By Ochereome Nnanna
In politics, it is said there is no permanent enemy or friend; and given the ever_changing nature of the game, this legend will always hold true.  It is now playing out in its full colours, and will be one of the factors defining the grand celebration the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will bathing in at the renamed Township Stadium, Umuahia, when former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, will join other top umbrellas of the Party to receive Governor Theodore Orji (fondly hailed “Ochendo” by his admirers) back to the party.

Four years ago, both T. A. Orji and Obasanjo were ranged against each other from the opposite sides of a drawn battle line. The former President had just failed to obtain a constitution amendment to extend his tenure. As part of his fall_back plan, he was determined to decide those who would take over, especially at the executive arms, both at the state and federal levels.

One of the devices he resorted to was the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) then led by one of his fierce loyalists, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to nail those he did not want to contest elections. He constituted the Professor Ignatius Ayua Administrative Panel of Inquiry, which proceeded to indict a number of highly placed political office holders eyeing elective positions. Chief Orji was one of those caught in its web.

T. A. Orji was the Chief of Staff to former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK), an arch_political foe of Obasanjo. He had been pencilled down as the man to succeed OUK. Incidentally, Obasanjo was firmly behind the gubernatorial aspirations of Dr Onyema Ugochukwu, T. A’s kinsman who was loyal to the ex_president.

As part of the steps he took to counter Obasanjo’s moves to thwart his candidate, Governor Kalu also set up his own panel of inquiry that indicted Obasanjo and cleared T. A’s name. Soon enough, acting on the federal panel’s indictment and capitalising on their Federal Might advantage, Ribadu’s men invaded Umuahia, and T. A. was one of Kalu’s trusted men whisked into detention for allegedly helping Kalu to launder large amounts of state funds.

If the plan was to keep T. A. in jail in order to give Ugochukwu an easy ride, it did not work. His party, the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) continued the campaign he had started. Elections were held in April 2007 and T. A. was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Now pavilioned in his executive immunity, T. A. was released and his party ensured he was sworn_in after outwitting their opponents in a cat_and_mouse game. Ugochukwu went to the Abia State Election Tribunal, and later to the Court of Appeal, where he lost. He later instituted an additional court action. Both parties were in the middle of it when the tide of politics turned again to what it is today. And what turned the tide?

There is an adage that says: “power without control is nothing”. Former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, his mother and family members, from the day T. A. was sworn_in, did not allow him a breathing space. He was shackled, and his actions as a governor were dictated to him from Igbere, Kalu’s home town.

This obviously affected his performance in office negatively in many ways. No one who lives in bondage can be at his best. From time to time, though, the news came out that things were no longer at ease for former Governor Kalu and his successor, but the crisis was kept under wraps, due largely to T. A. gentlemanly disposition and his determination not to upset the applecart.

The final straw that broke the camel’s back was when T. A requested for a second term ticket from his Party, PPA. Kalu, his family and loyalists felt that since Orji was now showing signs of resistance to “party directives” he would bolt altogether if given a second term ticket. One of the ways the governor showed he was now ready to “answer to his father’s name” shortly after the final Court of Appeal ruling confirming his victory, was the dissolution, in February, 2009 of the cabinet that Kalu had almost single_handedly constituted in June 2007.

Early in July this year, the crisis boiled over. The PPA issued a query to Orji, accusing him of non_performance, and ordering him to carry out a number of demands or else. Reading the handwriting on the wall, and realising that the PPA would never give him the second term ticket, T. A. finally dumped the PPA, along with Senator Uche Chukwumerije.

Initially, he chose the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as his new platform. By so doing three political parties were now in contention for the crown come 2011: the PPA, APGA and the highly fractious PDP. Kalu reduced the field when he decided to “dissolve” the PPA into the PDP at a ceremony at the Wadata Plaza national headquarters of the Party in Abuja on July 12th 2010 . This changed the game instantly.

Even though Kalu was having it rough being accepted back into the party by the various factional leaders, such as Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Ugochukwu, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (who had announced his candidacy for governor in 2011 on the Party’s platform) and former National Chairman of the Party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, a relatively new platform like APGA might not be able to face up to the former ruling party at the polls, what with T. A. as yet not having the opportunity to demonstrate the quality of his newfound freedom in terms of service delivery.

Besides, the national headquarters of the PDP badly wanted Abia back in its fold, especially as the burgeoning presidential ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan needed all the support he could get in the impending clash with his northern challengers. T. A. gave his terms for a crossover, which included the demand that the party structure in the state should be handed over to him. PDP conceded to him almost all he asked for. Part of the deal was to persuade Maduekwe, Ugochukwu, Abaribe and Ogbulafor to bury the hatchet and cooperate with T. A, especially as Kalu was now out of the way.

Former president Obasanjo was very much in the middle of packaging this deal, which included a possible ministerial job for Ugochukwu after next year’s election, a second term senatorial ticket for Abaribe in 2011 and a clear field for him to run in 2015 when power would shift to Abia South, his home zone, and some measure of political rehabilitation for Ogbulafor.

On Saturday, August 21st 2010 , T. A. was in the Abeokuta country home of Obasanjo to smoothen the way for the Saturday August 28th 2010 grand ceremony for the governor’s reception back to the Party, which President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, Obasanjo, all the national party leaders and PDP governors from the South East and South_South are slated for attendance.Ugochukwu, Abaribe, Maduekwe, Ogbulafor and other local leaders of the Party in Abia State have been on ground in Umuahia and environs and will be at the reception.