Expulsion: I’m still Imo APC leader, says Okorocha

Owerri—Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has said he is still the leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

Okorocha, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, told newsmen in Owerri that he was reacting to a report by the Marcelenius Nlemigbo-led executive of the party in the state that recommended his expulsion from APC over alleged anti-party activities. Okorocha said he would not be disturbed by the call for his expulsion, for being loyal to Dan Nwafor-led executive of the party in the state.
The governor cited some court rulings in his favour, among which is “ruling by Hon. Justice O.A. Musa of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory Bwari Abuja, delivered on August 14, 2018.” According to the statement, “Contrary to what has been read in some sections of the media, the Imo State Chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, never at any time suspended or expelled its leader, Governor Rochas Okorocha from the party and has never contemplated doing that and won’t have any reason to think about that. “There is also no faction in Imo APC. There is only one APC in the state with Daniel Nwafor as the chairman and Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the leader. Any other group claiming to be a faction of Imo APC must obviously be a gang of 419ers or league of fraudsters who are experts in issuance of dud cheques and collecting billions for jobs not done.”
Okorocha’s thinking was that, “the only contentious issue in Imo APC is that the national chairman of the party, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole imposed a known PDP member and a known character in the state on the party as its governorship candidate, and by so doing, pushed the party and its members to a very tight corner especially when it comes to the issue of marketing a candidate. “If Oshiomhole didn’t want the preferred candidate of members of the party in the state, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu  for any reason, and if he actually meant well for Imo APC, he would have taken one of the guber aspirants that formed the coalition who are known members of the party, and who is also from Owerri zone since that was the reason some of them in the coalition claimed that made them to leave the government.”
By Chinonso Alozie