Perhaps because she is Igbo or a beauty queen, Chinenye Ochuba, the trophy wife of Adekunle Akinlade, the Allied People’s Movement, APM, governorship candidate in Ogun State has, unlike other wives of politicians seeking high office, been aloof and apathetic and inconspicuous at her husband’s rallies and state-wide barnstorming since electioneering intensified.
Akinlade has a date with fate next Saturday, March 9, when the governorship and state houses of assembly elections hold across the country. In a clime where spouses, warts and all, can be instrumental to the success or otherwise of their better half, Chinenye has not been seen with her husband on the campaign trail. Neither has she been quoted in any media ramping up support for her husband. Yet, she understands the Yoruba language perfectly.
So, with her understanding of the Yoruba culture and nuances, why has Chinenye not been visible alongside her husband?A beauty queen, and winner of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2002, Chinenye is the seventh in a family of 10 children. The doe-eyed, leggy beauty went on to participate in the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants.
Akinlade is a member of the House of Representatives who is seeking to succeed his political benefactor, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, in office. He rose to political prominence on the strength of Amosun’s characteristic style of imposition. First appointed a special assistant to the governor in 2011, his loyalty to Amosun largely paid off when he secured the House of Representatives ticket in 2015. It was his choice of Akinlade that has now pitted him against the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which National Working Committee, NWC, on Friday, March 1st, suspended him from the party for anti-party activities.
