Peter Anosike
The aspirant for Imo East Senatorial District under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the just concluded general elections; Evang. Tony Gray Okpe has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma would have been the best to rule the state if he was elected.
Okpe, who was one of the major financiers of APGA in Imo State, but later took the national leadership of the party to court over what he alleged was a scam primary election, said that among all the governorship candidates in Imo State, Uzodinma was the most compassionate and grounded to rule the state. He also spoke on other issues. Excerpt:
Why did you decamp from APGA to APC?
The reason I dumped APGA to APC was because APGA leadership became a cartel under Victor Ike Oye. Over N4 billion was extorted from aspirants in Imo State alone in the name of party primaries. If you include that of the other states in the Southeast, it was up to N9 billion. So, what the national leadership of APGA did was more than a Ponzy scheme. Because of that reckless style of duping aspirants, I went to THE Federal high court in Owerri to ask for damages on the money that was extorted from me. It was the bad card that the leadership of APGA played that made me and other leaders of the party who have integrity to decamp to APC. We decamped the day that President Buhari came to Owerri for his campaign with thousands of our supporters. Immediately we decamped, APGA in Imo was as good as dead because we left with the soul of the party, leaving behind only the carcass.
What is your take on Uzodinma guber candidate of APC?
Without mincing words, I want to say that among all the candidates that contested the March 9, Imo governorship election, Senator Hope Uzodinma was he best. Hope is the only one who can bring hope to the people of Imo State. He is a giver and also the only candidate that can bring both physical and stomach infrastructure because right now, Imo people are dying of hunger. The people of Imo need somebody like Uzodinma to move forward. Among all the candidates, he is the only one that can sacrifice his own comfort to uplift others, including the downtrodden. He has a track record of giving which is in the public domain. After eight years of “familiocracy”, meaning government of a family, by a family and for the family, which Rochas Okorocha ran in Imo State, Imo people need somebody like Uzodinma to give them succour. If Senator Uzodinma is to run for the office of the governor for 10 more times, I would still give him the same maximum support that I gave to him on March 9, because I strongly believe that he would do well for the people of Imo State.
Then why did APC lose in Imo State?
The only reason APC lost Imo state is because the sitting governor, Rochas Okorocha saw Hope Uzodinma as an enemy and he did everything within his power to destroy him and the party. The Bible says that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Okorocha pulled the majority of APC members in Imo to Action Alliance to support his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu. If you add the votes of APC and AA in the governorship election, you would see that APC would have won the election if not because of the division, which Okorocha created. They have more votes and more local governments. Therefore, the failure of APC in Imo is the making of Okorocha and not that the party is not popular. If Okorocha had listened to the appeal of the National Working Committee of APC to accept Senator Uzodinma, it would have been a landslide for the APC governorship candidate. Okorocha`s intention was to deliver his son-in-law, but that did not work because he spent a good number of time and resources fighting Uzodinma. Okorocha is like King Ahab in the Bible who connived with his wife, Jezebel to take Naboth`s vineyard and God`s vengeance came upon them. The same way they killed Naboth, they (Ahab and wife) also died. Okorocha`s beloved son-in-law lost the governorship and his own senate seat is currently hanging in the balance and he is now crying like a baby. Is that not enough for those who doubts the existence of God to believe in his existence?
Can APC bounce back in Imo in 2023?
Yes, APC will take over Imo State in 2023 because all the destructions and divisions of Okorocha would not be there in 2023. I said earlier that if you add the votes of the APC and AA, you would see that APC won the governorship election. So, what happened was simply the division created by Rochas Okorocha. Because of Okorocha`s persuasion and intimidation a lot of APC stakeholders left the party. By May, Okorocha would be gone and all those who left the party because of him would come back. Most of the men and women of substance in Imo are in APC. So, I know that once Okorocha is out, APC would become formidable in Imo again.
Is Uzodinma going to challenge the outcome of the election?
He is going to court to challenge the outcome. He has told his teeming supporters that he would go to court. APC would also go to court to challenge the result because it was marred with irregularities and none use of the card readers. In my own ward, that is, Irette-Orogwe Ward 10 in Owerri-West LGA,cAPC won overwhelmingly with over 4,000 votes, but when we got to the local government collation centre the PDP agents wrote a frivolous petition against our victory and the returning officer cancelled the result. But when the APC agent wrote a petition on areas where card readers were not used, the returning officer did not cancel the votes in those areas. I have told the APC House of Assembly candidate for Owerri-West to go to the tribunal to challenge the result because it was filled with irregularities. Injustice to one is injustice to all.
Imo West Senate race is still lingering, what do you have to say on that?
Imo West Senatorial election was a hotbed, which was created by Rochas Okorocha. Okorocha believing that he is the Ahab of Imo State vowed to win at all costs and he took laws into his hands. But the actual winner of the election is a young man known as Senator Osita Izunaso who Okorocha allocated only 30,000 votes. Okorocha has gone to court and both the PDP and APGA senatorial candidates have been asked to be joined in the case. This would no doubt go up to the Supreme Court. I have this feeling that at the end of the day, it would result to a fresh election and Senator Izunazo would still carry the day because he is a man who likes to empower the people. I am a witness to those he has empowered.
What do you foresee would happen in Imo after the expiration of Okorocha`s tenure?
Imo State will continue to move on and right now people are rejoicing over the failure of Okorocha to install his son-in-law as his successor and because his senatorial ambition is hanging in the balance. Igbo people have a proverb, which can be translated as if an individual cooks for the masses, the masses would exhaust it, but if the masses cook for an individual, the individual will not finish it. Imolities are rejoicing, they are not rejoicing because PDP won the governorship, but because Rochas Okorocha and his family have been disgraced out of power. Posterity will be the best judge of Okorocha.