By COLLINS Ughalaa
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo
State has been said to be in a dilemma following his indesio0n whether to go
for the Presidency or the governorship of the state for a second term in office
in the 2015 general election under the platform of the All Progressives
Congress (APC).
This was made known by the
Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Engr. Chidi Ibe, on Friday in his
office during a press briefing with journalists.
Fielding questions on the
Governor’s ambition in 2015 the Commissioner for Information and Strategy said
that while the Governor is busy campaigning for his presidency ambition 90% of
the people of the state are calling on him to come back home and contest the
governorship of the state for the second term so that he could consolidate on
his programmes and projects, stressing that such acts have put the Governor in
a dilemma. He assured that as a listening Governor, Okorocha would listen to
the people of the state at the end of the day and run for the governorship of
the state for the second term.
“But why he (the Governor) is busy
there campaigning to become president 90% of the people down here are pulling
him down, saying he should not go; that he should stay here and complete his
projects. So it is a case of one being in dilemma. And I know he is a listening
Governor and I know that at the end of the day he will listen to Imo people,”
he said.
The commissioner also said that
there are other governorship aspirants in the APC in Imo State and that
whenever the Governor said he was no longer running for the governorship of the
state the aspirants in the party would become public.
He said: “It is not as if the APC
does not have guber aspirants. APC has other guber aspirants, and if the
Governor says he is no more interested in the position you would see other
coming out. But it is a question of saying that the Governor has done well and
that he should be allowed to continue, and there is n o need vying for any
position when you have somebody who is better than you”.
He said that the Governor was not
desperate over the governorship of the state, reiterating that the Governor had
the ambition to become the president of the country and that he was emphasizing
that ambition through his campaign for the presidency. He pointed out that the
Imo APC and the people of the state were not allowing the Governor to run for
the presidency as they preferred him to run for the Governorship.
“His Excellency is not desperate
about governorship. He is not desperate. Before now he had a programme to vie
for the presidency. What is presently happening is that he is emphasizing that
ambition. But the APC and Imo people are not happy allowing him to go the
presidency”, the Commissioner said.
The Commissioner explained that the
Governor had done so much in the state that the people wanted him to stay back
and serve them again as the Governor, stressing that both the old and young in
the rural communities wanted the Governor to continue.
According to him: “The Governor has
done so much that the people want him to stay back and consolidate on the
things he has done. If you go down to your various villages you would see that
old and young want him to stay for the next administration as the Governor of
Imo State. But he has an ambition: his ambition is to become the president of
Nigeria and he is emphasizing that ambition. And that is why we should always
pray for the Governor so that he can make a wise decision.
“But I know that at the end of the
day he will listen to the heart beat of Imo people; he will listen to what Imo
people are saying; he will be able to interpret their pulse. If you look at
what is happening in Nigeria today you would see that you can never get an
executive position or commander-in-chief of any cadre in the South East. He has
been so worried about it: that there is no service chief you would find in the
South East; the Speaker, the Senate President, the Vice President and the
national chairman of the ruling party have all eluded the South East. His
Excellency is worried about this level of marginalization. And that is why he
is so worried, that is why if you give him the opportunity to go for the
presidency he would go”.
Earlier in his speech, the
Commissioner said the Governor’s agenda to ensure that everyone in the state
benefitted from government, adding that there is hardly a family in the state
that had not bene4fitted from his administration. He said the Governor had
achieved in 3 years what the PDP did not achieve in 12 years.
He said the state had crossed the
stage of backwardness as the Governor had put the state on the road of rapid
development, saying: “we have crossed the burden of backwardness in Imo State.
Imo State is on the road to rapid development. Imo State has metamorphosed from
backwardness to rapid infrastructural development, and the Governor is not leaving
any stone unturned to see to the rapid infrastructural development. This is
just the beginning. His idea is that every local government and village must
benefit from his programme. And you can hardly see a family that has not
benefitted. That is why you must continue to pray for him so that God will
continue to give him the wisdom to continue to do good for the people of the
state.”
Rochas 
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