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Igbo politicians can’t dictate to Buhari – Okechukwu

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May 22, 2015 : John Alechenu

South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu
South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu
In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, the South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu, speaks about the scramble for appointments in the incoming administration, among sundry issues
Why did you say Ndigbo under the aegis of the Nsukka General Assembly have no right to dictate to Buhari?
Outside the abysmal failure of the Nsukka General Assembly to back the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and the failure of the Ndigbo in general to support him, the analysis dished out in their letter is decorated in false hopes.
What do you mean by false hopes?
Without being immodest, the two scenarios are wide apart. What we witnessed was simply a Peoples Democratic Party arrangement. If we of the APC talk of change, do you think we are joking?
What has change got to do with ministerial appointment?
In 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, the good people of Enugu State gave over 90 per cent of their votes to the PDP, both at the presidential and governorship elections successively. In 2015, despite our warnings, they did not vote for the president-elect, but they voted for the governor-elect. Can we reward less than three per cent votes?
What, in your view, is the way out?
One has the confidence that the leadership of our great party will urgently address the matter, especially now that there is a shift in emphasis because the scenario has changed. Kindly do not compare apples with oranges.
Today, as I said before, the incoming Governor of Enugu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, is of the PDP while the incoming president is of the All Progressives Congress. This is the major difference between the two scenarios. Make no mistake about it because one cannot imagine the governor-elect, who is from another political party, asking with seriousness the President-elect to choose his nominee.
It is very rare and can only be done under a coalition which in this circumstance does not exist.
Why were you not at the meeting where the issue of the nomination for important offices like the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministerial posts and other offices believed to have been zoned to the South-East was being decided?
I was not invited to the meeting and I think that it would be indecent for a person of my age to bump into the Imo State Lodge at Abuja, uninvited.
Why were you not invited?
The only guess is that one has not been in the best books of our zonal coordinator, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. It seems there is no love lost between both of us.
Why did you say so?
Actually, one thought we had mended fences. It was only when I asked Emma Eneukwu who incidentally is the secretary of the South-East caucus that he told me I was not on the list posted at the gate. He, however, said I could come and I told him that it would be a grave mistake if I go in uninvited and I am handled roughly.
What was the matter between you and your zonal leader because there was a time you told him to apologise to the Ndigbo?
One is always reluctant to repeat the story of how, sometime last year, in our caucus meeting I advised that His Excellency should not run for the presidential ticket of our party. I proposed during the meeting that Okorocha as the leader, who is well known in the North, should head a delegation to the North. I felt that instead of bidding, we should negotiate for the chairmanship or the vice-presidential slot.
Why chairmanship or vice-presidency?
My proposal was anchored on the prevailing zoning convention which favours the North. I made it clear that Okorocha is eminently qualified to run but that the conflict in the PDP stems from the zoning convention, which the North felt shortchanged about. It’s my view that the zoning convention, though not written in the constitution of our party, has its moral weight and should be observed.
Is the zoning convention not undemocratic?
In democratic practice or real politics, there is the law and the convention. The law is paramount but that does not diminish the moral weight of the convention. I told him to take us to the North, negotiate for the chairmanship or vice-presidential slot and a commitment that when the presidential slot comes to the South, we should have the choice of first refusal because our brothers in the South-West has ruled for eight years and the South-South has ruled for five years since the advent of the 4th Republic. That was my sin.
What then happened?
He nominated party officials, excluded some of us and went ahead to contest and the rest, they say, is history.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
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Friday, 22 May 2015

Igbo politicians can’t dictate to Buhari – Okechukwu

May 22, 2015 : John Alechenu

South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu
South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu
In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, the South-East spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, Osita Okechukwu, speaks about the scramble for appointments in the incoming administration, among sundry issues
Why did you say Ndigbo under the aegis of the Nsukka General Assembly have no right to dictate to Buhari?
Outside the abysmal failure of the Nsukka General Assembly to back the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and the failure of the Ndigbo in general to support him, the analysis dished out in their letter is decorated in false hopes.
What do you mean by false hopes?
Without being immodest, the two scenarios are wide apart. What we witnessed was simply a Peoples Democratic Party arrangement. If we of the APC talk of change, do you think we are joking?
What has change got to do with ministerial appointment?
In 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, the good people of Enugu State gave over 90 per cent of their votes to the PDP, both at the presidential and governorship elections successively. In 2015, despite our warnings, they did not vote for the president-elect, but they voted for the governor-elect. Can we reward less than three per cent votes?
What, in your view, is the way out?
One has the confidence that the leadership of our great party will urgently address the matter, especially now that there is a shift in emphasis because the scenario has changed. Kindly do not compare apples with oranges.
Today, as I said before, the incoming Governor of Enugu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, is of the PDP while the incoming president is of the All Progressives Congress. This is the major difference between the two scenarios. Make no mistake about it because one cannot imagine the governor-elect, who is from another political party, asking with seriousness the President-elect to choose his nominee.
It is very rare and can only be done under a coalition which in this circumstance does not exist.
Why were you not at the meeting where the issue of the nomination for important offices like the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ministerial posts and other offices believed to have been zoned to the South-East was being decided?
I was not invited to the meeting and I think that it would be indecent for a person of my age to bump into the Imo State Lodge at Abuja, uninvited.
Why were you not invited?
The only guess is that one has not been in the best books of our zonal coordinator, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. It seems there is no love lost between both of us.
Why did you say so?
Actually, one thought we had mended fences. It was only when I asked Emma Eneukwu who incidentally is the secretary of the South-East caucus that he told me I was not on the list posted at the gate. He, however, said I could come and I told him that it would be a grave mistake if I go in uninvited and I am handled roughly.
What was the matter between you and your zonal leader because there was a time you told him to apologise to the Ndigbo?
One is always reluctant to repeat the story of how, sometime last year, in our caucus meeting I advised that His Excellency should not run for the presidential ticket of our party. I proposed during the meeting that Okorocha as the leader, who is well known in the North, should head a delegation to the North. I felt that instead of bidding, we should negotiate for the chairmanship or the vice-presidential slot.
Why chairmanship or vice-presidency?
My proposal was anchored on the prevailing zoning convention which favours the North. I made it clear that Okorocha is eminently qualified to run but that the conflict in the PDP stems from the zoning convention, which the North felt shortchanged about. It’s my view that the zoning convention, though not written in the constitution of our party, has its moral weight and should be observed.
Is the zoning convention not undemocratic?
In democratic practice or real politics, there is the law and the convention. The law is paramount but that does not diminish the moral weight of the convention. I told him to take us to the North, negotiate for the chairmanship or vice-presidential slot and a commitment that when the presidential slot comes to the South, we should have the choice of first refusal because our brothers in the South-West has ruled for eight years and the South-South has ruled for five years since the advent of the 4th Republic. That was my sin.
What then happened?
He nominated party officials, excluded some of us and went ahead to contest and the rest, they say, is history.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
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