Rochas Okorocha formally declares himself a candidate for president in a letter to the senate

FORMER Imo State governor Senator Rochas has formally declared his candidacy for the 2023 presidential elections by announcing that he will be seeking the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senator Okorocha who governed Imo State between 2011 and 2019, is now the lawmaker representing Imo West Senatorial District, having been elected a senator at the end of his tenure. A founding member of the APC, Senator Okorocha was initially elected on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance before helping to launch the new party.

Yesterday, Senator Okorocha formally announced his candidature in a letter to the senate president Senator Ahmad Lawan, who then read it out during a plenary session. In his letter, Senator Okorocha said he will address a world press conference on Monday January 31 to officially declare his ambition.

Born on 22 September 1962 in Ogboko in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State to an Imo father and an Anambra mother, Senator Okorocha is a highly controversial character. At the moment, there are all sorts of legal disputes between him and his successor Governor Hope Uzodinma over allegations that he appropriated Imo State government property while in office.

One thing Senator Okorocha has going for him though is that he is an Igbo man from the southeast geo-political zone. Although not constitutional, Nigeria's component parts have a gentleman's agreement that the presidency will rotate between the north and the south of the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure will end in 2023 and being a Fulani northern Muslim, it is expected that the next president will come from southern Nigeria. Since the return to democracy in 1999, the southwest has produced President Olusegun Obasanjo and the south-south President Goodluck Jonathan, so come 2023, the presidency should automatically go to the southeast geo-political zone.

However, the APC  and the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have yet to reach an agreement to zone the position to the southeast. There have been calls for this happen but so far, neither party has formally adopted zoning.