All things considered, Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji of Abia state could well be the

Victor Ogene

Cinderella of Nigeria politics, his God-endowed attributes as a male notwithstanding. Towards the twilight of the last dispensation, Orji, who functioned as Chief of Staff (COS) to then Governor Orji Uzor Kalu had so creditably discharged his functions that he easily found favour in his boss’ eye as to anoint him as successor to the throne of Abia governorship stool. But hardly had Kalu’s mindset been properly deciphered than several angry Abians rose up in unison to not only denounce the plan, but also work stridently to abort it. First, the antagonists who are primarily leading lights of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to which the two Orjis belonged, got the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), at the time, the lap-dog of the central authorities, to hound the gubernatorial candidate-designate since the country’s immunity provisions prevents any intensive security searchlight on incumbent state and federal executives and their deputies.
Immersed in this bitter in-fighting, then Governor Kalu pulled his followers out of the PDP, and herded them into a new political platform, the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), from where he wrought an electoral miracle, leading the charge to get his man, T.A. Orji, installed as governor of the state, despite being ‘stowed’ away at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos during the electioneering period. He barely managed to make it to the inauguration dias, as it took a judicial pronouncement to let him off the hook.
Upon assumption of office, however, the onslaught against him instead of abating assumed new highs, with charges of a stolen mandate, membership of the dreaded Okija shrine, non-resignation of official position as COS and the harbouring of an alleged unholy alliance with his successor to continue the pillaging of the state’s resources.
But while Governor Orji won on virtually all counts in the legal proceedings which followed, grave doubt persisted in the minds of the people regarding where his true allegiance lay: With Abians as a collective or with Kalu as an individual. What followed was a Cat-and-Mouse relationship which culminated in both overt and covert moves to deny the governor a second term in office by his supposed benefactor, having reportedly tried to wean himself free from his over-arching embrace, in an effort to deliver democracy dividends to the people of the state. This immediately pitched Gov. Orji against the PPA leadership and in search of succour, he pitched tent with the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), which already had an indelible footmark in Anambra state.
Then, as sudden as his entry into APGA was, Gov. Orji is back to where the journey started: the PDP, a party which at an elaborate ceremony last Saturday, August 28, he assumed the status of its undisputed leader in Abia State.
To get the real essence of these movements across party lines and examine the fault lines and aces they promise, The Source was at Umuahia, the Abia state capital last week to speak with Gov. Orji, and feel the pulse of the people. The product of that encounter is our major offering for the week.