- Governor Okorocha gave hints that aggrieved APC members in the state may join another party to realise their ambitions
- The governor, however, said that he remains an APC member and will contest the senatorial election under the party
- He added that while the aggrieved members main join another party, they will all vote for President Muhammadu Buhari
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state has reportedly hinted that his former chief of staff, Uche Nwosu, and all those aggrieved aspirants in the aftermath of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election, might join another party to realise their ambitions, saying that he won’t stop them.
Nwosu, Governor Okorocha’s son-in-law, contested the party’s governorship ticket but lost to Senator Hope Uzodinma in a controversial circumstance.
Daily Trust reports that no fewer than 27 members of Imo state House of Assembly and National Assembly aspirants, including Nwosu, who felt aggrieved from the conduct the party’s primaries, may be heading to another party before the substitution window closes.
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The embattled governor, however, reiterated that while he will support their aspirations, he remained in APC and would contest the Orlu senatorial election under the party.
He maintained that Nwosu and all the aggrieved candidates remained his choices and will get his support under any platform they chose to realise their ambitions.
Speaking at a media briefing in Owerri, Okorocha insisted that Nwosu, under whatever platform remained his preferred governorship candidate, describing the emergence of the APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma as the “worst imposition in Nigerian political history”.
He gave an assurance that he and his followers will deliver their votes for President Muhammadu Buhari and at the presidential election and vowed to deal with any of them who disobeyed him.
His words: “What will happen is that while they move to realise their ambition under any other platform, I remain in APC and support them. Such party will have no presidential candidate but will adopt President Muhammadu Buhari as their candidate.
“What we saw in Imo APC was a clear case of injustice and the worst imposition in history. The party members are aggrieved and they will be moving to another party to pursue their ambitions and I am not going to stop them, but we are going to form alliance with whichever party they choose to deliver President Buhari”.
“In the 2019 general election, we are going to vote for candidates and not political parties. I am in the best position to assess the candidates and I know that among all the governorship candidates, Nwosu remains the best. I have told Imo people to check the records of those clamouring to govern the state before voting for them.
“What is happening in Imo APC is interesting and strange, a party known for uprightness, justice and fairness has exemplified by President Muhammadu Buhari, has been dented by the actions of the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole for whatever reasons he is yet to disclose.
“I have been trying to manage the situation but I have no moral justification to stop the aggrieved candidates who felt short-changed from realizing their ambitions in any other party but I have not left APC and do not intend to leave APC. But you must realize that in Imo we don’t play party politics but politics of individuals. People did not join APC because of anybody but because of me”.
Okorocha lamented that Imo people were short-changed by the three major political parties – APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – in their choice for governorship candidates, saying that all of them were imposed on the people.
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Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that any aggrieved member of the APC has the right to sue the ruling party.
The president, in a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday, November 26, reacted to the recent threats by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC to punish members who dragged the party to court.
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