PRESS RELEASE
– The Government In Imo Is APC In Name, But PDP Faction In Structure & In Actions
The Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma was reported to have made the following claims against Senator Rochas Okorocha,
a. That, Okorocha asked him to dissolve the probe panels set up against him by Chief Emeka Ihedioha.
b. That, Okorocha asked him to retain Mr. Daniel Nwafor as the State Chairman of APC, because of his 2023 presidential ambition.
c. That, Okorocha asked him to recall the sacked elected Local Government Chairmen.
d. The governor was said to have made these claims at a meeting of APC stakeholders at the Government House, where another vote of confidence was passed on him, one week, after those who branded themselves stakeholders had also passed vote of confidence on him in Abuja.
OUR FEW REMARKS BEFORE REACTING TO THE ISSUES THE GOVERNOR HAD RAISED:
1. Senator Rochas Okorocha has no problem with Gov. Hope Uzodinma. The Governor is the one creating problems for himself and also inventing problems where they do not exist. His latest media attack on Okorocha is one example of such ugly developments.
2. The government in Imo as we speak or as we write, is APC in name, but totally PDP faction in structure and in actions. The governor has not done anything to show that he is of APC and that his government, is that of APC. The government is Camphope government made up of those who were with him in his own faction of the PDP.
3. He was inaugurated in January 2020 as governor. The key or the main stakeholders of APC in the state and their supporters were all at the inauguration, including Rochas Okorocha, Ifeanyi Araraume, Uche Nwosu, etal. But few weeks after the inauguration, the governor made his appointments of about One Hundred and Six (106) people, including Commissioners. He never deemed it necessary to bring in at least one known APC member in the state to make the list.
4. The man he appointed secretary to the state Government, Chief Cosmos Iwu, Junior brother of the former INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu is a PDP member and was also in the same position during the previous PDP government in the State. His Chief of Staff, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie was the State Chairman of his own faction of the PDP in the state. The man he gave Adams Oshiomhole to be made the Chairman of the caretaker committee of APC, Chief Marcillinus Nlemigbo, was one time Chairman of PDP in the state. We can go on and on, to name them.
5. Okorocha also asked the 8 APC core members in the state who Adams Oshiomahole had forced to move to Action Alliance, AA, for the House of Assembly election, who also won, to go back to APC. Which they did. Senator Ifeanyi Araraume asked the 6 members on the ticket of APGA to also move to APC. They did. Which made the APC to have the majority in the State House of Assembly with few other PDP members, who moved to APC. But what has the governor done in appreciation of all these gestures?
6. Those who used him to fight Okorocha and put a deep cut in APC in Imo have not relented for reasons Imo people and Nigerians in general, know. Those people are not from Imo. They think they have annexed the state through the governor. But time will tell.
DANIEL NWAFOR’S CHAIRMANSHIP OF APC:
On the issue of Daniel Nwafor and the state chairmanship of the APC, it has gone beyond the governor allowing him to remain as Chairman or not. Nwafor was elected during the last congress of the party as the state chairman of the party. When Adams Oshiomhole came up with the issue of Caretaker Committee in Imo, Nwafor went to court and got judgement in his favour. All these were before the emergence of Senator Uzodinma as governor. In the circumstance, he was expected to take steps to resolve all these issues but he has not cared to do so.
And claiming that Okorocha wanted him to retain Daniel Nwafor as the State Chairman of APC, because of his presidential ambition has explained all that Governor Uzodinma wanted to achieve. What would the State Chairman of a party do for a Presidential aspirant, which Okorocha has not even talked about? Governor Uzodinma has only officially unveiled why those who recruited him against Okorocha did so. And he has continued to act that script, but without caution.
ON THE PROBE PANELS:
This is the first time we are hearing from Gov. Uzodinma that Okorocha had demanded for the dissolution of the probe panels. Okorocha had gone to court to ask that the EFCC cannot be probing him on issues contained in the avalanche of petitions written against him by the state Government and the same government, would also have about twelve panels probing him on the same items or issues. The fact remains that the real APC members in the state have wondered why an APC governor would retain panels set up by the PDP government to probe APC government, in party politics. And they have suggested that the governor should set up his own panels, instead of continuing with the PDP panels. But we know that certain forces behind the governor won’t allow him to do that.
THE ELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHAIRMEN:
Again, it was not Governor Uzodinma that sacked the elected Local Government Chairmen, but Chief Emeka Ihedioha’s government. The chairmen went to court and got judgement in their favour. The chairmen even went as far as pledging loyalty in their media publications to Governor Uzodinma. Yet, Governor Uzodinma has never deemed it necessary to meet with them since it is believed that they are all APC. He has never called them for a meeting, either to ask them to stay or to go. And if they are to go, on what condition? But he has never met with them.
Finally, It is too early in the life of the government in Imo, for the governor to be fighting or having issues with almost every sector in the state. Very very early to do so. And why is he bringing the issue of Okorocha at this time? The governor should search his conscience and see whether he has left any stone or stones unturned.
Sam Onwuemeodo
Special Adviser (Media) to the former Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha
