The misfortune that befell Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha during the conduct of the party Congresses in the state has been traced to forces from Abuja than the antics of the Coalition group of APC Stakeholders, otherwise known as the Allied Forces.
At the end of the Congresses, elements suspected to be working for the interest of the governor went to court to challenge the exercise. The court move indicates a loss of the soul of the party by Okorocha.
Trumpeta can reveal that the Allied Forces, comprising notable political figures in Imo State couldn’t have torpedoed the governor but for tactical assistants provided by some forces in Abuja against the governor.
This newspaper had in its last edition exclusively revealed why President Muhammad Buhari has not stepped into the state for any official visit since the 2015 election. Trumpeta gave reasons why Buhari who was renamed Okechukwu Buhari by Okorocha to market his candidature in Igboland has yet to revisit Owerri for any purpose even as the governor has held attractive state functions including his celebrated month long birthday that attracted President’s of different countries into the state.
It is believed that the same factors keeping Buhari away from state may have be responsible for travails of the Imo governor during the just concluded Congress.
Though Okorocha had on repeated cases cried out by pointing accusing fingers at the outgoing APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for his woes he suffered in the hands of the Allied Forces during the Congresses, Trumpeta findings reveal that such complete routing of a state governor in a party congress cannot be successful except with the approval of the powers that be at the centre.
In spite of Okorocha’s position of Chairman of APC’s Governors’ Forum and fervent claims of the party structure, the outcome of the congress saw him and followers in the Rescue Mission become losers.
Checks conducted by the newspaper showed that it is only the Imo State governor among other APC chief executives who played the losers game during the party’s May 2018 Congresses signalling that superior forces unconnected to the powers that be in Abuja were involved in the demystification of Okorocha.
Information has it that the congress exercise was the only available option the powers that be in Aso Rock needed to whittle the influence of Okorocha in APC beginning from his backyard in Imo. It was learnt that the visits of Olusegun Obasanjo to Imo State governor and the former President’s clamour for an Igbo President made Okorocha become a suspect in eyes of the Presidency after he reportedly debunked an earlier claim that APC Governors hasn’t endorsed Buhari for a second term.
To disarm Okorocha ahead APC party primaries and ensure he is politically impotent for 2019 election, Trumpeta learnt that the power brokers in Abuja had to come back the rampaging Allied Forces who made a mincemeat of the governor.
It wasn’t surprising that most appointees serving in Buhari’s government like Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, a Federal Commissioner of the NCC, Hon Emeka Nwajiuba in charge of ETF, and NSTIF boss, Jasper Azuatalam are bottled in one camp to battle the governor against gaining control of Imo APC.
The Abuja Factor is also said to be responsible for the lukewarm attitude of Prof Anthony Anwuka to the desire of Okorocha projecting his Chief of Staff and son in-law, Uche Nwosu as successor as well as advancing the course of the governor’s Rescue Mission political family at the upper level. Anwuka ironically, like Nwosu is also an in-law to Okorocha and owes his nomination to be a Minister in Buhari’s cabinet, to the governor. But, the Abuja Factor working against Okorocha interest and dictated by the Presidency has induced him to think otherwise.
The Presidency forces working against Okorocha was also responsible for the zero action of President Buhari when he ran to Daura, Katsina state to lament about the accusations he levelled against some politicians of the Allied Forces on May 5, Ward Congress event. Apparently irked by the manner he was edged out, Okorocha hopped into his private jet with second son, a House of Reps member and serving commissioner to meet the President. It was learnt that no positive response came from Buhari over his complaints even as the subsequent efforts of using the security agencies, especially Police and the DSS, including the INEC to frustrate the outcome of the congress were futile.
Sources from the party national Secretariat have it that the issue of Allied Forces was a smokescreen to the real obstacle as a more powerful Abuja factor barred the governor from control of the party after the Congresses
