorocha considering his efforts in sustaining APC in the state and his contribution to President Buhari’s victory in 2015, are you saying that the president will abandon the governor at this stage?
During the second and recent visit to the President in the Presidential Villa by Okorocha accompanied by the former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, where he went to plead with Buhari for soft-landing for Okorocha, the President advised him to go and put his house in order. Yes, President Buhari and APC stakeholders in Imo acknowledged the effort of the governor in the success of the party in the state, but that should not be a guarantee for Okorocha to turn the ruling party in the state into a private enterprise. This is exactly what he is trying to do and we say no and this is the cause of the problem in Imo APC. I know that President Buhari will never support personalisation of the party in state, which is the reason he advised Okorocha to accommodate other stakeholders because a tree does not make a forest even if it is an Iroko tree.
Are you not concerned that the dispute may cost APC the governorship seat?
That is exactly what we are making Okorocha to understand, that Imolites are not robots, they have minds of their own and politically active and should not be taken for granted. If Okorocha refuses to heed to the voice of the people and he goes ahead to push further for his son in-law, Uche Nwosu to succeed him, I’m afraid APC may lose Imo and that will be the end of Okorocha’s political career. The governor is fortunate to have been tolerated to this extent by Imo people and it is just because of the love we have for President Muhammadu Buhari that is why Okorocha is still governor. The people of Imo want to be in the mainstream of the country’s politics and have resolved to vote for President Buhari in 2019. So, the best Okorocha can do to sustain his political legacy beyond 2019 is to allow the people chose who succeeds him.
Many especially, the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s highlight of key areas of his administration’s achievement as contained in the May 2018 Democracy Day broadcast, what is your take?
The APC- led administration under the watchful eyes of President Muhammadu Buhari has delivered on its campaign promises. This government has continued to be applauded both locally and internationally for its laudable achievements especially in the fight against corruption. The one that gladdens my heart most is the promise by the President that he will in a couple of months sign into law the Not-Too- Young-to-Run Bill which has been passed into by the National Assembly. And he did as promised.
You will agree with me that electricity supply has improved; all drain pipe through which public funds were siphoned have been blocked, the home grown feeding programme is going on in 25 states and soon it will be extended to the remaining states.
In the case of security, we all knew how Boko Haram took over some local government areas in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in 2015, but today those areas have been reclaimed by the military and Sambisa forest that was dreaded has been busted and military barrack constructed. Normalcy has returned to the North-east as some people in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are returning to their homes. The rescue of some Chibok and Dapchi schools girls is a promise kept by President Buhari which the President of the United States, Donald Trump attested to when he received President Buhari in the White House recently.
On Agriculture, you will agree with me it has regained its place of pride once again. Most Nigerians have gone back to the farm because the sector has been made attractive by the government, that is why the youths are taking to farming and food production is being boosted. The N-Power programme of this government has earned young people opportunity to be meaningfully engaged.
The President has promised to bring those who disguise as herdsmen, killing people especially in the North-central to book. So, to me, Buhari has done well and I assure you that he will be re-elected in 2019 to continue the work he is doing.
-Sun
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