Supporters of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume over the weekend joined Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Imo state PDP to welcome President Goodluck Jonathan to Owerri, confirming the support of the Okigwe -born Senator for Ihedioha as the governorship candidate of his party.
At Saturday’s rally in which Ihedioha was presented to the people of Imo State by President Jonathan, observers were quick to imply that the action of Ararume and his men boldly accepted the course of events in Imo – queuing behind Ihedioha.
The PDP governorship primary election saw Ihedioha emerging as the winner and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume coming second – an outcome that threw up a somewhat bitter aftermath as Ararume fought so bitterly against Ihedioha.
Yesterday, however, the signal, which even President Jonathan, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mua’zu, and the entire hierarchy of the party saw, was that indeed Ararume and his support base have finally joined Ihedioha and Imo PDP to form the next government in Imo State and work for the greater good of Imo PDP. What is not known is what may have transpired between Ihedioha and Ararume camps on one hand, and the Presidency before the rally.
“I have said it before, I am saying it again, we have moved on. Ararume and Ihedioha have buried their differences for the common good of the PDP,” a top chieftain of the PDP in Imo state said at the rally.
Ararume, a traditional PDP loyalist though embittered by the outcome of the election, may have yielded to the arguments canvassed by fellow party members and the Presidency to team up with Ihedioha and ensure the victory of the PDP in Imo State come February 2015. Ararume, a consistent front runner in the Imo governorship election, was the winner in the 2007 primaries but lost it to a last minute decision of the powers that be in the party not to field him – not even a court judgment in his favour could sway the then leadership in accepting him as the winner.
In 2011, Ararume was back; this time as the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, candidate. He came third behind Rochas Okorocha of the APGA and then incumbent Governor, Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim of the PDP.
Ihedioha, whose campaign has kicked off fully, is boosted by this development as he is expected to go into the election with a united PDP family. – The Sun.
