Ward Congress; Okorocha moves to impeach deputy

The stand-off between the Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and his deputy, Prince Eze Madumere over who becomes the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate for the 2019 governorship elections in the state is deepening as Okorocha is said to be mobilizing members of the House of Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against Madumere.

This will be about the fourth time the Governor Okorocha and his henchmen would be trying to impeach the Deputy Governor who had been his longtime friends and political associate.
Okorocha‘s groups are pointing accusing fingers at Madumere, believing he must have been the key element to their woeful outing, hence the decision “to pay him in his own coins.”
Okorocha is backing his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, for the plum job of governor even as Madumere, has also indicted interest in the same position.

However, the outcome of last Saturday’s controversial ward congresses in the party was said to have jolted the governor, as most of the political gladiators in the APC worked together in a bid to put an end to what they described as Okorocha’s efforts to run the state as a personal estate of his family for another eight years.

This was even as most of the old members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who left the party for APC in the state had also allegedly resolved to fight against Okorocha’s political interests by ensuring that his son in-law did not become the next governor of the state in 2019.

But, following the outcome of the ward congresses which Okorocha’s candidates reportedly lost, he was said to have rushed to the country home of President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, where he reportedly tried in vain to get the president to cancel the congress results.

Buhari was said to have advised the governor to go back to Imo State and resolve the issues arising from the congresses through the Congress Appeal Panel, CPA, set up by the APC.

But apparently disappointed, over Buhari’s failure to do his biding by cancelling the results of the ward congresses, Okorocha was said to have held meetings with members of his caucus where the decision to impeach his deputy was reached.

Reliable sources said that the arrow heads of the impeachment plot included a political god-father in Ikeduru Federal Constituency of the state, Chief Charles Amadi, popularly known as Shavon and the Speaker of the House, Hon Acho Ihim.

At a second meeting hosted by Shavon, about N100 million was voted for each legislator who would support the impeachment plans.

A member of the state House of Assembly from Okigwe zone who spoke to newsmen in Owerri on the condition of anonymity said that one of the governor’s aides, from Amigbo in Ikeduru local government area of Imo State had hosted members of House of Assembly at his country home where issue of alleged directive from Governor Okorocha to impeach his Deputy was formerly conveyed to 18 members of the Legislature.

He claimed that it was the immediate past majority leader of the House addressed select members on the need to carry out the plot of impeaching the Deputy Governor over his alleged refusal to endorse his principal’s son-in-law for Governor and for leading the alliance that thoroughly defeated Okorocha in the last APC Ward Congresses. It was claimed that about N1 billion was earmarked `to ensure a successful exercise.

It was revealed that at the last Governor Okorocha’s stakeholders’ meeting, he was said to be visibly angry over the vote of no confidence passed on him by the alliance forces, which Prince Madumere, Senator Ben Uwajumogu, Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume, Mr. Emeka Nwajiuba, Chief Theordore Ekechi, Dr. Uzoma Obiyo, Sen. Osita Izunaso, Mr. Jasper Azuatalam among others were leading members.