Undoubtedly political activities will increase this year as Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has directed all political parties to conduct their primaries and conclude their congress within the year as a prelude to 2019 general elections.
Since last year, one issue that continues to cause headache to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is who among his loyalties could succeed him. This is imperative considering the automatic APC gubernatorial ticket he promised some of them. Okorocha is equally committed in ensuring he produced a credible successor so that he will not suffer what his predecessors have suffered for not installing a loyalty as a successor.
Governor Okorocha as a master strategist and probably to curry absolute loyalty from his aides had earlier before now promised so many of them the state Governorship ticket of All Progressive Congress (APC). Among those the Governor positioned for the plum job are Prince Eze Madumere, his Deputy and Loyalist for over 20 years, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, the Governor’s Chief of Staff and son-in-law who inadvertently is currently in control of the state power.
Others include Rt Hon. Acho Ihim, the Speaker Imo House of Assembly, Sir. Jude Ejiogu, the immediate past Secretary to Imo State Government, Prince Alex Mbata, the Pro-Chancellor Imo State University, Sir George Etche, the Secretary to Imo State Government among others.
Among all these, political pundits says the Governor’s body language tend to favour Prince Madumere and Ugwumba Nwosu but unknown to them that the Governor is strategically keeping his trust on Sir Stanley Amuchie, the unsung hero of Uvuru in Aboh Mbaise Council Area of Imo State. This is as a result of unfavourable feelers the Governor is getting if he fields any of this his aides.
A trusted kitchen cabinet member of the Okorocha’s political think tank authoritatively told this writer that the Governor’s decision not to hand over power to any of the aforementioned lieutenants is to avoid digging his own political grave.
The Governor’s mind set now is that given ticket to any member of his kitchen cabinet as promised will definitely led to bickering, wrangling and polarization. To him, it is better to bring a loyalist outside the fold and nurture him into their mission and vision with his Rochamanics philosophy all of them will definitely cue in and support the candidature in the overall interest of the group. This is how Sir Amuchie fit the bill as a philanthropist per excellence and undinted compassionate financial guru. This secret is planned to be unveil by first quarter of this year. Then, the Governor will mandate all his men nursing for gubernatorial ambition to drop such ambition and throw in their support to Sir Stanley Amuchie, the Group Chief Financial Officer of Zenith Bank.
And with the political structure already on the ground, Amuchie who is the founder and president of Good-light Foundation, a non-governmental organization that has in the last three years created jobs to a lot of Imo youth, given hope and transformation to many widows, widowers, destitute, less privilege and poorest of the poor will coast home as APC gubernatorial candidate.
The foundation is known, but the man behind the scene is an unassuming hero of University of Benin, first class brain in Industrial Chemistry.
Last Christmas, most of Governor Okorocha’s trusted aides were on hand to support Sir Amuchie while most of the people he has helped in life under the auspices of Goodlight Support Group (GSG) decided to surprise him by honouring and appreciating him at his ancestral Central School Uvuru, Aboh Mbaise playing ground.
The occasion demonstrated Amuchie as a bridge builder and a good man as people from all works of life and geographical locations were on hand, they were passionately asking him to respond to their clarion call ahead of 2019 as they poured encomiums for him.
According to Hon Chike Okafor who was the chairman of the occasion and was ably represented by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson Ude
“Stanley Amuchie blends personal humility with inspired standards while allowing no room for mediocrity in any form and he is the embodiment of abiding passion for excellence in every aspect of life, a passion matched only by a pathological will to be positively different”.
While for Mr. Uchenna Ohalete, the Programme Manager of Good-light Foundation “No doubt, Stanley Amuchie is kind, acquiescent and compassionate but his achievements so far have more to do with his brain power and the unique gift of foresight. Unarguably, he has assiduously and methodically worked to become an essence of abiding friendship, love and emphatic consideration for persons known and unknown.
He is an inspirational speaker and has delivered speeches at several conferences the world-over. He has mentored several established professionals and his depth of experience speaks volume.
Amuchie holds several leadership positions outside his professional line and plays a litany of roles off line, serving as pillar of his immediate community and church, doing his share of mentoring and inordinately lending his energy, perception and guidance in diverse endeavours that ultimately benefits society at large” he assured.
It is pertinent to know why Governor Okorocha wants this son of living parental teachers to succeed him, according to the source, the Governor sees Sir Amuchie as an incorruptible financial guru who has a heart of human kindness. To him, Sir Stanley Amuchie is a man of implicit courage, integrity, credibility and humane.
Above all, the clamour for 2019 Governor of Owerri senatorial zone extraction, is gathering momentum and may rubbish his political permutation if he fails to restrain his stand of no zoning arrangement.
Secondly, the Governor has the conviction that Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of Mbutu, Aboh Mbaise and a kinsman to Sir Amuchie is most likely to emerge again as the gubernatorial candidate of PDP in the same election.
The Governor’s calculation is that Sir Amuchie with his goodwill, popularity and financial war-chest will definitely be a serious threat to Ihedioha ambition in his Mbaise ancient clan, strong political hold. Truly, there is ripple in Ihedioha’s political camp since last December’s inclination that Sir Amuchie may run for Governorship of Imo State under APC platform.
Thirdly, Governor Okorocha perceives him as a young politician with undaunted track records whom he can easily control considering their age long relationship but unknown to him that Amuchie is a banker whose reputation dwells in honesty, truth and good conscience.
Amuchie is a firm believer in good governance and purposeful leadership thus why he is an advocate of attitudinal change and positive mind sets for the youths as a hallmark for societal reformation, transformation and development.
The Governor is keeping to himself this unsung hero he wants to use as a political soccer punch for his 2019 succession plans even though they are regularly in touch, ironically, Amuchie as a politician is not well known in the state outside his Mbaise bloc but a household name in corporate world and philanthropy.
One other fundamental issue is that when the chips are down will Okorocha’s political family see him as an alien in their political camp? Will Okorocha have the conviction to adopt him as one of his political sons without bickering and wrangling in the political family? This is one of Amuchie’s dilemmas which must be discussed, settled and assured.
