Between Okorocha’s Iberiberism and Tinubu’s Hegemony

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha’s iron-fist approach to power and governance is an all-time low, writes Olawale Olaleye

For once in the political evolution of the country, Lagos and Imo states have something to share, albeit politically. In fact, with the way the scripts have turned out, it was as if the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, stole the lines wholesale.

From the plot to the setting and even the storyline, some of the recent developments in Imo State as they relate to the impeachment of the embattled Deputy Governor of the state, Eze Madumere share very closely with some of the markers of the administration of former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, between 1999 and 2007, when he held sway.

When Tinubu assumed office in 1999, elected with him as deputy governor was Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele. She was the candidate of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, which made it possible for Tinubu to emerge as the governor at the time. It was, therefore, natural that she was loyal to the group that threw her up and then led by the late Senator Abraham Adesanya.

After a while, when it was established that Tinubu had gained relative stability as the governor, he started to allege overbearing interference of Afenifere and eventually resolved to tame their alleged excesses in the business of the state. Not unexpectedly, Bucknor-Akerele was going to be a collateral damage. Tinubu did not just run down the Afenifere leadership, he made his deputy, Bucknor-Akerele to suffer indignities before she was eventually pushed out of the system through a carefully organised impeachment process.

In her place, a former banker, Otunba Femi Pedro, was appointed to replace Bucknor-Akerele. But towards the end of Tinubu’s second term, disaffection began to set in between him and Pedro because Tinubu had sensed Pedro was nursing the ambition of succeeding him – Tinubu did not fancy that happening.

Thus, the animosity intensified and just as Pedro was to tender his resignation, he was impeached about the same time. This, of course, made it impossible for him to enjoy any post-office entitlements due a former deputy governor of the state.

In his place, an old Lagos politician, Abiodun Ogunleye, was appointed and ran the rest of the race with Tinubu before Babatunde Fashola, now Minister of Power, Works and Housing became the successor. But nine years later, the Lagos State House of Assembly reversed Pedro’s impeachment on the grounds that “…the allegation that led to his impeachment, bordering on disloyalty to the party, an affront to constituted authority and insubordination among others, (should) be forgiven.”

In Okorocha’s Imo, however, the situation is very striking. When Okorocha assumed office in 2011, he was elected with Jude Agbaso, the younger brother of Martin Agbaso, as his deputy. Not long after they assumed office, there was an accusation of bribery against Agbaso, which thus set in motion, his impeachment process.

Although there were wild speculations then that Okorocha came up with the move so that he would not honour the understanding between him and the senior Agbaso, it changed nothing ultimately. According to sources, Agbaso senior who made it possible for Okorocha to emerge governor had an understanding that he would yield the seat to him as his successor.

But this Okorocha was no longer prepared to do after wearing the full regalia of power and therefore, went after his younger brother, in a way that left the Agbasos fighting more to clear their family name than fighting to stay in power through the office of the deputy governor.

By a vote of 25 to one, the Imo State House of Assembly removed Agbaso from office. As the embattled deputy governor, Agbaso had declined the invitation of the panel set up to re-investigate him after a committee of the House probing him over an allegation of receiving N458 million-bribe from a contractor, J-Pros, had indicted him.
A Federal High Court sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital had cleared the way for the investigation and eventual impeachment of Agbaso over the bribe allegation. Agbaso did not, however, bother to attend the sitting of the seven-man panel already constituted by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Benjamin Njemanze, to re-investigate the matter after his indictment by the committee of the state House of Assembly and thus, his absence made his removal easy. He was, however, replaced by Eze Madumere, who was at the time the Chief of Staff to Okorocha.

Agbaso, who doubled as Commissioner for Works, was accused of collecting bribe from the contractor handling the Sam Mbakwe Road in the state capital and the contractor reportedly abandoned the road due to this. But in the bid to clear their family name, the Agbasos engaged the services of private investigators, who reportedly traced the money to UAE with an alleged link to the governor. But in spite of their determination to get justice, no one listened to them even though the younger Agbaso was eventually cleared of the allegations by a competent court of law some years later. Like the proverbial cane kept on the rooftop for the younger wife, Madumere, who replaced Agbaso, recently had his share of Okorocha’s iron-fist treatment against anyone opposed to him.

Madumere was impeached by 19 out of the 37 members of the Imo Assembly. The lawmakers had earlier received a report by a panel set up by the state chief judge, which allegedly indicted Madumere of gross misconduct.

But the truth is that Madumere too has been having a running political brawl with Okorocha, who has openly supported his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him because he (Madumere) is nursing a governorship ambition.
The impeachment proceedings against him kicked off on July 10, when the Deputy Speaker, Ugonna Ozuruigbo, moved a motion accusing him of abandoning his duties and failing to carry out official duties assigned to him by the governor, among others. The house then set up a six-man committee headed by Kennedy Ibe, the member representing Obowo Local Government Area, to probe the allegations and report back within seven days.

The takeaway is that Madumere’s governorship ambition had pitted him against Okorocha. The fact that Madumere and others, including Senator Osita Izunaso, almost succeeded in taking the party away from Okorocha, safe for President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention, had further incensed the governor, who became more determined to deal with everyone involved.
As a result, it is public knowledge that Okorocha and Madumere now belong to two different factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

However, the situation took a different turn, when at the swearing-in of Imo Head of Service, Mr. Callistus Ekenze, as the new deputy governor, the state’s High Court suspended the ceremony pending the determination of the case challenging the impeachment, and which has been adjourned until August 13.

Okorocha’s desperation to make his son-in-law, who is currently his chief of staff, the next governor of the state has continued to attract public opprobrium as the height of abuse of power and office – a development many strongly feel might work against APC in the state. This has also been made difficult by the president’s bullish interference in the politics of Imo APC which brazenly took over the leadership from those who outwitted Okorocha in the power game and handed it over to the governor.

Without much ado, it will be interesting to watch the denouement of the power play in Imo, especially as Okorocha brashly elevates iberiberism (the sheer act of foolishness) as recently coined by him in the administration and political leadership of the state.