Collins Ughalaa

“And one told David, saying: ‘Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom’. And David said: ‘O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness’”.

— 2 Samuel 15:31.

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, there were newspaper reports that certain hitherto estranged politicians from Imo State decided to mend fences, and met in Abuja over the weekend ostensibly to discuss developments in the state as they affect the people back home. Those in attendance at the nocturnal meeting included politicians such as the immediate past governor of the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose imperious reign is the reason for the backwardness in the state in the last eight years; former governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Hope Uzodimma, former governorship aspirant and Senator, Samuel Anyanwu, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) and Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the 2019 governorship election. While the group gathered under the cloak of working together to advance the interest of the state, they did not hide the true intendment of their meeting.

They admitted in the said newspaper reports that they would handle the outcome of the remaining processes in the litigations on the governorship election “together in the spirit of the new Political Movement.”

From all indications the Abuja meeting was a gathering of strange bedfellows flocking together for the fear of their impending loss at the Appeal Court over the governorship election petition which they had instituted.

Governor Emeka Ihedioha had on Saturday, September 19, 2019, defeated the trio of Uche Nwosu, Ifeanyi Araraume and Hope Uzodimma in what many pundits had described as 3/3 victory.

Expectedly, the defeated trio activated their rights to appeal the judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. Aware that they are fighting against the free mandate of the people, the trio have since known no peace. They have been running from pillar to post in search of any straw, but none seems to be in sight.

No matter how they gather and conspire against the people’s governor, they cannot curse whom God has blessed. As Christians we know that one with God is majority. We are further assured in the Holy Scriptures that “Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you”, Isaiah 54:15.

Again, the Holy Scriptures assures us that “No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel”, Numbers 23:23. But those opposed to the children of God would always try. Only try. That was why they gathered in Abuja, to device another formula they thought could give them the power they so crave to oppress the people.

This is the brainchild of Owelle Rochas Okorocha. Before the judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that dished out defeat to them, Okorocha had been shopping for amiable foes who could close ranks with him in their next stage of the battle for the soul of the state.

He seems to have concluded sacrificing the political ambition of his son in-law and would now adopt a consensus candidate to face Governor Emeka Ihedioha in the event of a rerun election, or anything like that, according to their day dreams.

We are not shocked that Okorocha could do anything for power, including worshipping Beelzebub or dining with the Devil. He has insatiable appetite for power. He had battled Araraume on several fronts over the governorship of the state.

In 2011 when he ran for the governorship election under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Araraume was the governorship candidate of the then fledging Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). They formed a loose alliance but in the end Araraume lost. In 2015, Araraume was a governorship aspirant under the PDP but he lost the primary election to Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, who went on to win the governorship election on March 9, 2019. Having lost the 2015 primary election of the PDP in December 2014, Araraume formed another alliance with then Governor Okorocha who was facing a rampaging PDP in his second term election.

Okorocha won the election by the whiskers, but it was said that Araraume supplied him a lot of energy. It was also said that Okorocha had covenanted to make Araraume the governor of the state after him in 2019. But Okorocha would not keep to the said covenant.

He did not only oppose Araraume’s emergence as his successor in preference to his son in-law, he was reported to have declared publicly that Araraume could only be governor over his dead body. He was also reported to have claimed that he had retired Araraume from politics. The animosity that ensued forced Araraume out of the APC to APGA where he also lost the governorship election on March 9, 2019.

On the other hand, Senator Samuel Anyanwu first lost the soul of the PDP to the safe hands of now Governor Emeka Ihedioha. He lost his Senate seat too. To rub pepper into a fresh sore, he lost the governorship primary election of the PDP.

He activated his right to seek redress in court and exhausted all the opportunities provided by law. But he lost in all. Efforts and sacrifices made to keep him in the PDP despite his sins did not click. Many said his soul had since left the PDP and only the carcass was left wondering in the party.

Therefore, when we read that certain politicians from the PDP joined in the Abuja conspiracy, it should be clear that they are those who had already left the party. No sane PDP member could join in the Abuja charade. And for Uche Nwosu: from what is already in the public domain, he has lived his life licking Okorocha’s boots. The Governor in some instances was reported to have said that he did not know Uche Nwosu from Adam and that he picked him on the streets.

Rising from the bottom of the ladder to marrying the governor’s daughter, and becoming the governorship candidate of the AA, many could argue that Uche Nwosu owes Okorocha more than the mind could fathom. But Uche Nwosu suffered so much in the hands of all the people in the current conspiracy. They tore his coat into shreds.

Senator Hope Uzodimma was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic until sometime in 2018 when he jumped into the APC train. He became a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the PDP for two terms.

He became all he dreamt of in the PDP, but because of his appetite for more power, especially the governorship seat, he spat in the face of the PDP and left her ungratefully. Before his unshocking exit from the party he had masterminded the splitting of the party. But in the end, despite his exit, the party became more formidable and won the governorship seat without him.

He joined the APC and battled with then governor Okorocha, causing unforeseen friction in the party and made a mess of the governor. Remember the drama of the governorship primary election of the APC in the state? Remember the Alhaji Gulak episode and the jest that exercise became?

Remember Okorocha running from house to house in search of the result of the governorship primary election, especially at the residence of then National Organizing Secretary of the APC, Senator Osita Izunaso?

Truth be told, the Abuja meeting is not the only time some people would come together to conspire against their brother or friend. History is replete with such selfish outings. William Shakespeare, for example, told a thrilling story of betrayal and conspiracy in one of his plays, Julius Caesar, involving characters like Brutus and Julius Caesar.

In the Christians’ Holy Bible, stories of conspiracy are replete. In one instance the Holy Book tells the story of a Jewish character called Ahithophel, who conspired against his master, King David. In biblical Israel, just as in Nigeria, it was a felonious offence plotting to kill the king. Such action was capable of attracting death sentence and eventual execution.

But this man called Ahithophel, a supposed man of honour and perhaps one of the most celebrated politicians of that epoch, conspired to have the king killed. He was one of the closest allies and counsellors of King David. The Bible attests to his prowess in 2 Samuel 16:23b: “And the counsel of Ahithophe, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God”.

But he left the king and joined forces with Absalom in rebellion against him. Aware of the biting conspiracy, King David prayed to God, saying: “O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness”. God answered his prayers, and Ahithophel hanged himself.

The good news is that Imo people are not perturbed one bit. There is nothing to fear really but much to celebrate rather.

When men driven by desperate ambition over the same object gather and conspire, the outcome is like when covetous thieves steal. They end up fighting against each other, because each would want to have the upper hand and cheat his fellow. The unbridled appetite for power of these strange bedfellows will drive them to their separate ways and the unholy marriage would end barren.

Nothing good can come from evil minds. Already the conspirators have started pulling out of the conspiracy. Information available shows that the governorship candidate of the AA has warned his few supporters that he is not part of the conspiracy and that he would rather continue to pursue his case in the courts. Senator Araraume is also said to have conveyed similar message to his followers, assuring them that he would win his case. Senator Hope Uzodimma has reportedly done same. The only person reported not to have done such is the former Senator of Owerri, Samuel Anyanwu. He has no subsisting case in court over the governorship election, and as such not a serious stakeholder in the unholy alliance.

The same ambition that forced this unholy marriage of strange bedfellows will no doubt separate them. When people who do not trust each other come together, they are driven apart by the same distrust.

When they gathered in the APC to stop Okorocha from installing his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, as the governorship candidate of the APC, the quest to gain the upper hand against each other drove them apart. And Uche Nwosu would be naïve to forget in a hurry his experience at their hands and to trust them.

Of course, those who live by the sword die by it. And as the Psalmist prophesised: “They spread a net for my feet – I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path – but they have fallen into it themselves” Psalm 56:6.

•Collins Ughalaa could be reached via email: ughalaacollind@gmail.com; or by telephone: 07066222944.

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