FROM GEORGE ONYEJIUWA,OWERRI
As preparations for the 2015 general elections intensify, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha and his former Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development and currently chairman of Imo State Housing cooperation, Prince Charles Onuoha may be heading for a collision over the gubernatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It will be recalled that Governor Rochas Okorocha had during his 2011 campaign promised to serve only one term in office and after which he would pursue his presidential ambition in 2015.
But the governor recently made a sudden u-turn to contest for a second term as governor of Imo State. It was learnt that Okorocha’s sudden decision to stand for re-election is apparently to counter the alleged threat by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take over the state, claiming that he is the only one with the capacity and wherewithal to stop the PDP from reclaiming power in the state.
However, Onuoha who had also served Okorocha as Commissioner for Special Duties, has called on his boss to toe the path of honour by abiding by his single-term vow as well as handing over to Owerri Zone whose turn he, Okorocha usurped in 2011 going by the Imo Charter of Equity.
The governorship hopeful who was fielding questions from newsmen yesterday in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, stated: “Beyond Governor Okorocha’s one-term promise, my ambition to take over power from him is driven by what transpired on January 15, 2013 when the governor convened stakeholder’s meeting in government house.
In that meeting, the governor categorically told us that he was going to Abuja and urged those with governorship ambition to make declaration.
Of course, having contested the Labour Party ticket in 2011 and lost to a fraudulent primary before collapsing my entire structure into APGA towards actualizing Governor Okorocha’s victory in 2011, it became an opportunity for me to openly make my intention known in our camp and party.”
Onuoha said the governor even expressed happiness and promised “to ensure that my dream will never die. Besides, I am eminently qualified having garnered the pedigree and capacity to take Imo to the next level in terms of development and good governance.
“Also, I am from Mbaise axis of Owerri Zone that has never had a shot at the Douglas House. So, from any angle you wish to judge my ambition, you will definitely agree that I am the right person for the state’s plum job and that’s basically the reason Governor Okorocha should support my ambition which obviously is divine”.
