More facts have emerged on why the Imo State chapter of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, decided to adopt the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the February 28 governorship election, Chief Emeka Ihedioha as its own candidate.
According to a leader of the party in the state, Chief Cyril Duruaku, the endorsement of PDP gubernatorial candidate by APGA was a way of paying the PDP back for supporting the party to gain power in 2011.
He said the party adopted Ihedioha as its governorship candidate the way it adopted President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate.
Duruaku, who spoke with journalists after a meeting with members of the national and state executives, including top members of the party in Owerri, said “In 2011, PDP worked with APGA to enthrone Owelle Rochas Okorocha to become governor and since then, we have maintained a symbiotic relationship. So, in order to pay the PDP back for what they did for us in 2011, we decided to adopt their own governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as the man we are going to vote for on February 28 governorship election.
“However, I want to make it clear that it is only the governorship candidate of the PDP that we have adopted. Every other position in APGA, starting from senatorial to House of Assembly positions we are going to vote for them in APGA”, he said.
Apart from this, the party chieftain disclosed that the party had no candidate in the forthcoming general election in the state, particularly, the governorship election.
He explained that the decision of the party was based on the outcome of several meetings and consultations within and outside the party and urged all members of the party and the Imo electorate to demonstrate their support for the duo of Jonathan and Ihedioha by casting their votes for them.
On why the party did not recognize the candidature of the former Interior Minister, Capt Emmanuel Iheanacho, Duruaku explained that the decision of the party was in view of his(Ihenacho’s) affiliation with Chief Victor Umeh, whose tenure he claimed had expired since middle of 2014.
According to him, all that Umeh had been doing since last year had been null and void because he was no longer the national chairman of the party.
“But, Ihenacho refused to listen to the several meetings and calls we made to him to follow the right path, instead, he is already seeing himself as the next governor of Imo State. So we decided to tell them that they only have 20 percent of APGA members in the state and they are now crying wolf when the deed had become too late”, he said.
