Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Monday warned that the ruling all Progressives Congress (APC) risks serious setback and possible doom in 2023 following the leadership style of the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
He also laid the blame for APC’s loss of key states to the opposition party People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the last general elections in the country, solely on Oshiomhole.
Okorocha also warned that any attempt to further side lined the South East region in elections and selections of principal officers of the incoming 9th National Assembly this June, will worsen the party’s chances in the region in future elections.
Okorocha was fielding questions from State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will not give a certificate of return to Okorocha, who contested for senatorial seat on the platform of the APC and was declared winner.
INEC had said Okorocha was announced winner with the returning officer placed under duress.
The Imo Governor had endorsed and campaigned for his son-in-law, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, who was denied an APC ticket, which further fuelled his face-off with Oshiomhole.
According to him, Oshiomhole’s actions were capable of reducing the APC to a regional party, with serious setback in 2023.
Okorocha who noted that Oshiomhole’s penchant for imposing his will on the party had resulted to APC not having any elected political office holder in Imo State after the last recent general elections.
Speaking on the leadership of the Ninth National Assembly and possibility of having a repeat of the 2015 scenario, Okorocha said: “I have been watching carefully what is happening in the National Assembly; it’s a very interesting drama. But all I ask of them is that they should consider the South East in their calculations.
“This nation will not be properly balanced if South East is not carried along properly in the affairs of the National Assembly. Nobody seems to be talking about the South East; it looks like the South East doesn’t have a place anymore; that is wrong politically speaking, and that will not be good for APC. Because there is going to be a bigger APC after President Muhammadu Buhari must have left the seat.
“My fear now is that APC might have a serious setback in 2023 because the Oshiomhole-led executive is actually turning APC into a regional minority party which shouldn’t be because of his mistakes. Right now in the whole of South East, we don’t have an APC governor. So, if there is any discussion in Nigeria now among the APC governors and President Muhammadu Buhari, there would be nobody from the South East. This is what the APC chairman has done in the South East.
“I think it’s a capital attempt to frustrate the efforts of the South East but I appeal to every Nigerian to support the cause of the South East – their cause is germane and it should be supported in whatever position that is due them. They shouldn’t think about giving South East, whatever position for giving sake. You can’t just wake up and give them any position. South East is a key zone in this country and if we don’t get the number one seat, we should get the number two seat.”
Asked why his party was not making any case for him to be given a certificate of return, Okorocha said: “I won’t be surprise because, of course, you know the imposition we suffered in the party. When you say the party, you talk about the leadership of that party; it’s not the party. I don’t have any problem with the Working Committee of that party; I only have problem with the chairman of that party, who took it upon himself to do the wrong thing against me for just no cause and to fight a battle that he can never win. No, he is the one that is behind all these impositions; can you imagine, as I speak to you the APC candidate in Imo State did not win a seat; APC does not have a councillor in Imo State now; it does not even have a House member. But the AA candidate has eight seats in the Imo State House of Assembly, two members of the Federal House and they have one senator about to come to the Senate.
“This is why internal democracy must be respected, let the will of the people prevail rather than this imposition. It is unfortunate what has happened in Imo State. At least, I have been vindicated for the fact that I said the APC candidate they are imposing on Imo people is not popular; he came by opposition. For the first time, APC doesn’t have a seat in Imo State. When I was the leader of that party, when I was running the affairs of that party, we won 24 seats in the House of Assembly, we had a governor, Federal House members but today, APC does not have any because of imposition.”
On INEC’s decision to withhold his certificate of return as an elected Senator, Okorocha said that what INEC did was unconstitutional, disclosing that the INEC returning officer who claimed he was forced to declare him (Okorocha) as the duly-elected senator had not been able to name who and who held him hostage to make the declaration under duress.
He described as gangsterism, INEC’s declaration of PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, as the Imo state governor-elect, saying that if not corrected, a time would come when a mad man could be conscripted and declared winner of an election in the country.
Okorocha who said Ihedioha didn’t win two-third of votes in the local government in the state as required by law, added that the votes cancelled were more than the margin with which Ihedioha won and noted that INEC erred by declaring him winner.
“As it stands today, I am just waiting patiently for the release of my certificate of return for election that I duly won, and I am hoping that INEC will release my certificate of return. I have not contravened any section of the constitution and I have not done anything wrong not to be given my certificate. I pray and hope INEC would do what is just and what is right.”
He said further: “INEC conducted election, results were declared – the returning officer declared the results and I won. Then one week later, I heard that somebody wrote a petition that he issued that declaration under duress. I say where? Was it in his private house or was it at the collation centre?
“If it was at the collation, the SSS were there, police were there, international observers, INEC officials and many others were there too. So, who actually put him under duress? The man has not been able to say that. Nobody has ever sent a statement about that but I think INEC would want to do the right thing very, very soon.
“Now in the same way, the governorship candidate of PDP never won that election because the election flouted Section 179 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which says that you must have the highest votes and you must have 25 percent in two third of the local governments.
“Now, this gentleman who was declared the winner by the same INEC, had 135,000 votes from 24 local government but had over 130,000 votes from his three local governments. Of course you know, he didn’t win that election. But even at that, we had the highest mark. The returning officer of INEC was never patient to even calculate to know that there was 200,000 cancelled votes where there was supposed to be a rerun.
“Also flouting that basic Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which says you must have 25 percent in two-third, he doesn’t have it.
“So, as far as I am concern, there will be a rerun in Imo State and the professor that did that should be derrobed as a professor and he charged for that serious offense of not respecting the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“What this means is that someday, one crazy person might just walk on the street and take one mad man, give him result sheet and declared him winner even if the man did not belong to a party.
“And we are getting to stage in this country that once you are declared, you are declared. This is the crazy thing that is happening in Imo State and also it happened in Okigwe zone where a loser ran away with the result sheet. The person came fifth, and is trying to return himself. Up till now, the Okigwe Senatorial seat has not been declared. I don’t know what INEC is waiting for because the man who won the election they could not declare him. So there is a stalemate everywhere, I think INEC should revisit Imo matter.”
The governor said notwithstanding his problem with the ruling party, he maintains a cordial relationship with President Buhari, and was in the presidential Villa to invite him to commission several Federal and state- funded projects in Imo State before the end of May this year.
According to him, “as a matter of fact, Buhari is a great man; he is a man of wisdom, a visionary leader. That is why you see some of us going along with him. It’s for what he has upstairs – he can see far that is why he made that declaration in Imo State – ‘vote according to your conscience. It was in Imo State that he first used that word.”
Okorocha added: “I came here precisely to discuss with Mr President and to ask him to come and commission my projects. I have completed the construction of a new Cargo Airport Terminal, warehouses and cargo sheds that are to be commissioned. I have also completed a new police headquarters and also a new prison headquarters in Imo State.
“These are Federal government projects built by Imo State government. Another landmark project is the Justice Oputa Court, the new Imo State High Court Complex which we have built.
“So, we have over a thousand verifiable projects to be commissioned. So I am requesting Mr President to kindly commission the federal ones and see how many of the state’s projects he could commission for me. This is precisely why I am here.”