Rt Hon. Emeka Ihedioha may as well be the best bet for the Imo State chapter of PDP as the 2015 Governorship Election draws near.
Indications that the Mbaise born Food Scientist turned politician would be thrown up as the preferred candidate of the PDP leadership, emerged recently at the South East geo political regional rally held at Enugu, last Friday April 11, 2014 where the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives took the centre stage, controlling the affairs and managing the surging crowd to the admiration of the national chairman, Adamu Muazu and President Jonathan.
The sterling leadership qualities and managerial ingenuity displayed by Rt Hon. Emeka Ihedioha were so marvelous that a highly impressed National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Muazu singled him out as a Governorship Candidate and subsequently pronounced it loud and clear.
Speaking at the occasion, the National Chairman in a typical grandstanding while celebrating the presence of the new Governor of Anambra State, Chief William Obiano who joined the rally smiling cheerfully, boasted that with Anambra State eventually collapsing for PDP as confirmed by the presence of Obiano at the rally, the only state in the South East where the PDP would mobilize all its resources, energy and time to capture next, is Imo State. To demonstrate the readiness of PDP to re-capture Imo State in 2015, Alhaji Muazu declared that with such “governorship candidates as Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and others, PDP would certainly re-capture Imo State in 2015”.
Most of the PDP governorship aspirants like Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, Rt. Hon. Bethel Amadi, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Prof. Jude Njoku, Barr. Bethel Nzimako, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, Emma Ojinere etc, were however, not amused at being lumped up together as “others”, against a bourgeoning Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha. They likened the description of “Candidate Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and others” to the notorious description that Nigeria has only University of Ibadan (UI) and others meaning that the other mushroom universities in Nigeria put together cannot even match the University of Ibandan, which is the first university in Nigeria.
The incident has already forced the others to gang up against Emeka Ihedioha who the National Chairman of PDP in an unguarded utterance succeeded in pitting against his highly respected contemporaries who have vowed to stop at nothing at frustrating him from becoming the next Governor of Imo State. According to the local media aide to Senator Chris Anyanwu, “Emeka Ihedioha is not a candidate of the authentic leaders of Mbaise nation. Chris Anyanwu, he said has the authentic Mbaise leaders behind her aspiration and would at the right time displace Ihedioha”. Meanwhile Okigwe political leaders have queried the justification for the president clamour by Owerri Zone for the Governorship of Imo State in 2015. According to a release, copy of which was made available to the Community Watch Dog Owerri Zone cannot use zoning as a yardstick for insisting on producing the next governor of Imo State. This is because they were instrumental to emergence of Owelle Rochas Okorocha in 2011 against the zoning arrangement which provides that Okigwe zone should complete her eight years before Owerri Zone can take another shot at the governorship. Okigwe Political leaders recalled that the zoning arrangement started with an Owerri Governor in the person late Senator Evan Enwerem who ruled the state between 1991 and 1992. By 1999 Chief Achike Udenwa was elected from Orlu Zone. Despite Udenwa’s poor record of achievements, he was re-elected to complete eight years in 2003. Besides the zoning arrangement, it was contention by Okigwe leaders that since Owerri Zone presently has the Deputy Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, |Deputy Governor to Rochas Okorocha, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a host of other members of boards of federal parastatals, they should support the agitation by Okigwe Zone to complete her eight years rather than use their position as Deputy Speaker Federal House of Representatives, to hijack the PDP governorship ticket for 2015.
Courtesy: Community Watchdog Newspaper
