Some people say the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Imo State has become the beautiful bride
of Imo State politics; I want to add a rider to that: there are many
interesting events going on in Imo State APGA. True, the entrance of Capt
Emmanuel Ihenacho into the party was like a thunderbolt that took many by
surprise; it was an event that was billed to change the face of the party. Yes,
if perception is anything to the people, the entrance of Ihenacho to the party
was what led to a change in the perception of the people of the state about the
party, and that was after the party had been described as dead, and the cock
described as meat good for Christmas by Governor Rochas Okorocha. To some
people, what the party lost in Governor Rochas Okorocha was what it gained in
Ihenacho; at least, they have a big man in their midst, one they believe has
the capacity, not only to match but to win Okorocha in the 2015 governorship
election.
But Ihenacho’s entrance did
not leave the party without some headache: the first game was to have the
control of the party structure; and if you know what having the party structure
means in our kind of democracy where one man might think that a certain
political party belongs to him and his family and that he should decide what
goes on in the party at all times, you may not find it difficult to comprehend
why politicians in our clime struggle to have the control of the party
structure at all times. Ihenacho’s mission in APGA was not hidden: he came to
run for the governorship of the state in 2015, and he has since kept no one in
doubt about this. Then followed the dissolution of the state exco and the
inauguration of a new one. And of course, it was said that Ihemacho
masterminded this. What did you expect? That Ihenacho came to APGA to contest
the governorship of the state was enough to suspect that any change in the
leadership structure of the party was masterminded by him, but he has since
said he did not play any role in it. Again, the new exco, as if acting a
script, dissolved the local government structure of the party. This was
actually the climax of the controversies that have trailed the entrance of
Ihenacho into the party. That dissolution ruffled some feathers, and not long
afterwards, Chief Martin Agbaso left the party to join the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), making the coast clearer for Ihenacho.
With Agbao leaving the party
and Ihenacho gaining a firmer hold of the party, the stage was clear for his
adoption by the leadership of the party in the state as the consensus candidate
of the party for the governorship election in 2015. And although this has
raised some dust in the party, the adoption of Capt Ihenacho as the consensus
candidate of the party for the governorship election in 2015 is a great feat,
and those who engineered it deserve some commendation. But to me, that is not
all: there is a greater feat to achieve; there is a greater huddle to jump.
This huddle is the
overcoming of clannish politics. If Ihenacho can overcome clannish politics,
that is, playing politics or running his Captain Ihenacho Campaign Organization
(CICO) as if it were an extension of his kindred meeting, it will enhance his
chances of clinching the governorship of the state. Imolites have complained
against what they call the government of my family for my family and by my
family, and they are not ready to sell a dog and buy a monkey. What they want
is change, real change. Then, how would the change come through the display of
clannish politics?
If you take a critical look
at the constitution of CICO, a campaign organization for a man that wants to be
the next governor of Imo State, the campaign organization of a man that wants
to bring the change that Imo people have been searching for, you will only
weep. You will weep that apart from two members of CICO, the youth leader and
legal adviser, the rest are from Enmekuku. They all come from Ihenacho’s
community. They are all his kinsmen. Then my question is: what sort of campaign
organization is CICO? Or is it Emekuku Village Association? What on earth was
the reason behind the constitution of a team like this if not for clannish
interests; if not to patronize brothers in the spirit of brotherhood? And, my
worry is, if a governorship hopeful can pursue his political agenda with men
like these, what assurance do we have that when he wins we will not have a
government of Emekuku for Emekuku and by Emekuku?
In the spirit of the
endorsement as the consensus candidate of the party, and going forward, what
Ihenacho should do is to immediately disband the members of the organization
and reconstitute it. He should do this as a matter of urgency, else the
thinking that he is running an Enmekuku Campaign Organization will continue on
the minds of the people. Continuing with his kinsmen dominating the
organization is a defeatist strategy: the picture it paints is that Ihenacho is
clannish; that he only considers his own brothers. It gives the impression also
that Ihenacho is not at home in his Emekuku community and that he needs his
brothers on board to capture his own community. It also gives the impression
that Ihenacho does not have the contact spread; and of course, it shows how his
mind is working: that only his Emekuku kinsmen will save him and make him
governor. And perhaps, if he wins the governorship election, he will only appoint
his kinsmen into positions. This picture is bad, and Ihenacho does not need it.
Tell me what value
appointing his Emekuku kinsmen and making them dominate CICO or making his
kinsman the CICO DG would bring to his electoral victory in 2015? There are two
INEC wards in Emekuku. Ihenacho, the Agbasos and the Chikwes come from Emekuku
Ward 1 which has a voting strength of 6,295 voters. And since Chief Martin
Agbaso and Dr Mrs. Kema Chikwe do not feel good about Ihenacho, no one needs a
soothsayer to know that the 6,295 registered voters in Emekuku will be
seriously contested; and following the level of influence Agbaso and Chikwe
command in the area, not to talk of other politicians from other political
parties in the area, it is wise to conclude that Iheacho should not count on
the votes from his community because the prospect of violence in the
governorship election in the area may mar the election and render it
inconclusive. Then what magic will his kinsmen who now dominate CICO perform?
What magic will the DG of CICO, Dr Toney Ihedoro do; or better put, what
surgery will he perform?
Ihenacho should do the
needful and remove Ihedoro and his team if he really wants to win the election,
because you cannot win election in Imo State with a team like this one led by
Dr Ihedoro; a team that has become, to my judgement, incompetent and ill
constituted. What Ihedoro has achieved
so far is to create an Emekuku cabal that sees their membership of CICO as
means to get jobs; they see CICO as Ihenacho’s means of creating jobs and
empowering his people. As far as they are concerned they see CICO as a lifeline
or a life-support programme. But that is far from the truth of the matter. This
Emekuu cabal has held CICO hostage and cannot make any meaningful converts for
the organization. The Emekuku cabal led by Dr Ihedoro is only interested in
feathering their nests by spreading rumours and gossiping about other people.
That is what they do. If you doubt what I am talking about, let Ihenacho
conduct a performance audit on all the members of CICO, starting with the DG,
and let us see what the outcome will be. Ihedoro will not allow this, but I
cite some examples: few months ago, Hon Eudora Igwe had a programme at Orlu and
CICO was invited. Capt Ihenacho was supposed to lead the team of CICO to the
event but he was out of town. And naturally it fell on Dr Ihedoro to lead the
team. We were 3 journalists that went with them to cover the programme for
CICO, and by the time we got to the venue of the programme it was raining. Yes,
it was raining but not heavily, and Hon Igwe was taking the salute when the DG
called me to take a group picture of CICO members that attended the programme.
Of course, I obliged. Do you know what happened after the group photograph? The
DG ordered everyone to board the bus for home journey to Owerri, and for CICO,
the programme was over without a mention or recognition of CICO at the
programme. We left the programme in about 10 minutes after we arrived, and we
came back to Owerri, just to allow the DG to share the money and everyone would
go home. That outing would have been worse had I not personally prevailed on
the DG to grant an interview to us in his CICO office. That remains that only
interview I have read granted by the CICO DG; every other thing you read in the
papers are comments made by Ihenacho himself. CICO lost the opportunity to
showcase Ihenacho in Orlu at that event just because of a clueless DG who
should have no business handling a campaign organization.
What is more incompetent
than this? Another opportunity came up: that was the day the members of the
party revolted following the dissolution of the local government structures of
the party. I had been called up early morning that day and informed of the
development; and trust me, I dashed to APGA secretariat with my midget
conducting interviews and monitoring the situation. The majority of APGA
members that were protesting that day had Ihenacho on their lips: they said it
was Ihenacho who engineered the dissolution. All the journalists covering the
protest wanted to see the CICO DG and speak with him but they could not see
him. Then I put a call to him and told him we wanted to speak with him. His
answer? He said it was a party matter and that he was not in a position to
speak on it. The consequence was that the following day many newspapers came
with bold headlines of how Ihenacho was splitting APGA. I can say why he did
that: on the day we interviewed him after the Hon Igwe’s programme, I remember
he was very careful not to offend anyone, and he practically asked us to delete
anything that we thought Captain would not like. That gave me the impression of
a DG that does not read or know the mind of his principal; a DG that does not
know what he should say and what he should not say to get his principal upset.
I also thought it was possible he was struggling not to offend Agbaso.
Subsequent event would breathe some life into my suspicion.
Another reason Ihenacho
should remove the DG and his group immediately is that the Dr Ihedoro led CICO
cannot be trusted. We have a campaign organization where information is leaked
to the opposition, even the main opposition, at a frightening speed. In CICO
there are no secrets. This is the opposite of politics which is full of
conspiracy, and you cannot effect a conspiracy with people that cannot seal
their lips, with people that are worse than parrots; with people that talk more
than women. Any politician that takes this type of unhealthy risk has concluded
his fate: that he will not win. On several occasions meetings held in CICO or
with Captain got leaked while the meetings were going on, and this leakage has
been traced to no less a person than CICO DG. Just recently, Hon Dan Ikepazu
held a meeting with Captain and while the meeting was going on the DG sent a text
message to Agbaso that Hon Ikpeazu was with Ohenacho in a meeting at his Owerri
residence. And just immediately Agbaso put a call to Hon Ikepeazu, and his
first question was “Dan where are you right now?” An investigation began
immediately and the leakage was traced to the DG. There is yet another one: a
senatorial aspirant from Okigwe Zone recently held a meeting with Captain and
it was leaked to Agbaso. Investigation also showed that it was the DG that
leaked the information. Help me ask Captain the kind of DG he has.
The Dr Ihedoro led CICO has
been enmeshed in controversies about looking at and chasing married women who
are also members of CICO or those who come around CICO for one thing or the
other. In fairness to the CICO women, they are decent women that have no time
for nonsense. This no nonsense attitude of the CICO women has however made them
objects of gossips with the CICO men. There was a celebrated case that almost
burst the bubble. A married woman (name withheld) was blackmailed by a certain
member of CICO of having slept with her when that never happened. The
background to the story is that the woman wanted a post at CICO and the Emekuku
cabal swore that until they slept with her she would not get the post. So, to
the cabal it was a game of who would get her. Therefore, a certain member of
CICO, in other to feel important before the other members of the Emekuku cabal
cooked up a story and spread it among them that he had slept with the woman.
The woman is someone I know that cannot come close to doing a thing like that;
therefore, she told her husband who did not take the matter lightly. It was a
big case, and it eventually got to Captain’s table. And I tell you, Captain was
shocked at that ugly development, and of course, he had nothing to do with it.
Upon investigation it was found to be false, a mere cooked up story to tarnish
the image of the innocent and decent married woman whom I respect so much and
an act meant to force her out. As we speak, that woman did not get the position
she was looking for. Such is how powerful this Emekuku cabal is.
The Emekuku cabal that has
dominated CICO thrives in conspiracy and gossip and outright lies against those
they term “outsiders” – a term meaning that someone is not from Emekuku.
Because they are largely incompetent, the cabal uses conspiracy, gossip and
lies as war weapon to keep away from competition. They feel frightened by the
presence of those the call “outsiders” and they feel comfortable in their small
enclave of the Emekuku cabal that adds no value to CICO. Once you show up at
CICO and the cabal sees you close to Captain, they come up with a sweet lie
that only the very strong in character can dictate. They say all kinds of
things to Captain about you; and because of the way the cabal operates, what
one says about you will be confirmed to Captain by another member of the cabal
upon inquiry. And this way, he has no option than to believe them. And before
you spell your name, you are frustrated out. If you join this cabal to a
programme you will hear nothing else other than gossips about others or talks
about women. Very absurd!
Dr. Ihedoro has shown that
he does not have the capacity to run CICO in several ways. He does not have the
knowledge power about running a campaign organization. Ihedoro is a Medical
Doctor, and there is nothing before me that suggests he has got the requisite
knowledge power about the intricacies or the workings of a campaign
organization. Moreover, a DG that leaks information to the opposition camp is
not worth his salt. Again, Ihedoro’s antecedent in campaign management is an
added disadvantage. What we know is that the two candidates he had managed did
not win. He managed Dr Mrs. Kema Chikwe, and we know that she suffered a
humiliating defeat in her own ward. What of Chief Henry Njoku? He lost his bid
to the House of Representatives. And who was his DG? Dr Ihedoro.
There was also a story of a
top ranking CICO member who approached Okey Ezeh, a top governorship contender
under the platform of APGA, to buy him a jeep so that he could collapse the
CICO structure to him. This is the height of betrayal from people that are
“trusted” allies. The deal did not sail through because Okey Ezeh did not trust
the man. He said the man’s offer was questionable.
There is another nauseating
practice going on in CICO which Captain is not aware of. The top rankers in
CICO go about collecting money from aspirants promising to put them under
Captain’s structure and to secure them Captain’s support. And following this,
they go about churning different lists for the control of the various APGA and
CICO structures at the various wards and local governments. This has been a
major cause of trouble in the organization.
The DG, apart from feeling
the comfort of the CICO office and enjoying the title of CICO DG, appears not
to also have the connection power. This is what is needed too to win the
election. The DG should be someone who knows his ways around the state, one who
has spread his net across the state. If he had it his former principals
wouldn’t have lost their elections. A campaign DG should be someone that
commands respects and has built his bridge across the state so that his
principal would cross easily. But that seems not to be the case with the CICO
DG. He lacks the interpersonal relationship which is a veritable tool for
managing a campaign organization. It is his lack of inter personal relationship
that makes him feel frightened by the presence of “outsiders” instead of
tapping from their various experiences to move CICO forward.
There is nothing the Emekuku
cabal can offer to the running of CICO and to the electoral values of Ihenacho.
The best they can do is to go back to the home front and see what they can do
about the less than 6,300 votes in Emekuku Ward 1 and leave the running of CICO
and Ihenacho’s governorship campaign to “outsiders” who are knowledgeable about
the running of a campaign machine. Ihenacho has this knowledgeable “outsiders”
in their numbers, only that the cabal won’t let them come close.
They should be disbanded and
a new one set up immediately. Let them go back and work from the home front,
and if Captain wins he can bring them in and give them any position he likes.
But for now, Captain needs to win the election first before patronizing the
Emekuku cabal. Winning the election is more important now, and Captain should
choose between losing the election and keeping the Emekuku cabal or losing the
Emekuku cabal and winning the election. The choice is his to make. But in the
event that he fails to make the right choice, APGA should inherit his campaign
structure since he has been adopted as consensus candidate by the party.
