The task of marketing Emeka Ihedioha to the Imo State electorate is a very easy task because, as a political product, he has a powerful unique selling point (USP) or a niche, which makes him very competitive to grab a giant portion of the market share.
In choosing the best candidate for the PDP governorship ticket, I worked with a marking scheme which makes it possible for every aspirant to be given a fair chance in the race. Some of the factors used in picking the best candidate include academic qualification, top positions held in the political arena, party loyalty/consistency, financial empowerment of party, integrity and dependability, interpersonal relationship, rule of law/due process, criminal records and others.
The green-capped legislator has an impressive academic background as an alumnus of the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG) where he bagged a degree in Food Technology.
In the area of party loyalty and dependability, Ihedioha came out tops. Since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the governorship slot in 2007 election, he is one of the few PDP members who have provided the much-needed funds and logistics to keep the party alive today. Even as we speak, he remains one of the biggest financiers of the party. In the recent fund-raising of the PDP in Imo, he was the highest donor with a whopping N22 million. He must have spent more than this amount in financing the PDP since 2007.
In the course of this analysis, a cross-section of PDP members I interviewed was unanimous in the fact that Ihedioha has been providing financial assistance to bail out the party from financial distress. At a time some of the governorship aspirants abandoned the party and defected to other political parties in search of greener pasture, Ihedioha remained loyal to the PDP. In saner societies, the likes of Ihedioha who have remained faithful to PDP would simply be given the governorship ticket by acclamation. It is only in the PDP that prodigal sons who return to the family after a profligate living insist that the loyal siblings must bow to them.
In terms of law-making, representation and oversight functions, I do not have space to discuss Ihedioha’s superlative performance. But I will try to scratch the surface. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 to represent Aboh Mbaise/Ngor-Okpala Federal Constituency. Despite that he was not a ranking member, he served as the Chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport (2003-2007), and in 2007 served as Chairman House Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa. He was elected Chief Whip of the House in November 2007 where he served till June 2011. On June 6, 2011, he was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker by his colleagues. That was the first time members of the House of Representatives elected their own principal officers without any external manipulations. It was a paradigm shift from the past when principal officers of the House were imposed. The courage of the members of the Green Chamber to elect their principal officers without any external intervention was applauded by right-thinking members of the society. It would have been foolhardy for Ihedioha to reject such a high office which was given to him on a platter of gold.
His chairmanship of the prestigious House Committee on Marine Transport, even when he was a greenhorn in the House, is traceable to the fact that long before he joined the House in 2003, he was already versed in the business of politics. He started his political career from the grassroots when he served as media aide to top politicians like two Senate presidents, a former Vice President and others. Unlike most politicians who have no personal discipline to start their political career from little beginnings, Ihedioha spent over 12 years learning the ropes. After serving 12 years in the Green Chamber and rising to the position of Deputy Speaker, I doubt if there can be a better choice for Imo governor in the next political dispensation.
Ihedioha’s feat in the area of constituency projects is both record-shattering and record-setting. Unfortunately, some of his constituents in Aboh Mbaise and Ngor-Okpala are oblivious of what they have in him. I come from a senatorial zone where a particular senator served for over 12 years, but today, there is no constituency project that stands as a memento to the period he served as senator. This contrasts sharply with Ihedioha whose constituency projects are not only in his immediate federal constituency but also spread across the various local governments in Imo.
In terms of empowerment and human capacity development, he has done well. In partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), he organised “Empowerment of Imo Women and Youths Skill Acquisition Training” for 500 beneficiaries drawn from the three zones of the state. Each of the beneficiaries was given a full complement of start-up kit. Another batch of trainees had their own empowerment training at Metallurgical Training Institute (MTI), Onitsha. They were also provided with a full complement of kits. Another empowerment programme for the youths drawn from across the state took place at the Entrepreneurial Complex of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
In the same vein, in collaboration with the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Umuahia in Abia State, he organised a three-day intensive programme for about 700 beneficiaries from the 305 electoral wards of Imo. There are several of such empowerment programmes for the women and youths, and beneficiaries were drawn from the 27 local government areas of the state. He has also built federal skills acquisition centres in some communities in his constituency.
Ihedioha has also done well in terms of attracting projects to his constituency and the entire state. Some of these projects include the construction of Isinweke-Onicha-Uboma Road in Ihitte-Uboma local government area in Okigwe zone, a Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) project.
Although Imo is not a coastal zone, he was able to use his position as Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Transport to build Wharf/Jetty at Imo River, Okpuala.
In December 2011, I was one of the pressmen who went on a facility tour to verify his constituency projects. I was overwhelmed at the massive projects which confronted us. Some of the projects include the 132KVA and 33KVA transformers installed at Mbutu and Nguru communities. The 33KVA substation at Mbutu was commissioned on December 24, 2011 by the then Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji. According to the project engineer, the 132KVA, on completion, would supply electricity to more than 50 communities and decongest the Egbu sub-station.
Through NDDC, he facilitated the dualisation of the 35km interstate Owerri-Elele Road.
The Deputy Speaker has assured that adequate funding for the NDDC project will be achieved. There are other projects too numerous to mention.
I am convinced that based on these facts, Ihedioha is a fit and proper person to emerge as the choice of the PDP in its forthcoming governorship primaries. He has all it takes to overwhelm the candidates of the other parties in the election in February 2015. I am convinced that Ihedioha has exhibited a stellar performance in the core duties of a legislator which includes law-making, representation and oversight. A person with such background in political engineering should have a head start in the titanic battle for Imo governorship in 2015.
*Mgbe, a journalist, wrote in from Orlu, Imo State.
