Hope Uzodimma’s Commissioner, Fabian Ihekweme Officially Dumps APC, Rejoins PDP

NJOKU MACDONALD OBINNA

Obowo born-Imo State think tank, boardroom political strategist, highly cerebral scholar and pioneer Commissioner for Foreign Affairs in the Shared Prosperity Administration of Governor Hope Uzodimma, Hon. Dr. Fabian Ihekweme, has officially dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state to rejoin the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  in a colourful state function organised for the home-coming of the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu (Sam Daddy), at the multi-purpose Kanu Nwankwo Stadium, Owerri, the Imo State capital.

Dr. Fabian Ihekweme, a star witness of Senator Hope Uzodimma at the Imo State Governorship Tribunal, was a rallying point and pillar of strength to the then APC governorship candidate during the 2019 governorship elections in Imo State, which saw the Omuma born ace politician come a far 4th position after the electoral exercise. He stood firmly by him, gave out tested ideas and political strategies on how best to recover his alleged stolen mandate from Chief Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  whom the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared winner of the contest in a presumed political error until the Supreme Court gave its verdict in favour of Hope Uzodimma on 14th January, 2020.

Dr. Fabian Ihekweme was compensated with an appointment as the Pioneer Commissioner for Foreign and International Affairs. He was one of the governor’s trusted political allies given the strategic roles in played in the  policy formulation and articulation of the present Shared Prosperity Administration.

The relationship between Governor Hope Uzodimma and Dr. Fabian Ihekweme was very cordial; the going was good until the enemies sowed tars and seeds of discord between the two political allies.

When he was no longer sure of his stake in the Shared Prosperity Administration especially, as Governor Hope Uzodimma after reshuffling his cabinet and become a demigod that could no longer be accessed by his friends and political allies; Commissioners, SAs, SSAs, Board members and Imo State House of Assembly members, Omu, took a decision to resign from the ruling APC instead of being redundant in a government and political party where he could not use his wealth of experience, international exposure and social contacts to serve God, Imo people and Nigerians.

In his detailed letter of resignation, which the former Commissioner forwarded, Dr. Fabian Ihekweme gave out reasons for quitting APC to rejoin the People’s Democratic Party, PDP:

My Dear Friends And Allies.

The Beginning Of A New Era; The Home Coming.

With profound humility and utmost responsibility I wish to inform all my friends and Allies about my decision to realign myself to a new political platform which I tagged “The Home Coming”.
For those of you who have followed my political track record and profiling up till today, I wish to thank all of you for your honest and unbiased assessment of my activities at all times.

Let me also extend my love to those of you who at any point in time found some of my past deliveries especially in the course of my political sojourn highly offensive and uncalled for, and pointed same out whether in form of correction and/or abuses, I want to say without any form of contradictions, that I have nothing and absolutely nothing against anybody. Whatever I did in the course of the prevailing situation at that moment, was merely to advance the chances and ratings of the candidate I was supporting at the build up of the election, the election proper and at All my life, the quest for knowledge and understanding of my people has been an important part of me. It is my joy to help my fellow country men in understanding the complex and stark political realities that exist in this part of the world. It is on this premise that, I made myself available into the murky waters of politics.

I joined APC because my preferred candidate for 2019 Imo governorship became the flag bearer of that party. I didn’t join APC because of ideological compatibility or out of any spectacular political or social reasons, it was a decision I made out of loyalty and love for him. I wish to sincerely appreciate God Almighty for the strength and wisdom he bestowed on me to be part of the group that worked tirelessly to bring about the current 3R Government in Imo State.

The truth remains that the conspiracy behind the making of the current Governor in Imo State cannot be complete without mentioning Dr. Fabian Ihekweme “Omu”. Anybody with a contrary viewpoint knows that he or she is lying to his or her Chi.
This piece is not in anyway designed to chronicle the extent of my involvement or to justify my decision to dump APC the ruling party both in Imo State and Nigeria today. But it is necessary to have an overview of the issues under review in order to counter-balance any negative fallout as a result of my decision.

At a time in Imo State, some people thought that Omu was acting up, even many believed that I was going insane due to my vociferous approach and my conviction that the current Governor was going to be declared the duly elected governor of Imo State. I was never under any influence, I was following my heart and conscience. The Governor understood me. He supported me and worked with me at every step of the way. The road was very rough and hot. I met so many obstacles and dangerous corners, I escaped two assassination attempts. I escaped death by a whisker. But in all of this, there was no single blackmail or in-house attack directed at me, nobody gossiped with my name and the boss was genuinely proud of me. But immediately the government was formed, a cabal emerged and their number one assignment was to throw Omu out of his comfort zone. Before I realised that I needed to fight back, they had already deployed different blackmailing strategies including diabolical means to encircle the governor and recharged down his consciousness, and even the governor’s usual electrifying and magnetic political charisma was substantially downgraded through witchcraft from the same men and women of the dark world. They succeeded in chasing away people, who truly worked and wanted this governor to succeed and in place, built a regulated wall over the governor and forced him to hire cronies of his enemies in the name of technocratic rejigging of his government. The Governor as we speak, is being fed with lies and falsehood on a daily basis. Nobody tells him the truth, they manufacture lies against hardworking friends and appointees of government and their stock in trade is to stampede him always to ensure that he doesn’t know the truth by using atimes fake and adulterated security reports to influence his decisions.

I thank Almighty God for sparing my life during the period of interegnum, when we were in the trenches. I cannot forget some of my colleagues whom I wouldn’t like to mention their names here but they worked very closely with me, day and night till the very day 3R government was birthed. I salute their courage and ruggedness. I am aware that most of them are still languishing outside the government today. Even those in government are being shabbily treated.

In life, patience and godliness are the two most powerful and important virtues for any man of wisdom to thrive and be successful. But at the same time, wisdom demands that every sensible man should know when his services are no longer required in any given establishment. But painfully enough, in my own case, my services became obsolete immediately the government became a reality. All the promises made to me including throwing a party in my honour turned to an emotional and sentimental wish-wash. All of a sudden I became a threat to governmental insiders. Everybody united in agreement to first deal decisively to a common enemy called Omu. After All, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

It became part of government policy to blackmail Omu and to ensure the governor does not favour him in any way. At a time, my access and proximity to the Governor was completely cut off, still they were not satisfied. They went haywire and became spirits of their own rights, tampering and usurping into the powers of the Omnipotent. The high level of witchcraft and diabolical temples receiving attention under their high command cannot be over-emphasised. I pity the governor coz he is at the receiving end of all this projected spiritual muscle flexing and rampant blood sacrifices just to establish control over him. This has grossly affected the original passion, zeal and intentions of the Governor. I plead with Imo people to remember the Governor in their prayers. He needs constant prayer offerings from all of us because the gatherings of the owls and other dark spiritual birds on the roof-top of the governor’s abode has become a very big hindrance to the effective running of government.

I refused to fight back because I know the end result and consequences of what they have done against me. They believe they have tied my legs and turned the governor against me through their witchcraft but what they didn’t realise is that they were only reinforcing me the more through their witchcraft and gossips.

After reassessing the political climate in Imo State, I didn’t need any soothsayer to advise me on my next line of action, I was totally convinced that I should look for an alternative political platform to advance my political course. I have not mastered the art of diabolical warfare and I don’t wish to be dragged into it for any reason. I have consulted widely, with my family especially my beloved wife Excel, my friends, allies and supporters and I can authoritatively state here without mincing any word that almost all of them believe that it is about time for me to depart and sever ties with the APC and 3R government. My continuous association with 3R government after 12 months of total redundancy will amount to foolery and jestering.

I plead with my colleagues and friends both in government and outside who tried ceaselessly to make things right and to restore my confidence in the system, to please understand my plight. I was left with no other choice. I did everything humanly possible to manage the situation by pretending that all was well. But I have come to the realisation and conclusion that my time in APC is up. I have decided to return back to the PDP henceforth. I know that many will feel so bad and sad over my decision, but they have to understand that I must move on with my political life. Those of you who have followed me and loved me all these years should be able to understand me. I will continue to be faithful to all my friends and supporters. I will never abandon you, definitely not in this life time. May God bless you all.

You may recall that the coming of Sen. Hope Uzodinma as Governor of Imo State was greeted with so much jubilation and expectations. The enthusiasm was so high and the Governor was enjoying tremendous confidence of the people. But today, everything is gone. Even prominent opposition figures started identifying with the governor. I remember the case of Barr. Charles Ezekwem Ikemba Okigwe who was then the Chairman of PDP. The Governor supervised the joining of Ikemba and thousands of his supporters including top official of PDP into APC but immediately that bang was achieved, the Governor could no longer manage these great men and women who came to him with love. The Governor was deceived with lies and blackmails by sycophantic and irrelevant subordinates who are paper weights even in their constituencies. The Governor succumbed to the manipulative criminal tendencies of those evil subordinates, who were threatened by the towering image of the likes of Ikemba Okigwe, Chikwem Onuoha etc.

It will be difficult for me to believe that up till now, the Governor has not been able to understand that he is relying on men of selfish disposition in running his government. As long as he continues to accommodate gossips and lies as the standard in his administration, the 3R government will go down in history as the most insensitive government since the very inception of Imo State.

Finally, may God bless the Executive Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, for giving me the opportunity to serve in his first cabinet for eleven months. Thank you very much Your Excellency. I wish you well my Governor and I pray God to see you through and bless you as you pilot the affairs of the state.

I can’t end this piece without appreciating the National Secretary of my great party PDP, Distinguished Senator Sam Daddy Anyanwu, for his love and understanding. I can’t thank him enough for providing the enabling environment for me to pride and flex my political muscles once again. God bless you Sir. I am convinced that you have a date with history.

May God bless Imo State!

Dr. Fabian Ihekweme.