Okorocha Considers Son-in-law as Successor
Rejects cattle colony in Imo
Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, yesterday said his son-in-law, Chief Uche Nwosu, has the qualities of a leader, adding that he would endorse him if he (Nwosu) indicates interest to run for governorship in 2019.
Nwosu is the current Chief of Staff, Government House, Owerri, and an ardent apostle of the Rescue Mission Government in the state.
He has floated several political organisations to champion his governorship ambition for 2019.
Okorocha revealed his interest in Nwosu when the officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and leaders from Owerri Municipal Council visited him at the Government House to urge him to encourage and support Nwosu for the governorship of the state in 2019, adding that the monumental achievements of the governor should not be left in the hands of any-how person.
The governor stated that although the Chief of Staff has not told him that he wants to run for the governorship of the state, but if he comes out, he would support him,
He added that he has known Nwosu over the years but does not know his parents and described him as an honest man who is sincere.
He said:, “Nwosu is hardworking, and never gets tired. He is a very humble young man. Not proud. Not arrogant. So, power won’t enter his head. In spite of the position he occupies, you can’t see him quarreling with anybody or maltreating anybody. He does not segregate against anybody whether from Orlu or Owerri or Okigwe zone. He relates with people enviously. I have checked him in and out, I have not found him wanting.
“What the state wants is Imo governor and not Owerri zone or Orlu zone or Okigwe zone governor. Zoning does not put food on the table of anybody. The young man is a team player, who does not use his office to molest anybody. He has the qualities of a good leader. If he says he will run for governor, I will support him.
“Obviously it might be as a result of these qualities that most people are talking about Nwosu for governor everywhere even when he has not declared for the governorship. It might also be the reason for the endorsements he is getting from all quarters. You see, you don’t hide a good product. And the joy of every leader is to have a worthy successor. You don’t mind political opportunists. We have done very well as a government and we should be concerned about what happens to the achievements after”, he said.
Continuing, the governor said “I am not from Owerri zone, but my administration has done more projects in Owerri zone and Owerri Municipal in particular more than the administrations before me had done put together. We need Imo governor and not a zonal governor. I have done in Okigwe zone what the man from the zone could not do for them. The records are there”.
Okorocha also called on the Igbos not to repeat the mistake of 2015, stressing that they must massively vote for APC and President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, adding that they need the North for political survival.
In their speech earlier, Mr. Obinna Mbata, who spoke on behalf of the party and political leaders from Owerri Municipal, said their desire is to see a person with sense of leadership no matter where the person comes from to succeed Governor Okorocha and a person who believes in development, and that they have seen Nwosu as the man with these qualities.
Mbata maintained that the question was what happens to the amazing achievements of the governor after he must have left office, insisting: “The achievements of the governor have exceeded the expectations of so many people. And who succeeds him should be the concern of all patriotic citizens of the state. That is why we are here, to tell you that Nwosu has all it takes to measure up well”.
Among the dignitaries in attendance was the member representing Owerri Municipal Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Lugard Osuji.
Meanwhile, Okorocha has said there is no place for cattle colony in the state except the cattle market at Okigwe.
He however, encouraged indigenes of the state to go into the cattle business because it is lucrative and that government would continue to support them through ranches.
The governor also said it was absolutely wrong to associate the Fulanis with the killer herdsmen, explaining that the herdsmen who kill should be treated as criminals, and they should not be used to stigmatise the Fulanis who have men and women who have largely contributed to nation-building.
The governor spoke when he received the national leaders of the Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim led by its Supreme Head and Prelate, Solomon Alao, at the Government House Owerri, adding that most Nigerians who had spoken on the issue of herdsmen or cattle colony had done so out of emotions and not based on the facts of the matter.
According to him, the fact remains that no one in the country has the right to take another person’s life in whatever disguise.
“For herdsmen to kill anybody is not right and that must be condemned. But it is wrong to stigmatise the Fulani race because of the actions of some of the herdsmen. We must call a criminal a criminal irrespective of where the person comes from”.