Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has been described as one of the “bad loser” among the governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
This assertion was made known by the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adam Oshiomole who while reacting to the planned opposition against him named the Imo State Governor among the bad losers in the party.
All has not been too rosy between Oshiomole and Okorocha of late since primaries to select candidates of APC commenced.
Apart from APC loyalists of Okorocha taking to the streets to protest against the National Chairman, Okorocha has been accused to be among the aggrieved governors plotting to remove Oshiomole but speaking in Abuja over the increased desire of some APC governors to move against Oshiomole, the National Chairman, according to a national daily described Okorocha and few others as bad losers.
According to the report, “the national leadership of All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, rallied against forces seeking removal of the chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, describing Governors Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun and Rochas Okorocha of Imo states as bad losers.
The party said the governors sought to circumvent the democratic process to project their interests. Governor Okorocha, may have continued his agitations against Oshiomhole, having discovered that contrary to expectations, his son-in-law’s name, Uche Nwosu, was not submitted as the APC governorship candidate.
Amosun, Okorocha and Yari Senator Hope Uzodinma’s name was penciled down for submission in respect of the governorship by the Oshiomhole leadership to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The party’s claims came against the background of foundering moves by the anti-Oshiomhole lobby to rally themselves to force out the former governor of Edo State from the office of National Chairman.
Govs opposed to Oshiomhole fail to meet a meeting of the anti-Oshiomhole governors scheduled to hold, but was still on hold upon misgivings among some of the governors that the anti-Oshiomhole agitation had turned into a personal agenda for Governors Yari who is chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF and Okorocha, chairman of the APC Progressive Governors Forum, PGF. The agitations were, however, yet to abate.
Imo State “The issue of submission of governorship candidates to INEC falls due on November 2nd, so we haven’t reached the stage of where we will submit names or beat the deadline. You are aware that there was a court action challenging the Imo governorship primary election. The position of the party is that whatever court judgment, good or bad, we must comply with it. We will only decide who will be APC’s governorship candidate for Imo State by November 2nd.”
Meanwhile, a meeting of APC governors set to articulate issues against Oshiomhole was set to hold. However, the prospects of getting a full house was in doubt over assertions that some governors had departed from the agitation against the party chairman which some of them were beginning to see as a personal project of Governors Okorocha and Yari.
It was gathered that the NWC had penciled down Senator Hope Uzodinma as the party’s candidate despite the insistence by Governor Okorocha that he should have the Senate ticket for himself and the governorship ticket for his son-in-law. A source privy to the development said: “Rochas was asked to take one of the two, either Senate ticket or governorship but he is insisting on the two. What do we do with the others? He is saying that he can win the election for us alone, but we cannot take his word to the bank,” the source said.
The NWC, has upon the governor’s insistence penciled down Uzodinma’s name for the governorship, a fact he said might have stimulated Okorocha’s angst.
Reacting on the matter, a statement from Government House Owerri states that “We have read in the media certain statements credited to the Acting National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, APC, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu, in which he described some governors of the Party’s extraction as bad losers with regard to the Party’s Primaries. He named Governor Okorocha as one of such bad losers, and never exercised caution in talking about the situations in the affected states.
“As the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Mallam Onilu would have first and foremost appreciated the fact that the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the governors are all partners in progress with regard to the fate of the Party. They are all major stakeholders who can at times disagree to agree. So, in handling issues concerning the National Chairman and the Governors, the Acting National Publicity Secretary would have struck a balance to avoid giving outsiders the impression that there is an on-going war between the Chairman and the Governors.
“Again, castigating governors who have made the party thick right from the outset was not the proper thing to do. Someone else could do that but obviously not the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party. Even one member is important to the party talk more sitting governors. By his approach, Mallam Onilu had sent out a very bad signal to the world.
“On the issues he raised about Imo State especially concerning the governorship ticket of the Party, we only advice that he should endeavour to have the existing facts to avoid feeding the public with the wrong information, that may also cause problem in the State”.
