Alarmed by a recent statement credited to Governor Rochas Okorocha where he gave President Muhammadu Buhari a clean Bill of health to run again, disclosed intention to become campaign Manager, an APC group has alleged that it is a decoy to lure the Presidency into his third term agenda in the state.
A recent media report quoted Okorocha of laying claims to the headship of the 2019 Presidential election in the Southeast. The claim prompted a reaction from APC South East Initiative for 2019, a group of APC members in the zone who said that the words of the governor is a perfect decoy to zero into the presidency for the purpose of getting support to perpetuate himself in office through a third term agenda.
According to the group in a statement made available to Trumpeta and signed by five members, the pro Buhari stance of Okorocha is a mere ploy to hoodwink the presidency into his plans of advancing the case of his Chief of Staff and inlaw, Uche Nwosu as successor in 2019.
According to the group “To Nigerians outside Imo state or indeed the Southeast, Governor Okorocha may appear altruistic in his quest to champion President Buhari’s reelection campaign in Southeast but his people in Imo state are not deceived. His sole objective in his current antics is no more than to curry the favour and support of the national leadership and President Buhari himself in his plans to foist his son-in-law, who currently serves as his chief of staff, on the state as his successor.
“We need not remind fellow Nigerians of the dangers of the Governor’s plans. Initially, Imolites thought it was mere rumour but gradually it downed on them that their governor is determined to have his way. But no less determined to stop him are the people. Needless to say, the danger signals in the state are clear and palpable should the governor proceed with this bizarre agenda; what the people have rightly termed his third term agenda.
“We have just seen what happened in Zimbabwe where the people resisted a similar attempt by President Robert Mugabe to have his wife succeed him. Imo might not be a country but the type of retrogressive politics being played by the likes of Okorocha brings ridicule to the entire nation of Nigeria, the giant of Africa. Our dear country is still a subject of international derision following the recent statue saga in Imo state. In all the sad commentaries in the international media on the matter, their allusion is Nigeria not Imo where the awkward statues are located”