With the defeat of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, at the hands of a political newcomer, Mr. Frank Ibezim, political analysts in the state, have wondered, if this is the end of the political career of the Isiebu, Isiala Mbano born politician and billionaire.
Araraume’s defeat came as a shock across the state, being that Araraume have had a firm grip over Okigwe politics even before 1999.
Even before 1999, the Araraume influence have been strong in Okigwe, as the late former governor, former Senate President Evan Enwerem was a beneficiary of it, prompting him to offer Araraume a commissioner slot, which Araraume will give to his old friend, and later most bitter political rival, former governor Ikedi Ohakim.
Araraume’s influence in Okigwe have remained intact, and have almost always, influenced the outcome of elections in Imo State.
His entrance into the governorship race in 2007, and the drama afterwards, which produced Ikedi Ohakim as governor, would be the last time the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, would win an election in Imo State, till 2019, when the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, would declare Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha as winner, only to have the result overturned by the Supreme Court, which wpuld install Senator Hope Uzodinma as Imo governor.
Araraume had played prominent roles in almost every political outcomes in the state using his almost maximum hold in Okigwe zone.
In the 2019 General Election, he singlehandedly delivered all the State Assembly members for the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, when he was their governorship candidate.
He and former governor Senator Rochas Okorocha, played a major role in Uzodinma’s emergence, and Ihedioha’s removal, but their arrangement collapsed barely months into Uzodinma’s administration, leading to Uzodinma backing Emeka Nwajiuba’s candidate Ibezim, against Araraume.
With Araraume’s defeat in court at the hands of Ibezim, and his silence since then, political watchers wonder what whether this would be the end of the Araraume political era, or those the Agu Isiebu (Lion of Isiebu) as he is fondly called, have an ace up his sleeve, as Ibezim faces the Peoples Democratic Party PDP candidate, Emmanuel Okewulonu, and Charles Onyirimba of APGA, at the Tribunal.
Clearly, despite the Supreme Court ruling against Araraume, the political and legal intrigues in Okigwe is far from over.
