ROCHAS OKOROCHA A former Commissioner in the Federal Character Commission and a member of the defunct National Constitutional Conference, Okorocha is a veteran governorship and presidential aspirant. He had attempted to be a governor in Imo State in 1999 under the PDP but he failed as ex-Governor Achike Udenwa won the primaries. By 2003, he was a presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but did not succeed. After his failure, he defected to PDP where he was compensated by ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo with an appointment as Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs. Still aspiring to lead the nation, Okorocha in 2005 established the Action Alliance (AA). Later he shifted base to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) where he won the governorship poll in 2011. STRENGTHS Okorocha is a natural philanthropist with a heart of gold. He is also noted for executing quality projects. A committed grassroots politician with acronym, “My people, my people,” he is a politician who is at home in the North, as in the South-West and the South-East. He is a crowd puller with his intellectually-inclined speeches and sugar-coated tongue. Having been born in Jos, he speaks Hausa like the natives. This has made him to be loved by Northerners. WEAKNESSES Okorocha prefers to build an empire around himself than allow democracy to flourish with the principle of separation of powers respected. He is also quite loud about his achievements. He won the 2011 governorship poll through the people’s revolt but the revolution seems to have suffered a setback. He seems to be rejuvenating the revolution again. He is politically unstable having moved around PDP, ANPP, AA, APGA and now APC. He does not look like a serious presidential aspirant because his level of consultations had been exceptionally low. The question on every lip of is whether he’s interested in the presidential ticket or playing a hide and seek game. Beyond his declaration in Kaduna, he has not shown much enthusiasm for the presidency. He appears to be having a fall-back position for re-election as a governor if there is roadblock at the primaries. Having lost ANPP’s ticket to Buhari in 2003, APC members are not treating his aspiration with much seriousness. Political pundits foresee him stepping down or just participating in APC presidential primaries as mere symbolic gestures. Nation
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 06:13:27 +0000
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