” It’s like when your car got spoilt on the road, you’ve to go back where you packed it , repair it and start moving.”
By Ebenezer Ojor
Ahead of the 2027 Imo governorship poll, former two-time commissioner and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Imo state, Prof. Vitalis Orikeze-Ajumbe says to resuscitate the contentious Imo Charter of Equity ,it must begin with allowing Okigwe Zone to produce the next governor of the state for just four years, come 2027.
Prof Ajumbe who stated this during an interview with newsmen in Owerri, yesterday maintained that the Imo Charter of Equity which he noted, began with ex-Governor Achike Udenwa in 1999,
was truncated in 2011 with the support of Owerri Zone politicians.
“The Charter of Equity is good, but that equity was truncated in 2011. At the beginning of the Charter of Equity, Orlu went first and handed over to Okigwe. Okigwe did one term, Owerri truncated it.
“They sponsored another Orlu to drive away Okigwe. Is it because Okigwe is six local governments or what…?” Ajumbe queried.
He identified some prominent Owerri Zone politicians who according to him,, played major roles in bringing in Chief Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha from Orlu in 2011, adding that they also convinced him to run for Imo governorship on the platform of APGA.
Speaking further, Prof Ajumbe revealed that
“it was Owerri which also manufactured the lies against the then governor from Okigwe that he slapped a Reverend Father.
“A Reverend Father, Fr Eustace ,I met, I met him where he was serving somewhere at Ohaji. He told me he never saw Ohakim.
“Even the day we went to Fr Ejike Mbaka, Mbaka said he asked Fr Eustace, and Fr Eustace said he didn’t even see Ohakim.”
He queried why some Owerri leaders would manufacture such lies to blackmail Ohakim who eventually got out of office as governor in 2011.
“That was how they destroyed the Charter of Equity.
So, it is just like when your car got spoilt on the road, you have to go back to that place where you packed that car, repair it and start moving.”
On why he backs Okigwe zone despite the fact that he comes from Owerri Zone, Ajumbe hinted that if Owerri and Okigwe zones fail to mend fences in view of the perceived injustice meted on Okigwe Zone in 2011, an Orlu candidate could steal the show again in 2027.
He drew attention to the fact that Orlu politicians like Chief Charles Orie has recently declared his aspiration to run for Imo governorship in 2027, and warned that Owerri and Okigwe zones should not take such for granted.
He therefore, advocated a strong collaboration between Owerri Zone and Okigwe Zone to stop Orlu in 2027.
Ajumbe who opined that Governor Hope Uzodinma would be better off with a successor he already knows well to avoid the “Fubara scenario,”
made it clear that one more term of four years would be enough for Okigwe Zone to achieve her development objectives.
He also maintained that it would be easier and a shorter route for Owerri Zone to achieve the much-desired governorship project after Okigwe Zone had completed her remaining four years.