A former commissioner, Dr. Kelechukwu Okpalaeke has described Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha as an accidental governor who was never prepared for the position.
In an interview, Dr. Okpalaeke, who served as Commissioner for Special Duties during Chief Ikedi Ohakim era maintained that the incumbent governor was never groomed before his ascension to power.
Dr. Okpalaeke who later served as Commissioner for Information and Strategy in same administration asserted that Okorocha has no blueprint with which he is governing the state
Said he: ‘What I mean by the phrase “Accidental Governor” has more to do with the preparedness and readiness to govern, if one eventually wins. I do not believe for a second, that Okorocha in the wildest of his imagination believed that he was going to be declared the Governor of Imo State in 2011. He has not been trained over the years on the art of Governance and had absolutely no policy philosophy on how to govern.’
He went on: ‘So when I say that Okorocha is an accidental Governor what I mean is he has not had the grooming needed to think through what and how to move Imo State forward. The best way I can explain what I mean is by the following examples. First, you must identify exactly what the problems of a given environment are, in terms of governance and secondly, you have to design a road map to addressing these identified problems. But frankly speaking, it takes one who has a burning concern for his environment to truly identify the problems and define them before proffering solutions. ‘
Dr. Okpalaeke also asserted that the governor has shown utter disregard to the rule of law and the constitution of the country and as a result should not retain the moniker: Your Excellency.’
According to him, should Okorocha be allowed to go scot-free, he would have succeeded in setting a bad precedent for future governors.
‘Okorocha has an absolute disdain for the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and even the Nigerian constitution, and as such should not retain the moniker “Your Excellency” because future governors may act and conduct themselves as he does and still believe that they should be so addressed. It does set a very bad precedence. Your Excellency should be reserved for a servant-leader who intends to govern, while his Royal Majesty is reserved for an Emperor who only intends to rule because his words and conduct become the law.’
The former commissioner insisted that Okorocha never won the 2011 governorship election. He also spoke on other issues. Excerpts of the interview will be published in the Monday, December 9, 2013 edition of Nigeria Newspoint.
