Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state
has declared that going by the way Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has managed
the affairs of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the outgoing APC
national chairman was apparently overrated by leaders of the party who
had allowed him to succeed Chief Bisi Akande as party chairman.
Okorocha
who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo maintained
that Chief Oyegun has taken the Party several years backward to the
extent that today, there is no State chapter of the party where there is
no crisis or factions.
A statement by Onwuemeodo read in part,
“The way Chief Oyegun has pursued the elongation of his tenure also
showed how selfish and greedy, he is. He is not interested in the
well-being or future of the party, but only interested in staying put as
the National Chairman of the Party. And that is why he is after anybody
who opposed the tenure elongation.
“The worst thing
that would have happened to APC is to allow Chief Oyegun to continue as
the National Chairman of the Party. It would have been worst for the
Party. Chief Akande never tried to destroy the party when he was leaving
as the pioneer Chairman, but Oyegun wants to destroy the party because
he is leaving. He is not patriotic.”
He continued, “In the case
of Imo, he disobeyed two court orders with regard to the congresses in
Imo and the inauguration of strange elements as the state officials of
the party just to get at Governor Okorocha because of the issue of
elongation. And we have no option now than to ask our lawyers to press
for his imprisonment and that of Osita Izunaso and all those who were
involved in the lawlessness.”
The statement averred that the only
thing Chief Oyegun has achieved in his ‘anger against Governor Okorocha
is encouraging elements with no electoral value like Osita Okechukwu
and those from Imo to be insulting the Governor. And these are people
who cannot win their booths in an election’.
The same elements, he said, came together during the Anambra State governorship election.
“The
governor stayed away and at the end of the day, they could not justify
their noise making. They have also started again. And these are people
who have been running election since 2007 and have not won any”, he
said.
The statement warned that Imo APC members would not tolerate factionalization of the party.
“In
case Chief Oyegun does not know, Imo APC members won’t allow any
faction. The APC in Imo and even in the South-East is Governor
Okorocha’s making. And it will be foolish of anybody to think that he
would build the party and allow cowards to take it over. If they have
the political strength, let them go and pick a party and present a
candidate, and it will be very interesting”, the statement stressed.
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