PDP and capacity to confront incumbency

THE power of incumbency is a pervading force in NIGERIA’s political/electoral system. Its effect is most felt at the executive stratum of government where the President, governor and, at the much lower level, the local government chairman, use their big sticks to achieve their political/electoral ends.

At the state level the chief executive exercises enormous powers which he weilds to his advantage – he is the Chief Security Officer and is in absolute control of the resources of the state. Most of the time, the allocations meant for the local councils are not remitted to them in full and that is why the issue of state and local government joint allocation committee has been in the front burner of public discourse almost recurrently.

State’s resources

The governor determines who picks the ticket for any and every elective position in his party and uses the state’s resources, the security and other state apparatus to ensure their emergence in the general election. At least generally speaking, this is what obtains. There may be isolated cases where that is not the case but they are more of exceptions to the usual trend. Even then, such exceptions would have been arguably facilitated by higher powers of incumbency like is generally believed to have been the case in the 2011 governorship election in Imo State.

So, incumbency is a huge factor in governorship elections in Nigeria especially where the incumbent governor is seeking a re-election.

It is no longer news that Governor Rochas Okorocha operates a system better referred to as familocracy and has so far succeeded in this direction by completely avoiding due process and deliberately destroying the civil service system. Thus planning, design and supervision have taken flight in Imo State and all we have are roads which do not stand the TEST of time and most of which are hardly completed, as well as structures with either no predetermined purposes or purposes that are entirely needless.

However, even despite these failings, if the most formidable opposition party in the State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, fumbles in their choice of a governorship candidate, the smooth-talking, non-performing governor will most definitely use the powers available to him as governor to keep himself in office for another four years. The PDP needs a candidate who possesses not just the financial muscle but also the connection and reach, at all levels, to scuttle the devious stratagems already being unleashed by governor Okorocha to ensure his continued stay in office.

At the moment, he is using the state electronic media to spread unimaginable disinformation to the gullible Imo populace who may not have the opportunity to verify the falsehoods which he and his agents are peddling. Governor Okorocha has also trained thousands of Imo Youths for use in the prosecution of his 2015 gubernatorial ambition. Clad in their blue and red uniforms, those youths patrol Imo State in their Imo Security Network vans brandishing their rifles and intimidating Imo citizens.

While it may not be necessary to call attention to the dangers inherent in what the governor is exposing these youths to, ONE may need to stress that unless something is done about this self-serving contraption, the 2015 election in Imo State may end in a bloody fiasco. Realising that Imo people are disenchanted with his abysmal performance, the governor’s intention may be just that. It is either he muscles his way through or the whole process is derailed. This will certainly not be so.

Claims and counter-claims have been made within the PDP of who among the numerous aspirants possesses the capacity in terms of finance, reach, courage and influence to match/outmaneuver the sitting governor in all departments in the 2015 governorship election; but for me all these claims are empty. If we must face facts, it requires some measure of incumbency recognised by the security agencies to match an incumbent governor like Okorocha.

Such an incumbent has to have the kind of clout and courage seething with federal might – finance and all. He/she should be somebody who can walk into Aso Rock without clearance and come out with results; NOT name droppers who may wait for weeks for clearance to see Mr. President.

Despite not being the Chief Security Officer of the State, such a person must be somebody who by dint of his position can invite the state Commissioner of Police or the Brigade Commander to come over to his house for a discussion.

The PDP cannot afford not to reclaim the governorship of Imo State from a governor who has destroyed everything the State has achieved since Mbakwe. The leaders of the party and delegates alike must rid themselves of sentiments and settle for Emeka Ihedioha.

It will be most inappropriate to START comparing him with the other aspirants within their party because each and every ONE of them is eminently qualified to be governor but the situation on hand goes beyond merely being qualified. By his position, Ihedioha is a household name in the country, has a wonderful working and social relationship with Mr. President and commands immense respect within the armed forces. Not a few are of the view that Okorocha became governor while he was in APGA on account of his personal relationship and his party’s romance with Mr. President and the PDP. It may well be so.

Today, that relationship is strained and sour and the governor is at daggers-drawn with the President. He feels too swollen-headed to attend Federal Executive council meetings and his party, the APC, is implementing a well orchestrated campaign of calumny against Mr. President and the PDP.

So, Mr. President is fighting to WIN Imo State in the presidential election and therefore needs a PDP candidate who, with minimum aid from the Presidency can mobilise the human and material resources to overrun Rochas and his APC in Imo State.

Ihedioha has shown by the wide spread/distribution of amenities available to his office that he is large-hearted and fair-minded enough to evenly develop the entire Imo State; he has also exhibited so much courage in his confrontation of the mis-governance in Imo State that one should be left in no doubt as to his capacity to match Okorocha in all departments; his level of articulation and erudition as well as his vast experience in politics and administration spanning over 14 years, are needed to put Imo State back on track.

Imo State can ill-afford another four years of rudderlessness, personal aggrandisement and enrichment, window-dressing and deceit in the name of governance. Imo people have had it raw these past four years. We need a better deal. To my mind, PDP and PDP alone can wrest power from the current occupier of Imo Government House and they should look no further than Ihedioha lest they miss it. This is the truth like it is.

Mr. Eva Mgborogwu, a political analyst, wrote from Owerri, Imo State.

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