The recent allegations leveled at Owelle Rochas Okorocha by Governor Hope Uzodinma has attracted reactions of the accused.
These were contained in a release signed by the Sam Onwuemeodo, special adviser to the former Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who is now the senator representing Orlu zone.
In the release, captioned, “Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and his claims against Senator Rochas Okorocha, the government in Imo is APC in name but PDP faction, in structure and in actions”, Onwuemeodo listed the allegations thus, “that Okorocha asked Uzodinma to dissolve and absolve him from the probe panels set up against him by Chief Emeka Ihedioha and that Okorocha asked him to retain Daniel Nwafor as the state chairman of Imo APC because of his presidential ambition in 2023.
The release added that Okorocha demanded the immediate recall of the sacked but duly elected council chairmen as pronounced by the courts.
In his usual reaction Okorocha denied constituting problems for Hope Uzodinma, describing the latest verbal attack on him as ugly development. He reiterated the well known fact that the government in Imo State, is APC in name but totally PDP faction in structure and actions. “The governor has not done anything to show that he is of APC and that this government is that of APC. The government is camp Hope government made up of those who were with him in his faction of PDP he stated.
Continuing,Sam Onwuemeodo on behalf of Okorocha recalled that Uzodinma 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, et al. 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.
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.
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?
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.
Onwuemeodo in further reactions said “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.
He now harped on the knotting issued of the probe panels saying “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”.
Next was on the subsisting litigations by elected chairmen and councilors. 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 judgment 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”, he explained.
