Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has advised the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu to learn the ropes of politics from his ward after losing in his booth in the 2019 general election.
The governor, who reacted to the recent media attack on him by the VON DG through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, pointed out that Okechukwu should have known from 2019 general election that he (governor) still holds the ace of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East zone.
“He has continued his media attacks on Governor Okorocha even when one had thought that with the 2019 election, he should have stopped his insults on the Imo governor, having seen that the election had proved that without Okorocha, there is nothing like APC in the South East and Imo in particular.”
Okechukwu had, in his latest media vituperation accused the governor of ruining the APC in South East.
Highlighting some of his achievements in the zone, the governor said: “I have toured the whole of South East when nobody believed APC was going to see the light of the day. I won the governorship for the party in Imo, won 24 out of the 27 members of the House of Representatives, won one Senate and five House of Representatives seats, all for the party.
“But, prior to the 2019 election, those playing the politics of 2023 in 2019 recruited men like Okechukwu against Governor Okorocha, blackmailing him at the least opportunity they had, and gave the erroneous impression that without Okorocha, they could fly in Imo and South East generally with APC.
“But, in the 2019 election, the fact spoke for its self, that Okorocha truly holds the ace of APC, both in Imo and in the South East generally. And a careful look at the 2019 election results showed that Okorocha was in charge, except that with the crisis, men like Okechukwu created in Imo APC, INEC capitalised on that and did some strange things.
“Incidentally, and interestingly too, Osita Okechukwu is playing his own politics on the pages of the newspapers and most of the time, attacking Governor Okorocha unprovoked. He lost all the elections in his booth, ward and local government. On the day of the presidential election, he was warned by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) guys not to come out and he never came out.
“We challenge him to publish the results of his booth, ward and local government in all the elections. He does not talk about APC in his state, but always talking about Imo APC because he knows that is the only state in the South East APC is grounded before they used wicked blackmail and unfounded propaganda to inject virus into the party.
“And all those who won elections in Imo on the ticket of APC are all members of the Rescue Mission Government, which Owelle superintends. The Action Alliance(AA) candidates who won their elections were also those displaced in APC, including the governorship candidate of AA, Uche Nwosu, who won the governorship election with correct votes and not with inflated figures.
Okechukwu should try to build APC in his ward before continuing his insults on Okorocha,” the governor said.