The 2015 general elections are now 33 days away. On February 14 and 28, voters in Imo State will join other citizens across the nation to elect those who will superintend over their affairs in the next four years.
Elections in Nigeria have never held greater promise. This is for good reason. Despite the shenanigans of public office holders, democracy has taken root. Nigerians are better informed today than they were in 1999 when the country transitioned from military to democratic rule and more determined to take their destiny in their hands than at any other time in the past 16 years.
The elections will be keenly contested at all levels. For the first time, a credible opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has emerged to give the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a run for its money, clout and hold on the polity.
For the first time since 2003, incumbency seems not to be the most potent dynamic in determining the outcome of the polls.
If that happens, Nigerians will only be taking a cue from Imo State that demystified the much-hyped potency of the incumbency factor in the 2007 and 2011 governorship elections. In 2007, after being in power for eight years, the PDP lost to the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), whose candidate, Ikedi Ohahim, emerged winner.
But the most dramatic was in 2011 when Ohakim, who had defected from the PPA back to the PDP, lost to Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Like his predecessor, Okorocha has since defected from the party on whose wings he rode to Douglas House, as Imo State Government House is called, to the APC.
As the date approaches for the governorship vote on February 28, the question concentrating minds is whether history is about to repeat itself. Will Okorocha go the way of Ohakim as a one-term governor?
Observers of the vibrant Imo politics agree that Okorocha is vulnerable and can be defeated. They also believe that he has his political Achille’s heel in the candidate of the PDP, Emeka Ihedioha, currently Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Though there are other candidates of other political parties in the election, including Emmanuel Iheanacho of APGA, the consensus is that the election will be a straight battle between Okorocha and Ihedioha.
Going by the banner on Douglas Road in Owerri which says “The Rochas we know” – an adaptation of the axiom which says that the devil someone knows is better than an unknown angel – the APC seems to hinge its re-election strategy on the premise that Rochas will be given the mandate for a second term because he has been in the saddle in the past four years and therefore has name recognition.
But that permutation is naive. Ihedioha as Deputy Speaker also has name recognition at state and national levels. Both he and Okorocha have been in public office for a long time, so voters are better poised to make informed judgment.
What perhaps goes for Ihedioha is his penchant for due process and the rule of law. This is hardly surprising given his legislative background. Unlike Okorocha, who seems to have no patience for due process, Ihedioha is a stickler for accountability in governance. And that is what Imo needs most now.
The people need a leader who is responsible and whose government will be inclusive. Imo needs a governor who appreciates that the best leadership is that ensconced in the philosophy of service.
The Ihedioha Imolites know is the man who, in public office, particularly as a federal lawmaker, has exhibited extraordinary brilliance, turning out to be one of the shining stars of this democratic dispensation.
As a legislator representing Aboh Mbaise-Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency since 2003, he has served as chairman, House Committees on Marine Transport, Cooperation and Integration in Africa and as Chief Whip.
Ihedioha also served as chairman of various ad-hoc committees, including those on Process and Procedure for Obtaining Local and Foreign Loans and Sub-Committee on the Review of Police Act.
The icing on the cake came on June 6, 2011 when he was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker by his colleagues.
As Deputy Speaker, he has served as chairman, House Ad-Hoc Committee on New Legislative Agenda, and Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitution Review.
This is aside being chairman, Committee of the Whole, in which capacity he presides over the consideration of committee reports.
While Ihedioha has excelled in lawmaking, from which the entire country has benefitted, he has also proved in the past 12 years to be an effective representative of his constituents in particular and Imo in general, using his position to attract numerous federal projects to the state.
His vast network of contacts locally and internationally can only be used for the good of the state.
The Ihedioha Imo people know is a dependable, steadfast and trustworthy person, who, in a corruption-infested country, has stayed in public office for more than a decade without scandal.
Over the years, he has accumulated a vast wealth of experience on how politics can be deployed in ensuring public good.
The Ihedioha Imolites know is a man whose single-mindedness in the pursuit of public good is unrivalled. Leadership requires discipline and clear vision. There must be a sense of purpose and proven capacity to deliver on electoral promises.
For a state at a crossroads as Imo is right now, these attributes are needed in the governor.
These are the same qualities the most celebrated Governor of the state, the late Sam Mbakwe, brought to bear on his administration in the Second Republic. Ever since, the people have rued the fact that no other Mbakwe has emerged on the leadership canvass, and Imo, the Igbo heartland, has become the butt of jokes in the comity of states.
Imo is now a state where due process is seen as an unnecessary baggage and a leadership vice. In the past four years, Imo has acquired the dubious reputation of being a state where leadership is personalised and the actions of government taken on the whims and caprices of one man. Subterfuge is elevated as a tool of governance.
It is therefore not surprising that the same Imolites who proved four years ago that the power of incumbency cannot hem in the determination of a people poised for change in a democracy are trooping back to the trenches.
Since voters have shown determination to walk their talk, the challenge before Ihedioha is to figure out how to prevent this burst of momentum from being just a blip on his aspiration radar.
