The dust raised by the absence Imo State governor among the South East governors that met with President Buhari on Wednesday at Aso Rock, Abuja, is yet to rest as tongues are wagging on reasons why Owelle Rochas Okorocha would be missing from the delegation. South East governors accompanied by Senate Deputy President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu met with President Buhari and discussed on common issues affecting Ndi Igbo in Nigeria.
Trumpeta noticed the absence of Okorocha with other governors from the South East present, while no representative or apologies for his absence was given for his absence.
Okorocha’s absence raised eyebrow following his position as the only Igbo governor of APC extraction as well as the governor’s constant clamour for Ndi Igbo to vote for Buhari in 2019 election.
Imo State is the only South East State controlled by the ruling APC. Okorocha has been a major piloter of the campaign for Buhari in the South East.
Nigerans, especially Imolites express great worry over the conspicuous absence of Okorocha who it was expected to have been available and play significant role in the demand of the South East States who met Buhari to clamour for the consideration of the zone in the distribution of democracy dividends.
Majority of Imolites who reacted on the issue were of the view that either there is a great disconnect between Okorocha and other governors of Igbo States or presence of a missing gap in their relationship.
Suspicion is also rife that the absence of the state governor may not be unconnected to the current trend of events in Imo APC chapter where the governor and his political camp are at losing end of the battle for the soul of APC in Imo State. And to express ill feelings about the indifference approach of the Presidency to his plight, the governor may have tactically kept off as a means of expressing his feelings.
This newspaper recalls that in the past few weeks, issues of APC primaries dominated the political scene. Okorocha almost abandoned Imo State for Abuja and was regularly spotted interfacing with President Buhari in Aso Rock. It became worrisome that he was absent at a time his colleagues from the zone emptied into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to discuss welfare of Ndigbo in the Nigerian State.
