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The governorship
candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Niger State, Abubakar
Bawa Bwari, has denied media announcements that he has stepped down for
the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change in today’s
election.

Mr Bwari said there
have not been any merger talks between his party and the Congress for
Progressive Change and all such insinuations are false.

“They are the
handiwork of selfish people used to working for themselves. They held
an illegal meeting and proceeded to announce an illegal alliance that
has no foundation in truth,’’ he said.

The state
coordinator of his campaign organisation, Abubakar Magaji and other
officials of the party had earlier announced that Mr. Bwari was no
longer running.

NEXT learnt that at
a Sunday night meeting, Mr Magaji had impressed upon his candidate the
need to form an alliance with the CPC in order to defeat the ruling
party’s candidate, Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu.

However, according
to a source at the meeting, Mr Bwari had insisted on running because
despite the poor showing of the ACN at the two previous elections, he
still fancied his chances.

The party chairman,
Isah Mokwa had reportedly told the candidate that if he refused to join
the alliance he will be going into the election without the support of
the party machinery.

A stalwart of the
party who preferred not to be named, said no party in the state can
defeat the PDP by itself and the only hope lied in such an alliance.

The source said
based on what he called ‘performance’ the CPC, which had already
produced a senator and members for the House of Representatives, has
the right to produce the governor in such an alliance.

Mr. Bwari however
said yesterday that, “I am not stepping down for anybody and has not
contemplated stepping down for anybody. I want all our supporters to
come out and vote en masse for the ACN tomorrow.’’

With the failure of the alliance, the chances of the incumbent who
had reportedly been worried by the pact have decidedly increased.
However, the race is still going to be a hard one between the PDP and
the CPC in Niger State.

The leadership of four political parties presenting
candidates in today’s elections in Enugu State have inspected both
sensitive and non-sensitive materials received from the national
headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
ahead of the polls.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the
state, Josiah Uwazuruonye disclosed this in a telephone interview with
NEXT yesterday.

He listed the parties as the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Peoples for
Democratic Change (PDC) and the Labour Party (LP).

Mr Uwazuruonye said that the leadership of the
parties were invited to monitor the distribution of the materials to
the local government areas, but that only four of them showed up.

He explained that the commission took the decision in
order to avoid complaints and troubles, which could mar the smooth
conduct of the polls.

Corps members not afraid

The REC said that the commission is ready for the
governorship and state assembly election, adding that “by now, I
believe that the commission’s officials in the 17 local government
areas would have commenced their own part of the work.” On the
preparedness of the members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
for the polls, the REC said there are no indications that the corps
members engaged in Enugu State are afraid that what befell their
colleagues in some parts of the north, will happen to them.

Mr Uwazuruonye assured that adequate security measures have been put in place to ensure their safety during the polls.

There are about seven governorship candidates in
today’s election. The governorship candidates are the incumbent,
Sullivan Chime of the PDP, Okey Ezea of LP, Dan Shere of PDC and Osita
Okechukwu of CPC.

Others are Valentine Nnaedozie of the Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN), Obinna Obiegue of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Nnamdi
Anigbo of Change Advocacy Party (CAP), Robert Eze of the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP), Chinoyelum Ojiejemba of the National Conscience
Party (NCP) and Anya Ibekwe of NPP.

The Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency has evacuated 222 corps members posted to
different northern states who are indigenes of Lagos. The agency’s
general manager, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, told journalists while receiving
the corps members, who arrived over a two-day period, that more corps
members who are in violent prone areas will be promptly evacuated.
“When we received distress calls from the NYSC members serving in the
northern states, especially Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, we sought permission
from Governor Babatunde Fashola to activate our emergency response
plan,” he said. “As we speak, effort is on to move corps members from
different locations to the nearest airport where they can be flown to
safety.”

Nowhere is safe

Jimoh Nonayon, one
of the rescued corps members, said he had to call his friends in Lagos
to get state government officials’ phone numbers because nowhere, apart
from military barracks, was safe in Kano State. “We were very afraid,”
he said. “I contacted some of my friends, who gave me some numbers of
Lagos State Governor Fashola. I tried to send him a text on that Monday
evening. So, I thank God on Friday. They called us back that they are
coming to convey us.”

Though, riots broke
out in many northern states following the outcome of the April 16
presidential election, Mr Oke-Osanyintolu, responding to why it took
days before any rescue plan could be implemented, said the state
government had to monitor “the situation closely to see how it will pan
out and when we saw the need to act, we did immediately .” “The
evacuation process still continues,” he said. “Our men are on the
ground strategically at Jigawa, Gombe and Bauchi. We are not even
talking about the indigenes of Lagos State alone. We evacuated those
whose parents are in Lagos and others who want to come to Lagos for
safety.”

My experience

Mr Nonayon said he
came out of his lodge one day and “saw some gang of guys coming with
cutlasses and sticks.” “We call them Almajiri,” he said. “They were
shouting as they came, all I could hear from what they were saying ‘Sai
Baba, Sai Baba, CPC Sai Baba’. A man riding bike told us to run back
into the lodge. We were told that they were targeting non-indigenes,
corps members and supporters of other political parties that are not
really in support of CPC (Congress for Progressive Change). They
believed that corps members rigged the election in favour of President
Goodluck Jonathan.”

According to him,
some police officers came to their aid, hiding and locking them up in a
room while the rioters went on a destructive rampage, burning almost
every government structure. The rioters were said to have left with a
promise to go and reinforce. The corps members were informed that the
police station was no longer safe. The police authorities at the
station ordered that they be moved to the Bokavo Barracks before the
rioters’ return. “A lot of corps members ran for their lives,” he said.
“Rioters pursued some of them; and some were stabbed. But presently, in
Kano we have not really recorded any loss of life.”

Uneasy calm

The corps members
said National Youth Service Corps officials tried to persuade them not
to flee to their homes but stay in the barracks. “NYSC officials came
to address us but from the address, it was clear they have no plan for
saving our lives,” said Monday Alidumkwu, a corps member. “What they
wanted was for us to stay back and finish the gubernatorial elections,
but the rioters were saying that the violent outbreak of presidential
election was a child’s play. They said they decide who governs their
state.”

Mr Alidumkwu said
he was supervising a senior secondary schools external examination when
the riots broke out and had to flee with some of the scripts already
submitted by exam candidates. “I did not even go back to WAEC office
because doing so will be like dashing them my life,” he said.

Electoral problem

Mr Alidumkwu, who
also worked as a presiding officer during the polls, said he will not
go back to conduct the gubernatorial election, even if offered N1
million.

Another corps
member, who also worked as a presiding officer, Adekeye Oludare, said:
“Even if I am still there, I cannot go out to conduct election. [Party]
agents threatened us and the policemen attached to us were not armed.
So, the policemen were just begging us to comply with their demands. In
the last election, I was almost beaten. We were about to start counting
the votes and some people came telling us they went to go and pray and
they now want to vote. When I refused, they threatened to beat me. I
called the police but they did not show up. I had to allow them because
I was there alone in that village. So, after that election, I already
told INEC officials that I will not show up for the gubernatorial
election.”

The Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Bauchi State has called on the government
to immediately lift the dusk to dawn curfew imposed in the state,
threatening to break the law where necessary if the curfew is not
lifted.

The government
had, in the wake of the violence that followed the presidential
election, imposed the curfew in an attempt to restore peace to the
state. But opposition parties say the government is abusing the curfew.

Speaking to
reporters at a press briefing yesterday at the state Secretariat of the
NUJ, the Director-General of Baba Tela Gubernatorial Campaign
Organisation, Isa Matori, accused the government of using the curfew to
frustrate the opposition in the state.

“Having reviewed
the circumstances carefully, we call on authorities concerned to note
that calm has returned to Bauchi and the people are more circumspect
about actions that undermine peace and security,” he said.

“In view of this,
we urge that the curfew be lifted with immediate effect to allow for
voting without hindrance in a process that will go way into the night.
Maintenance of the curfew is a ploy by the PDP-led government to shut
people in their homes in order to manipulate the results of the
elections.”

‘Government is bias’

Mr Matori also accused the government of bias in its enforcement of the curfew.

“While the curfew
is still in place, the government is busy giving movement permit to its
PDP supporters to continue with their campaigns and consultations as
well as meetings but denying those of the opposition,” he said.

“If the curfew is
not lifted, we will ask our supporters to move freely and protect their
votes during the gubernatorial elections no matter what happens. We
will break the law if it becomes necessary to defend our right”

The opposition
politician condemned what he said was the indiscriminate arrests and
detention, as well as the alleged use of security agents in the state
to intimidate his candidate’s supporters.

“It is our belief
that the PDP-led government of Bauchi State is using security agencies
to scare other political parties and their supporters in order to have
their way in subsequent elections,” he said.

While condemning
the recent post-election violence in the state, which led to the loss
of lives and properties worth millions of Naira, Mr Matori called on
government to urgently compensate those affected and to also prevent a
recurrence.

He also called on the government to address poverty and unemployment
which, he said, are the bane of the teeming youth and the root cause of
their restiveness.

In order to secure
the support of former president Ibrahim Babangida for his second term
bid, Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has reportedly
promised to help Mohammed, the former president’s son, to succeed him
in 2015, NEXT has learnt.

Mr Aliyu, who is a
cousin of Mr Babangida has also contacted Mohammed’s two sisters, Aisha
Shinkafi who is married to the governor of Zamfara State, and Halima,
the last child, to seek their support for his re-election. Aminu
Babangida who is the second son is said to be largely unavailable
because he mostly lives abroad.

Sources say
although the former military President has not made any public comments
in support of Mr Aliyu’s candidacy, Mohammed’s siblings have began in
various ways to campaign for the incumbent who is the PDP candidate in
tomorrow’s election.

Halima is
reportedly more excited by the idea of her brother becoming the state
governor in four year’s time and has taken the matter to heart,
campaigning a little more vigorously for Mr Aliyu’s reelection. On the
eve of the gubernatorial election yesterday, she met with some opinion
leaders in Zone C, which is overwhelmingly a CPC stronghold, to
convince them of the merits of voting back the governor.

Our source said she
made the argument that it is better for the incumbent to get a second
term than allowing anyone else from another zone to win the polls which
might deny the zone their chance for another eight years.

Our turn

The governor has
been eager to reverse the tide of opposition against the PDP in the
zone. The first non PDP senator in the state emerged from the zone
during the parliamentary election, and the people voted en masse for
Muhammadu Buhari two Saturdays ago.

Mrs Shinkafi has also made phone calls to many opinion moulders, urging them to support Mr Aliyu’s bid.

The Babangida
children have for the most part lived in Minna, but their father’s
birthplace is Wushishi which falls under zone C. According to the PDP
zoning arrangement in the state, the zone is billed to produce the next
governor of the state after the tenure of the incumbent who hails from
zone B.

Sources say
Mohammed has since gone to Wushishi to acquire a PDP membership card so
that he would be well placed to launch his campaign from there at the
appropriate time.

Uneasy friendship

The governor who
assumed office in 2007 has had an uneasy relationship with retired
General Babangida whom he had on more than one occasion traduced in the
media. He once suggested that Mr Babangida’s tenure as president
contributed to the backwardness of the north.

The governor has
never shown the former president the kind of fawning adoration he got
from the previous governor of the state, Abdullahi Abdulkhadir Kure,
who treated the Babangidas like royalty. Unlike Mr. Kure who got the
job partly as a result of the support of Mr Babangida, Mr Aliyu, a
lifelong bureaucrat owed his position to the patronage of Olusegun
Obasanjo who was then Nigeria’s president.

Mr. Babangida had
preferred another candidate, Muhammadu Gunna, who won a controversial
PDP governorship primary but couldn’t contest in the election because
he was under investigation by the EFCC for money laundering.

The overtures

However, as the
governorship election approached the governor’s popularity waned, no
thanks to a series of unkept promises and the Buhari phenomenon which
engulfed most of the north. His confidence of winning the polls
nosedived when in two successive elections he lost in his polling unit.

Since then, the
governor has sent emissaries to all those with whom he has had a
falling out. About a week ago, he sent delegates to meet with the
former governor, Mr Kure, to ask for his forgiveness. The emissaries
reportedly quoted copiously from the Quran to convince the former
governor on the vitues of forgiveness.

A source who was
at the uphill mansion of the former president two months ago, said
Akeem Afebua who is Mr Babangida’s spokesperson had walked in to ask
Mr. Mohammed when he intends to begin his campaigns.

According to this
source, Mr Mohammed had chuckled, but another friend from the INEC
office who was there said, “we are making preparations. We already have
a warehouse of campaign material.’’

When NEXT contacted Mr Afegbua, he denied that there is such a deal.

“You must know that
the governor and the General are cousins. And in what way has Mohammed
campaigned for the governor? Has he said anything publicly?’’

Reminded of the comment he made on the day he came to visit, Mr. Afegbua said: “I was just joking.’’

Frustrated by the Federal High Court’s verdict against its
refusal to pay the severance gratuities of retired judges in the state, the Oyo
State government has decided to proceed to the Appeal Court to challenge the
judgment.

NEXT gathered that the government had filed a notice of appeal
with the state High Court last week, but this could not be taken to the
appellate court due to a failure to get the necessary documents prepared before
the week ran out.

The judge who ruled on the matter, Muktar Ladi Abimbola, was
assignment out of the state and unavailable to attend to the application for
stay of execution order brought by the government.

Sources said when pressure was mounted on the state Chief
Judge, Bolajoko Adeniji, on the need to get the papers ready as soon as
possible to beat the required time of filing the appeal, she requested that the
counsel to the retired judges, Lasun Sanusi, apply for a transfer of the case
to another court to allow the application move in time.

The application was prepared and filed last Thursday and it is
expected that all the necessary papers will be ready to get the appeal to the
appellate court’s registry this week.

The case

After several failed attempts to make the state government pay
their severance gratuities as provided by the law, the retired judges sued the
state government to court. The state government argued that the judges should
be paid by the federal government.

The applicants: Nurudeen Adekola, Olayiwola Adio, Ruth
Oyetunde, Afolabi Adeniran, Olagoke Ige, Karimu Jimoh, Lambe Arasi, Akin Sanda,
Atilade Ojo, Simon Akinola and Theophilus Adeniran (deceased) – comprise three
former Chief Judges, two acting Chief Judges and six other judges, who worked
with the state’s judiciary throughout their careers as judicial officers.

Apart from the sections of the law mandating their pays, the claimants
also fortified their application with letters from the National Judicial
Council, in which the body specifically directed that all retired state
judicial officers will be paid in states where they served till retirement.

They also attached evidence of compliance from some states of
the federation as well as certificate of pension issued them by the Alao-Akala
government, to certify that they indeed served meritoriously with the state and
qualify to draw pensions from the state’s purse.

All these were tendered to argue their case before the
presiding judge who ruled in their favour on Thursday, April 14.

Delivering his judgement, Mr. Abimbola granted all the prayers
of the retired judges and ordered the state government to pay their gratuities
forthwith and immediately, along with the interests they prayed for.

He also berated the government for trying to stand the law on
its head in attempt to deny the applicants their lawful entitlement.

Mr. Sanusi, who said he is fully prepared to engage state’s team in the
renewed battle, described the step as ‘frivolous and time wasting’.

The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC), Maharazu Tsiga, has expressed worry over the attack on youth corps
members who served as ad hoc staff to Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) in some Northern parts of Nigeria after the presidential election.

Mr Tsiga, who spoke to journalists at the weekend in Abuja
during the wedding ceremony of his daughter, Lubabatu, said the NYSC has begun
a head-count of all corps members in the affected areas in order to ascertain
the number of victims in the crisis.

“I am celebrating my daughter today with mixed feelings because
I have my youth corps members in all parts of this country who were involved in
the post-election crisis and some of them may have lost their lives, though we
are yet to confirm the numbers which shall be made public immediately we finish
the head-count of our members,” he said.

The NYSC boss said it was disheartening that despite all the
commendations given to the corps members’ participation in the exercise
nationally and internationally, the rioters decided to attack the innocent
youth.

Ondo evacuates indigenes

The Ondo State government at the weekend embarked on the
evacuation of about four hundred of its indigenes that were stranded in the
north following the violence that erupted in some states.

Out of the evacuees, 276 of were corps members serving the
country under the National Youth Service Corps.

The first set of evacuees arrived Akure, the state capital
yesterday and were subsequently transferred to their respective local
governments and hometowns.

The Permanent Secretary in charge of emergency management,
Kehinde Temikotan, said the state government could not close its eyes and allow
indigenes of the state to be killed over political issues.

“Indigenes of the state residing in Kano, Katsina Kaduna and
Borno states have been directed to converge on Bauchi for easy evacuation,” he
said.

According to him, some of those evacuated would be dropped at
Abuja where some of them have their relatives, while others would be brought to
Akure, the state capital.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for Anambra
Central senatorial district and former information minister, Dora Akunyili may
take legal action against a former INEC returning officer and others for
allegedly defaming her character, even if she wins tomorrow’s re-run election.

Reacting to the decision of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to have a rerun election in some areas of the district, Mrs
Akunyili said she and her family went through serious emotional trauma owing to
alleged lies against her, especially by the returning officer, Alex Anene who
alleged that he was offered a bribe of N10m, a car and a house to help the APGA
candidate win.

‘My family and I went through a lot. We suffered emotionally and
many people believed their lies. After this election (rerun) which I will win,
I may still go to court against Anene and his sponsor,’ Mrs Akunyili said.

She said the statements by INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega on the
Anambra situation had vindicated her and renewed her faith and confidence in
the Nigerian nation.

“Now the truth is out and we all feel vindicated. It is obvious
Anene was sponsored to malign and cheat and announce fake results in a hotel
room in the night. That person who sponsored him also needs to face the law. I
want the law to take its full course so that people cannot just commit crime
and get away with it,” Mrs Akunyili said. She also called on the police to
arrest all those involved in a smear campaign against her.

Set for rerun

Mr Jega had set up a panel to investigate the Anambra imbroglio
following the release of conflicting results by INEC. INEC also declared the
election inconclusive following cancellation of results in particular areas in
four local government areas.

At the end of investigations, Mr Jega said INEC decided on
organising a rerun election and accused Mr Anene of violating the Electoral Act
by his action. He also called on the police to investigate him.

Although Mr Ngige had initially said he would not take part in a rerun,
after INEC’s decision he is now soliciting for votes. One of the texts sent by
his campaign team reads: “My good people of Anambra State, vote for me in
Tuesday’s rerun election. We won before, we will win again”.

The short tenure of Rufus Ada-George as governor of Rivers State
was a political springboard for four young men. Although Mr Ada-George, who was
governor from 1992 – 1993, is no longer a heavyweight when it comes to politics
in the state, the others are still in the play. Peter Odili, who was the deputy
governor; Celestine Omehia, who was Commissioner for Education; Abiye Sekibo
and Rotimi Amaechi played the roles of special assistants to Messrs Ada-George
and Odili respectively.

With the return to civil rule in 1999, Mr Odili served as
governor for eight years – till 2007. Mr Sekibo was Secretary to the State
Government from 1999 to 2003 and Minister of Transport from 2003 to 2006. Mr
Amaechi went to the state House of Assembly, where he served as speaker till
2007; while Mr Omehia played a more low-key role as special adviser to Mr
Odili.

As Mr Odili’s tenure drew to a close, so also did their time of
journeying together, no thanks to conflicting political interests among the
four men, who were leaders of the People’s Democratic Party in the state.

Things fall apart

Mr Ameachi won the primaries to be the party’s flag bearer for
the 2007 elections, but Mr Odili reportedly orchestrated a move that ended with
him being replaced by Mr Omehia. Mr Ameachi went to court and, about five
months after Mr Omehia had been sworn in as governor, the Supreme Court ruled
that Mr Amaechi was the legitimate candidate of the PDP and therefore should be
the governor.

The move created enmity between Messrs Omehia and Ameachi, who
are cousins. It has worsened over time and sucked in Mr Sekibo who, like Mr
Omehia, remained loyal to Mr Odili in the fight against Mr Amaechi.

Three years after, Mr Odili, like Mr Ada-George before him, no
longer wields great political influence in the state. But the activities of the
other three could make or break the relative peace which has returned to the
state after years of militancy and violence. This is because all three are in
the race for Tuesday’s governorship election for the state. And so far, the
campaign has been marred by accusations and counter accusations, with
propaganda seemingly the main weapon now.

Mr Amaechi, 45, is the incumbent governor and the PDP candidate.
He is from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area and his running mate is Tele
Ikuru, who is currently the deputy governor. Mr Sekibo, 53, is governorship
candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria. He is from Okrika and his running
mate is Serekara Barieeda Wifa. Mr Omehia is contesting under the platform of
the All Progressive Grand Alliance. He is also from Ubima and his running mate
is Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, a serving lawmaker.

The odds

Analysing the governorship race, Ukoha Ukiwo, a senior political
science lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, said the odds favour Mr
Amaechi and the PDP. This, he said, is partly because of “the structure of the
state; the nature of our political economy; everybody that is somebody leans
and gives support to the incumbent”.

He also said Mr Amaechi has become popular over the years
because of his activities as governor. “He [Mr Amaechi] is deemed to have
performed creditably well in different sectors – education, infrastructure,
health,” he said.

Many residents feel this way. Some point to the roads he has
constructed in the past three years; others talk about health care. He is also
credited with restoring peace to the state by his single-minded crackdown on
violent gangs.

Joy Mathias, a cabbie, is pleased by the new schools that dot
Port Harcourt and other parts of the state. “He deserves to continue,” she
said. “No other governor has done the things he has done.”

Not everybody agrees with Ms Mathias. Some young people, such as
Sylvester Emizibo prefer Mr Omehia. “[Mr] Amaechi does things autocratically,”
he said. “He does not consult or listen to people before taking action.”

This sentiment is quite strong among unemployed people in the
state, some of who have been affected by the ban of commercial motorcyclists
and Mr Amaechi’s plan to demolish all illegal structures in the state. A
cabbie, who gave his name as Goodluck, said while Mr Amaechi has score good
grades when it comes to healthcare and education, the bulk of his project is
like “putting a man in a very beautiful house with no food”.

To this set of people, Mr Omehia “is a gentleman”; someone that
will listen to them and who has a soft heart.

In terms of charisma and personality, the two candidates stand
apart from Mr Sekibo. Mrs Mathias thinks “he is the worst” of the lot. While
Goodluck, the driver, feels he has not done much for the people.

“He was a minister of transport, what did he do?” he asked.

Away from their personalities, Mr Ukiwo feels the contest is
between the PDP and the ACN. This view is hard to argue as the ACN has posed
the greater challenge to the PDP in previous elections; APGA did not even get
to field candidates in some federal constituencies in the state. But the ACN
challenge has been a weak one, as the PDP won the three senatorial seats and
all 12 federal constituency elections held in the state. It also recorded landslide
victory in the presidential elections. As it stand, only a merger between
Messrs Sekibo and Omehia can give the opposition any real chance against Mr
Amaechi. Even that might prove ineffective.

In what may seem the most tactical political manoeuvre against
incumbent Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim and the ruling People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) in the state, two main opposition governorship candidates from the
All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),
Rochas Okorocha and Ifeanyi Araraume at the weekend announced an alliance
against the re-election of Mr Ohakim.

Addressing newsmen at Amaifeke, the country home of a former
governor of the state, Achike Udenwa, the two men said that all that mattered
was to effect change in the leadership of the state and liberate the state “from
the pains of maladministration.” They, however, noted that there was no issue
of stepping down by any candidate, explaining that either of them has the
capacity of saving the state from total collapse if elected.

Mr Okorocha said there was a need for a collaborative effort to
put an effective check on the PDP in the state; saying the alternative for the
party was rigging and manipulation of the electoral process.

While accusing the state government of wielding undue influence
over the state INEC officials and some of the security agencies, the APGA
candidate urged voters to sustain the struggle for change and not to be cowed
by the intimidations of the ruling party.

“If Ohakim insists on rigging at all costs, we shall stop him at
all cost,” he said.

Mr Araraume said: “It is regrettable, the level of desperation
which the incumbent has resorted to in his bid to secure a second term in
office,” Mr Araraume said. “This clearly shows that the man has nothing more to
offer to Imo people. He is spent. He has given his best, but his best is
clearly not good enough. The simple thing to do is to move over for a more
competent hand to run the state.”

When the hint of the new alliance between APGA and ACN broke at
the weekend, the PDP camp literally turned into a panic mode as series of
meetings were convened to fashion out a counter move. The political adviser to
Mr Ohakim, Rex Anunobi, however said there was no cause for alarm.

“You know this is not the first alliance we have faced in the
course of this election,” he said. “This will also crash like the previous
ones.”

Living with Iheanacho’s
suspension

Mr Anunobi also said the governor will triumph despite sudden
hostility from politicians in the Owerri axis following the suspension of the
minister of the interior, Emmanuel Iheanacho by President Goodluck Jonathan.

A number of people from Owerri zone, where the minister comes
from, are angry over the alleged involvement of the governor in the president’s
decision.

Though Mr Ohakim vigorously denied having a hand in the
minister’s suspension, some of the political leaders in the area accused the
governor and his aides of sponsoring a campaign of calumny alleging that the
minister used security forces to intimidate PDP members in the state during the
national assembly election.

“How can a governor stoop this low just to score a cheap
political point? Even Mrs Kema Chikwe had the audacity to brag publicly over
the suspension of Iheanacho. They upstaged Iheanacho because the people of
Owerri zone resisted the imposition of Kema Chikwe by Ohakim through their
votes,” said Nestor Obisike, an angry chieftain of the PDP from Owerri zone.

Mr Anunobi exonerated his boss of complicity in Iheanacho’s
ordeal, stating that his suspension cannot in anyway affect the voting pattern
in Owerri zone.

“Ohakim has done so much for the people of Owerri who are ever willing to
reciprocate the gesture by voting massively for the governor, whose candidature
alone can constitutionally ensure that an Owerri son occupies the governorship
seat of the state in 2015,” he said.