News Report: Imo State Governorship Election Impasse; Araraume To The Rescue

Senator Ifeanyi Araraume

Contacts close to Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, governorship candidate of the Action Congress Of Nigeria(ACN) in the yet to be concluded governorship election in Nigeria's Imo State, have informed chidi opara reports that the ACN candidate may be the man to rescue either of the two front runners in that election, Chiefs Ikedi Ohakim, the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA).

In the result of the governorship election released so far, the APGA candidate was leading. The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), however declared election in four local government areas namely; Oguta, Ohaji-Egbema, Mbaitoli and Ngor-Okapala "inconclusive" and scheduled a "supplementary election" in the four local government areas on Friday 6th May, 2011.

This interlude have afforded the camps of Ohakim and Okrocha the opportunity to reach out to the Araraume camp for support. Araraume came third in the released result. So, according to strategists in the camps of APGA and PDP candidates, whichever camp the ACN candidate align with, would emerge victorious.

chidi opara reports gathered reliably that despite a loose working agreement between Araraume and Okorocha, brokered by a former governor of the state, Chief Achike Udenwa prior to the election, the APGA candidate have paid a "courtesy visit" to the ACN candidate to solicit his support. We however, do not have details of the visit at the time of preparing this report.

We have confirmed that the PDP candidate who is strongly believed to have had prior knowledge of the "supplementary election", in company of his wife and one Chief Tony Chukwu, paid Araraume a "reconciliation visit" in his Isiebo Isi-Ala Mbano country home on 27th April, 2011. Tony Chukwu, a former clearing and forwarding agent in Port Harcourt and now a Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) major contractor, is known to be close to President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. A Presidency insider told chidi opara reports that "Chief Tony Chukwu is the emissary of Mr. President".

Insiders in the Araraume campaign organization told us that the ACN candidate have not made any commitments yet. "He is still consulting", one insider told a chidi opara reports network member in Owerri yesterday.