By onyekachi eze
interesting event yesterday at Grasshoppers International Handball Stadium, Owerri at the Senatorial declaration ceremony of the commissioner for industry and the Non-formal Sector Imo State, Hon Barr Lady Ugochi Nnanna Okoro as the crowd that stormed the occasion wondered why a serving commissioner’s declaration under the platform of the state ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC) could be done without the presence of reputable party leaders right from the state, LGA to even the ward levels.
While she was rendering her declaration speech, it was observed that the state APC Chairman, Dr Hilary Ekeh was nowhere to be sighted, so also other top government officials to at least stand by her at the podium. While recognizing a litany of absentee dignitaries who were not on ground, Barr Nnanna Okoro continuously repeated “ably represented by” which aroused intense curiosity that prompted the people chorusly asking, “where are these people Sef” at the mention of every dignitary’s name.
Meanwhile, the Senate aspirant for Owerri zone come 2015 insisted that she has no enemy in both her ward, LGA and at the state levels pointing out that the absence or inability of the party leadership to grace her official declaration does not portend any danger and is devoid of any sentiment.
However, there was a spontaneous ovation when the Commissioner for Lands, Survey, Housing and Urban Development, and the Commissioner for Health, Hon Uche Nwosu and Hon Dr Edward Ihejirika respectively were called up to the podium to speak, and their presence gave the occasion a little human face.
In their speeches, they insisted that APC is a loving and peaceful party, highly encompassing, and not minding ones political affiliation. They maintained that declaration was not what mattered but the zeal and heart with which the people welcomed the Aspirant. They described Nnanna Okoro as a social woman, very popular and loved by the masses, hence her nickname “lady of the masses”.
