Barely two weeks after Nigeria Newspoint graphically captured how Imo State Governor, Rochas Anayo Okorocha lost his alleged self succession battle in the All Progressives Congress APC, the National Working Committee, NWC of the party has finally drove the nail into his crumbling political empire and positioned it for a free fall with the choice of Sen Hope Uzodinma as the party governorship candidate for Imo State.
Not satisfied with that catastrophic blow it was also reliably gathered that the governor’s wings were clipped further by the sharing of tickets for the 27 House of Assembly seats among leaders of the party in the state.
Gov Okorocha’s unraveling which began July this year when chieftains of Imo APC opposed to his succession plan openly declared war against it through formation of APC Restoration Coalition Nigeria Newspoint gathered came to a dramatic denouement last Wednesday when the NWC took a final decision to submit Sen Uzodinma’s name to INEC
Thé party’s NWC reportedly relied on the governorship primary election conducted by the Alhaji Ahmed Gulak electoral committee in arriving at it’s decision.The second election said to have been won by Ugwumba Uche Nwosu had been technically shoved aside due to the belated submission of the report of the Prof Osehermin Osubor Electoral Appeal Panel report to the NWC.
During the submission the party chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole had in a no holds barred manner declared that the report would not be implemented because it came behind the timeline for the conduct of primaries and other activities there from.
That pronouncement to discerning persons was clear signal that the party is going to eventually fall back on the Alhaji Gulak committee’s report in taking a final decision on whose name to submit as the candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as governorship candidate for the state.
With this final decision the lingering battle of who will become the candidate of the APC between Okorocha’s camp and those opposed to it led by Sen Uzodinma and Prince Eze Madumere has ended at least at the party level. As it stands now,any action taken by the governor’s camp henceforth, which is perceived as anti party could elicit punishment from the party leadership.
This possible scenario no doubt leaves the governor just two options of either swallowing the humble pie and staying put in the Party or, better still quit it.
This second option can not be completely ruled out until the INEC publishes the list of governorship candidates which is expected to done today, Friday.
According to sources the governor has severally vowed that with or without APC Ugwumba Nwosu,his son in-law will contest 2019 governorship.This hard posture many say is further indication that he (Nwosu) may take the option of making a last minute switch to another party to pursue his guber ambition. That party many guess is Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Party sources also revealed that beyond Nwosu’s rejection, the governor also received another shocker with the harmonization of the party’s candidates for the State House of Assembly Seats.
According to them the party in pursuit of justice and fairness shared the tickets among the contending stakeholders which are the governor, Sen Uzodinma and the other governorship aspirants of the party.
This arrangement it was learnt led to the loss of tickets by some of Governor’s loyalists mainly in Owerri and Okigwe Zones. This is an action that is seen as another blow to the political underbelly of Rochas and his camp as it effectively crippled their structural hold on the party at grassroots
Reacting to the developments an aide to Sen Uzodinma who had earlier boasted that Gov Okorocha would fall said what played out was the exact reflection of “Ohashierism and Ofushierism” philosophy which Okorocha promoted with so much relish.He opined that people’s actions and words have a way of coming back to either, make or mar them in the future.
