- Nobody can stop me from contesting – Madumere
- N2bn allegedly voted for Gov’s son-in-law’s endorsement
The wife of the Imo State Governor, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha, is allegedly plotting to remove the state Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, to make way for her son-in-law and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Uche Nwosu, in 2019.
The Point gathered that the governor’s wife had a strong influence in the choice of who picks the ruling All Progressives Congress’ governorship ticket in the state, as she allegedly insisted that her son in-law must succeed her husband as governor.
It was gathered that the governor’s wife had asked her husband to make a public declaration, adopting her son-in-law as sole candidate of the APC for the governorship race.
But in a somewhat display of tact, the governor had told reporters last week that he was deliberately shielding his successor because, “I don’t want people to kill him, if I reveal his identity to the public.”
He, however, urged his Chief of Staff, Nwosu; the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Eche; and the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, to get the endorsement of their local government areas, adding that whoever had the backing of his people would have his support.
But the governor suddenly made a U-turn, when a group from Owerri municipal town visited him at the Government House, asking him to endorse Nwosu.
The governor was said to have now resorted to giving tacit support to his son in-law, as against the initial loud support from the Government House, having been assailed by public criticisms.
MASS PROTEST FOR MADUMERE
But Okorocha’s veiled support for Nwosu was not lost on some party members, who are in support of other contestants, respectively. While some are behind Madumere, others are rooting for Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. The situation recently sparked off a wild protest, as some members of the APC in the state organised a solidarity rally in support of the deputy governor.
Sources close to the Government House told our correspondent, at the weekend, that Mrs. Okorocha was angered by the solidarity rally in support of Madumere, carried out by APC members sympathetic to him.
The unprecedented crowd of protesters had taken hold of the popular roads around Government House, mouthing slogans and singing songs that projected the deputy governor as the most qualified successor to Okorocha.
PLOT TO IMPEACH DEP GOV THICKENS
As soon as the solidarity rally died down, Madumere’s number two position reportedly came under threat from Okorocha’s ‘kitchen cabinet’, which became angry by the popularity the deputy governor had attained of late, especially as the protesters threatened Governor Okorocha with mass defection to the opposition PDP, if Madumere was not picked as his successor.
It was gathered that the governor’s wife is now plotting Madumere’s impeachment from office to reduce his influence and relevance, and pave the way for Nwosu.
She is reportedly using her enormous political structure within the corridors of power in the state, to reach out to some state’s lawmakers from Owerri zonal constituencies, where Madumere hails from, for the impeachment move.
It was learnt that Madumere, who was said to have served the governor for many years, right from the time they were in Jos, Plateau State, had, in recent time, been witch-hunted in the Government House, as pro-impeachment advocates now saw him as an obstacle that had to be removed “before it is too late.”
Some of the APC members, who spoke under anonymity, alleged that the governor’s wife was bent on installing her son in-law as governor, claiming further that the state government reserved about N2billion to be spent on getting prominent politicians and other stakeholders in the state to support an Nwosu candidature.
“The issue of who succeeds Okorocha is giving the governor a nightmare really. The governor had played with words and manipulated situations to his favour, but it appears selling his choice of successor is becoming a biblical camel trying to pass through the eye of the needle,” a source averred.
But in a swift reaction, the state government has denied making moves to impeach the deputy governor.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, explained that those who cooked up the impeachment story in the hope that it would help them in their ambition were also the ones marketing it.
Onwuemeodo challenged politicians in the state “who are angling for Okorocha’s job in 2019 and who think that they can realise their ambition without the support of the Governor to go and do something similar to what he (Okorocha) did in 2011 and 2015, by taking the ticket of APGA and winning the election and by joining the APC and also winning for a second term in 2015.”
He noted that there were political parties looking for people to offer their tickets, and that “any of the aspirant who thinks or feels that he has the political capacity to win election in Imo state without Rochas’ contribution, should go for the ticket of one of the less fancied parties and win election and let the people see.”
As for Imo APC, Onwuemeodo said his boss would not leave it for anybody, “because, when he was risking his second tenure and life to build the party, most of these people were either not there or were sitting on the fence.”
NOBODY CAN STOP ME – MADUMERE
Meanwhile, the embattled Imo deputy governor has vowed not to back down from his governorship aspiration, despite obvious threats to his position.
Speaking on his behalf, in an interview with our correspondent, the Chief Press Secretary to Madumere, Mr. Uche Onwuchekwa, said, “The deputy governor is still on course in his determination to contest for the governorship of the state come 2019. He will not be deterred by any move, as I can assure you that the governorship project is still on course.”
STATE APC POLARISED
Already, the crisis of succession sparked by the battle of wits between the governor and his deputy over the former’s alleged move to impose his son-in-law, has polarised the APC in the state. It was learnt that some groups opposed to the roles being played by the governor and his wife, had taken their case to the party leadership in Abuja, asking it to wade in and call the governor to order.
“We have taken the matter to some leaders to intervene, but if they fail to call the governor to order, we will be left with no other option than to take steps that may lead to more crisis in the party; we will resist the imposition of any candidate on us,” a source said.
ARARAUME MAY COME AS THIRD FORCE
It was, however, gathered at the weekend that Araraume, who has been a serial governorship contestant in the state, looks set to reap from the bottled anger in the state’s APC, over the alleged move by the governor to impose
Nwosu.
Araraueme has reportedly courted the only APC senator from the South East, from Imo, Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, to enlist his support for his governorship ambition. Uwajumogu, too, is reportedly warming up to return to the Senate and is said to be warming up for the Senate Presidency (as he would have become a second-timer from a zone perceived to have been marginalised). He is expected to work for Araraume and
vice versa.
The synergy between Uwajumogu and Araraueme, according to sources, recently encouraged President Muhammadu Buhari to dump Okorocha in the President’s search for an arrowhead for his campaigns in the South East, ahead of 2019.
This is said to be aside from the alleged loquacious nature of the governor, which often draws flaks, especially from Buhari’s detractors and which greatly unsettled the Presidency.
About two months ago, Buhari held a secret meeting with Uwajumogu in Aso Rock Villa, where he expressed worries that the fortune of the party in the entire South East was fast dwindling and yet he had been kept in the dark concerning the true picture of the situation on ground in the zone.
The President also reportedly expressed the concern that if the situation in the South East continued the way it was, and measuring the performance of the party at the last governorship election in Anambra State, where even party chieftains like Tony Nwoye, Chris Ngige, Uche Ekwunife, Andy Ubah and the rest could not deliver their local government areas to APC, he might lose the election in the region, just as he did during the presidential election in 2015.
IMO, BIG TASK FOR TINUBU’S COMMITTEE
However, there are indications that the APC reconciliation committee, headed by the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would have to go the extra mile in its effort to unite Okorocha with the duo of Uwajumogu and Araraume, when it comes visiting Imo.
Sources said a recent private visit to the state by Tinubu was used to reconcile the warring Imo politicians, but the efforts reportedly failed, as Okorocha was not keen in asking his son-in-law to stand down from his ambition. Instead, he reportedly hollered, “Let them all go to the field, partake in the primary and let’s see who will win.”
Sources also said Okorocha had not forgiven Uwajumogu for going to hold a ‘secret’ meeting with the President without putting him into confidence.
“As far as the governor is concerned, Uwajumogu had played Judas and so cannot be trusted again. In fact, as things stand, the governor is bent on circumventing the second term aspiration of Uwajumogu, to make sure that he doesn’t return to the Senate, much less become a Senate President,” a source said.
It was learnt that, to checkmate the senator, the governor had decided to prop up his Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, from Okigwe zone, to challenge Senator Uwajumogu’s second term bid, at the APC primary
election.
