Four years after leaving office, the former governor of Imo state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim is angling to make a bold return and he is being bullish about it, insisting that he is the only person who has the capacity to defeat the incumbent, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. In this interview with some select journalists in Owerri, the former governor says only respect to Imo Charter of Equity can save the unborn generation of Imo people. ATHAN AGBAKWURU was there for Nigerian Pilot
How do you handle the issue of zoning and Charter of Equity?
Of course, I am for zoning and for Charter of Equity. And let me seize this opportunity to correct those who say there is nothing like Charter of Equity. Of course there is a document to that effect and I have a copy. Zoning is a political imperative at this stage of our democratic journey and I support it whole heartedly at all levels. It is also enshrined in the PDP constitution. And happily the National Confab, made up of some of the most patriotic and knowledgeable Nigerians, has recommended zoning of political offices in the country. That is why at the national level, majority of Nigerians are requesting that President Jonathan be allowed to do another four years in order to complete the eight years the South-south geopolitical zone is entitled to. If that is not done, it will pose a problem in the future. But if we start with the South-south, then when it comes to the turn of another zone, things will move on smoothly. Apart from that, President Jonathan is doing a very good job which he has to complete. Bringing the matter down home, that is why some of us are saying that we should begin now to lay a solid foundation for the Charter of Equity by allowing Okigwe zone, where I come from, to do another four years to complete the eight years it is statutorily entitled to.
But Owerri zone argue that Okigwe has done a total of eight years, that is putting together your tenure and that of the late Mbakwe and that it has done only about 18 months
With due respect, I do not think it is proper for me to argue about Owerri or Mbakwe administration, which was in old Imo before the advent of PDP. If you trace the apparent indoctrination over the Owerri zone matter and the avalanche of media reports, you will discover that it is coming from the government in power. You may be surprised to hear this. That does not mean that Owerri people are not agitating. But the orchestration is coming from government because the people there now know that if the PDP is pressured into giving Owerri zone the ticket, Okigwe will vote Rochas Okorocha and he will continue. If you look at the age of the aspirants from Owerri zone, they are all in the same age bracket. Therefore, there is peer-group jealousy among them. So, they will prefer somebody from outside the zone who will do only four years so that they can return to the ring in 2019. Another reason for that orchestration is that Okorocha is afraid of my candidature because that is the only one that can bring him face to face with somebody who has a record of performance; that will enable Imo people put both of us on the scale, project by project, quality by quality, income by income, economics by economics and in terms of affinity for democratic governance. In spite of what people are sponsored to write in the newspapers, you and I know that Imo people have since seen that my administration was more focused and sophisticated. And that they have discovered the lies told about me. So, that is why the Okorocha’s camp is panicking over my candidacy.
They have devised a way of secretly latching into the Owerri agitation.
We are talking about a new era, a new dispensation, a new God-given opportunity to settle the debate once and for all. The reason why some people claim that there is no Charter of Equity is because the modalities for implementing it have not been clearly defined. We now have an opportunity to do that. That’s why it was possible for Orlu zone to produce another governor after eight years of Achike Udenwa. And you can see that some people there still believe that the zone can continue. If you do not stop Okorocha now, it will continue and he can even install a successor from Orlu after another four years. So, what some of us are saying is that since we believe in the Charter of Equity, let us deliberately and proactively lay a foundation for it so that nobody can flout it again in future. That is how a people can grow. We are talking about the future. Four years is nothing in the life of a people. The future interest of a people should supersede that of an individual’s personal ambition. Like I said earlier, if I had gotten justice at the courts, my brothers and sisters from Owerri zone would have still supported me till 2018. I can assure you that if the governorship goes to Owerri zone next year, we will be back to the same debate in 2019. Mark my word, the Owerri zone governor will again be leading delegations to others zones to be allowed to do another four years. Is that what we want? Whereas, if we do the proper thing now, we will save ourselves from that problem. I am not saying this because I want to be governor again. As I said, it is not a do or die but I am saying that we should look at the future. As one pastor said, we should forget the past, forgive the present and bless the future. We, the present members of the political elite should forgive one another and bless the future of those coming behind us by doing the proper thing now.
Assuming that the people of Owerri zone agree to this, why must it be Ikedi Ohakim?
It must not be me. That’s not the impression I am trying to create. We are talking about leaving a legacy for the people. Everybody in the country has agreed that what happened in Imo in 2011 was an accident deliberately effected on a vehicle moving on top speed. If we have agreed to that, is it not only human that we ask about those who were in that vehicle. Where are they now and where is the vehicle? But beyond analogies, I want to tell you that our great party knows that I am probably the only person it can use to successfully counter the propaganda by Okorocha and his party that he should be allowed to continue because he will have only four more years to go and handover to a fellow from Owerri zone.
Any other candidates from Okigwe zone have the luxury of doing eight years. We have experienced it before. Okorocha promised to do four years and hand over to somebody from Owerri zone; and even swore to that. But once he got there, he started demolishing those with whom he entered into that agreement. The incumbent governor himself is the only other fellow in Imo state, apart from me, that can do only four years. So, I am the only person from our party that can neutralize the advantage he has because he will definitely try to take advantage of that in wooing the support of people of Owerri zone. Yes, it must not be Ikedi Ohakim but we are talking about advantage of what you have to get what you want.
There are some aspirants from Okigwe zone like you who are against zoning because they believe that a party in opposition does not zone.
First, go and find out what such people said about zoning before now. They supported it before but have only changed because of certain emerging factors. More importantly, the postulation that a party in opposition does not zone is utter rubbish. Which theory of political science is that?
Which authority are they referring to. On the contrary, you will discover that in spite of all the attempts to pretend that zoning is not important, its attraction has remained. I just reminded you that the just concluded national conference has recommended it as an official policy at all levels. And they did not say it is not for parties in opposition. On the contrary, a party in opposition has to make use of all the technical and peculiar details in the particular polity to be able to win. Today, the truth is that Imo people believe in zoning and any party that dismisses that does so at its own peril. What we are even saying is that the PDP should take full advantage of this belief in zoning by helping the state to lay a solid foundation for its practice under the Charter of Equity.
Of late, there have been anxieties in the state over security matters. As a former governor, do you have any suggestions?
Well, I am concerned just like every other Imo person or Nigerian and there is no doubt that the security agencies are on top of the situation. The worry is that the current administration in the state has created an environment that may lead to security problems. When you have a private army or police in the name of vigilante, you are creating room for militancy. If you move around the state today, you see all sorts of people in uniform, most of them armed harassing the people. That is a condition for unrest if things are not properly handled. All over, there is so much unruliness because the impression was given that the people were being oppressed and today they have been liberated. But that is an indirect way of creating enmity among the people of the state. Liberated from whom? You go and build a place and call it Freedom Square. Freedom from whom? You erect a giant bill board with somebody breaking loose from chains. Is that not telling the people that they are a bunch of cowards and timid people? You go and mount Nelson Mandela’s pictures somewhere and call it Freedom Square. Is that not laughable? Mandela was fighting for his people against white domination. So, the analogy Okorocha is creating is both laughable and depictive of Imo people as ignorant. Such things are affecting the psychology of the people. They feel talked down. They are meant to feel that they are fighting with their own brothers and sisters. That should not be. Imolites are not fighting one another. But that is what Okorocha came to inculcate in their psyche. It is not fair.
There was a recent incident in the state when the son of the late legal icon, Justice Oputa took away the microphone from Governor Okorocha who wanted to make a speech at the funeral service. Some say it serves Okorocha right. What is your position on this matter?
It serves nobody right. If anything, it is one of the worst things that could happen to a state. Government is like a deity. I will never support that type of thing. I was there and I wasn’t happy at all. But that’s what I have been saying all along, that a government should comport itself. Okorocha was not yet a governor when he started teaching people that you could disrespect people in office. In 2011, he organized people to block a presidential convoy. He also recruited Okada riders when we banned them to go and excrete in my private house in Owerri. Up till now, he still organizes people to demonstrate against fellow citizens of the state. Have you ever heard that before, a government demonstrating against ordinary citizens? It should be the other way round. People demonstrate against government but in Imo, the reverse is the case. Before Okorocha came, nobody could abuse a governor publicly. The only thing they could do was to tell lies against people in government. Okorocha is the first governor whose aids denigrate publicly. I think that is not good enough for that office. I am against anything that could lead to disrespect of the office of the governor. In spite of Okorocha’s antics, he remains our governor and I am against any act of deliberate disrespect to him. But let him watch himself. I personally regret the Oguta incident.