Onyeka Onwenu (MFR), a two time Aspirant for the Local Government Chairmanship of Ideato North, Imo State is under pressure from Associates, supporters and friends, to leave the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in order to maximise her political contributions and participation in Imo State.

In a letter dated December 102010, The Committee on Political Education (COPE) and The One Love Organization, in Ideato North Local Government Area have expressed dismay at the bitter disappointments Ms Onwenu has suffered in Imo State, from the PDP – a party to which she has given so much. The inability of the PDP at the National level to address the obvious anomalies and blatant denial of the opportunity to serve, has equally been baffling.

It recalled that the State Governor, Dr Ikedi Ohakim, had allowed the conduct of secret primaries as well as the unacceptable LGA Chairmanship elections in Imo State, in May 2010, which the Party condemned but did nothing about it.

The strongly worded letter commended Ms Onwenu, though, for her steadfastness, consistency, persistence, loyalty and sense of purpose, in her quest to serve her people – qualities which had endeared her to her supporters and convinced them to stick with her since 2002. However, the letter warned that her Associates are no longer willing to countenance the non acknowledgment and non appreciation of a person in the calibre of Ms Onwenu, by the PDP.
She spoke to our team of reporters inher Isaac John Street, Ikeja Lagos office

Enjoy.

We hear your supporters have asked you to dump the PDP?

Onyeka Onwenu

Yes, I received such a letter, urging me to jettison the PDP for another party where my input and contributions would be better appreciated and utilized. In Imo State, nobody knows  what’s going on because we had primaries that I call kangoro primaries. The primaries never held in Imo State, where it happened, they were held in secret places by Governor Ohakim’s loyalists and some selected aspirants.

The party was against that action, we protested and the party listened . There was a stakeholders meeting, where the party categorically told the governor that they did not recognise the local government primaries held in the state, that he should not conduct the election. But he ignored the party’s order as he went ahead to conduct the election.  Unfortunately, Chief Nwodo, who had a brilliant idea about enthroning internal democracy in PDP could not sustained it as he later upheld that  election. It was the height of disappointment on the part of Chief Nwodo. I wondered why PDP as a ruling party in Nigeria can’t for once be serious about enthroning internal democracy in the party.

The last time, I had an encounter with you, you spoke passionately about the Ohakim administration?

Yes, I did, because he convinced many of us that he was going to do the right thing. But he never did, it was a very big let down to us. I have worked for the PDP at the ward level, at the LGA level and at the State level where I was used properly. Though I wanted to be used because I believed in the party, I believed also in the ideals of the party, and I offered myself for service to my people. Imagine, for eight years I vied for a political position in Imo, the first election were not fair to me.

The party nominated me as their candidate, but my Imo brothers said no, to political ambition. They had enough  money and leverage to deny me the ticket. For eight years, I was in the forefront of  PDP activities in Imo, and any person who would claim that he or she bankrolled my political campaign in the state should come out and say so.

In spite of my maltreatment in PDP, Imo State, it remains a Party that I have helped to build up, at all levels, even financially. In the last dispensation, I worked for the election of the State Assembly Representative, Federal House of Assembly Representative and Senator, from my zone and the two Gubernatorial candidates fielded by my party in Imo State. You will recall that there were two Governorship elections in Imo State in 2007. I also worked for the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the POP. I was not only physically involved, I put in money and mobilized my supporters for the campaign and election.

This is a well known fact in Imo State. I dare anyone to contradict me.

During Ohakim’s first term, I gave my best and it was a very expensive venture for me. Nobody can say they compensated me. I used my own funds even when I was Chairman of Imo State Arts Council and my time which you know is very valuable was equally a factor. I came up with ideas which were used without due credit to me. I personally wrote the Blueprint for the Arts Council and together with other Board Members, we ran the best Arts Council administration Imo State had ever known. Sorry, I did not intend to blow my own trumpet but these are some of the reasons I had continued with the PDP. But my loyalty has been taken for granted.

Do you feel betrayed?

Of course, I was betrayed, and I’m not the only person. Governor Ohakim knew about it and he has apologised publically in respect of the irregularities that trailed the local government election in Imo.

Yes he did, at the Stakeholders meeting, called by the Party in Abuja. I must say that I was touched by that gesture and his magnanimity in doing so but at the end of the day, it did not help me. He denied complicity in what was done to me and put the blame on “my brother”, whose late father was a political heavy weight during the second, but that was the plan. Otherwise, as I pointed out, he could have put his foot down and not accept the result of the “Kangaroo” primaries. The Governor could have addressed my petitions. But he chose to ignore me instead.

Now that PDP has denied you the ticket, is it over with the party?

I don’t know yet. I’m a celebrity, I’m not looking for fame, I have got fame and I even want to run away from  it.  Actually, I have been under immense pressure for sometimes now, to do just that, but this is the first time it has been put in writing. I have great respect for my associates. They have been with me through thick and thin and I understand where they are coming from. Many in my State were shocked at the treatment meted out to me – they could not comprehend why the Governor and the Party treated me with such ignominy. My integrity and capability were not in question, on the contrary. I had worked so hard and had been a loyal and consistent supporter. My support indeed had been varied and total.

I have given it a lot of thought and I have been praying about it. But it is not an easy decision to make. I have been approached by other parties who are eager to have me in their fold. They appreciate my worth. My decision will be made public very soon.

Again, now that you have been denied the platform, are you also  going to deny your people your service to them?

Never. We have been building up a foundation in my father’s name called P .K Onwenu. I have a few things that has delayed the proper launch of the foundation. It has been launched before now, but I want a situation where we will invest a lot of money to kick start the foundation. A certain percentage of my earning will go to the foundation.

What really happened at the LGA Chairmanship primaries?

Very simply, the Governor did not want me. Instructions were given that I was to be schemed out and to mask their intention, they appointed my townsman and cousin, Chief Greg Mbadiwe, to serve as Chairman of the Primaries Committee.

He did a good job for them. On the day the primaries were held, in Owerri, which is outside Ideato North, only one candidate out of five was there and he “won”. The rest of us protested but no one listened. My Local Government had been sold to a money bag based in Lagos who owns a pharmaceutical company. He had a lot of money to throw around and he left no one in doubt about his desperation to own not just the Local Government Chairmanship but every other position out of Ideato North and South, including the Commissioner slot.

The man’s hatred for the people of Arondizuogu, my clan, was not hidden and he was particularly afraid of me. I could not be bought or compromised. Alii wanted to do was to rescue my local Government from underdevelopment and corruption. I would be the last person to handover LGA funds to a leader or allow the State Government to tamper with it. I have no apologies to make for that. That is why they did not want me. But the people did and desperately so. They were very disappointed.

Is that why you resigned as the Board Chairman of the Arts Council?

Well did not want to allow him to continue using me. I could not defend the policies of a leadership I could not trust to do the right thing by me. I could not continue to spend my personal funds working for the State. I had campaigned  nonstop for the LGA Chairmanship for more than eight years and everybody found it convenient but it could not continue. Besides, there was so much more that my Board could have achieved but funds were not available. We were working with bare hands. It was not interesting, just treading water, after our initial successes.

We heard you were offered commissionership in Imo State but you rejected it, insisting it must be LGA Chairman or nothing…

I heard that too but it was a lie. Infact, the Governor made a statement to that effect at the Stakeholders meeting and I quickly circulated a letter debunking it. It was simply not true. Maybe he thought about it but he never made an offer.

A. When he broached the idea, exactly on the day that he inaugurated my Board,

I told him that the most important thing is for Imo State to move forward and that if he felt that he could best use my talents as a Commissioner, so be it. Of course,

I really wanted to help my Local Government more directly because of the backwardness of our situation there but the point is, the Governor never offered me the appointment and he knows it. So do the people of Imo State.

But we saw you singing alongside the Governor at the Eagle Square on the day President  Jonathan declared his intention to vie for the Presidential elections…

Yes indeed. He is still my Governor and I respect the office which he holds. He is my brother too, God bless him. I may not like the way I was treated but that does not make him my enemy. I love him with the love of the Lord and I wish him well

You are a known supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, what happens if you leave the PDP?

Yes I am a supporter, no doubt about that. We shall cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Do you have any regrets about going into Politics?

No way! Are you kidding? I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am not an arm chair critic. I have tried to make a difference. I don’t know if I have succeeded but I do know that my foray into politics has encouraged some people, men and women who have something to offer, to step out.

What about running for LG Chairmanship, Many people felt you should have gone for higher office?

If there is one thing my eight year quest for the Local Government Chairmanship of Ideato North has done, it has brought the issue of Local Government administration to the front burner. The Local Government is the closest to the people and if governance is gotten right at that level, it forms a strong foundation for development on which the State and Federal governance can thrive. If you do not have a viable, responsible and focused Local governance, everything you are doing at any other level is simply building on quick sand.

It will not stand. Nigeria has not gotten this yet. All we do with money allocated to Local Government is to share it amongst the leaders. The State Government interfers and takes its share sometimes outrightly or in the guise of some ill conceived program on behalf of the Local Government. Next in line is the Godfather who sponsored the Local Government Chairman and Councillors. Then some other Stakeholders who enabled the godfather by manipulating the electoral process will take their share. The Chairman who has had to bribe his way through because he had nothing to offer the electorate in the first place then reserves the rest of the booty for himself. He has to recover his investment and make profit. No one holds him accountable, they have no moral right to do so. And the people suffer.

Roads, more than sixty percent of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Local Government administration are neglected, social services, sanitation and revenue drive are non-existing. All that they care about is the monthly federal allocation. As soon as it is shared, everyone disperses.

I have no regrets choosing the Local Government Chairmanship as a political vehicle. Indeed it is a mission and the fact that I am not there yet is not a hindrance. At some point, Nigerians will come to the realization that Local Government is a vital component to our success as a nation, indeed to our development. For me, the journey is the destination. Aluta Continua.