Okorocha Says He Is Leaving APC |The Source

By Akinwale Kasali

He did not quite put it that way, but from his actions and utterances, former  Governor of Imo State, and now a Senator, Rochas Okorocha, seems all set to defect from his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He has not said to which party he is heading to, since he has, at one time or the other, been a member of, almost, all the known parties, but speculations are that he is likely headed to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

in the past couple of weeks, he has bad-mouthing his party, the APC.

Okorocha was a member of APGA, the party under which he became a Governor. But mid-way, he dumped APGA, along with a faction of it, and became a foundation member of the APC. Before APGA, he had been a member of the AD, and ANPP and the PDP.

His problem in the APC started when the party stopped him from foisting his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, on Imo State, as his successor. The party preferred Senator Hope Uzodinma to him, forcing him, Nwosu,  After an initial hiccup which saw The Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as Governor for seven months after INEC declared him Governor, the Supreme Court overturned him, and declared Uzodinma Governor.

Okorocha, of course, still prefered his son-in-law as his successor, especially, after the bitter campaign primary with Uzodinma, but he had to grudgingly accept Uzodinma.

But a snag.

When Ihedioha was Governor, he had set-up a couple of Judicial Commissions  of Inquiry and Panels to look into the activities of Okorocha’s Government. With Uzodinma’s entry, Okorocha wanted them disbanded. Uzodinma wouldn’t budge. He also wanted his choice as the Chairman of the Party, and the retention of the Chairmen and Councillors of LGAs who he installed in the twilght of his administration. Ihedioha sacked them, and Uzodinma refused to bring them back. He wouldn’t also consult Okorocha on any issues.

They parted ways, and since then, Okorocha has remained like an outsider in the party in the State.

He has also resorted to attacking the APC at all levels, including calling out an amalgamation of strange fellows, and a party which would die after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

The other day, he was a guest of Rivers State Governor, and PDP engine room, Nyesom Wike to commission a road project. Speaking, he broached the idea of a new political party before 2023 for good men from both the PDP and the  APC. He said even though both parties had very bad people as members, the good ones should get together, form a Party, and rescue Nigeria.  He then ominously added: “You can imagine me working with Wike. Something will happen.”

On Monday, January 18, he again took the APC to the cleaners, anf  called once again on Nigerian progressives across political parties to come together to create a new political order.

Okorocha who is also the Senator representing Imo West said the country needs political re-engineering, insisting that Nigerians cannot be fooled again by mischievous politicians in 2023.

According to him, “the movement for a new Nigeria has begun and we must come together, I mean progressive Nigerians to make the country work.

When asked about similar comments made when the APC was formed prior to 2015 general elections, Okorocha, retorted that the APC was hurriedly formed to take power from the PDP without much emphasis on the character of those championing the course.

He said, “APC was a hurried arrangement, it was hurriedly formed to take power when the then government was drifting. APC would have been better until people who were not members of the party; people who came for congratulatory message, hijacked the party and became Lords.”

Okorocha, who gave a veiled confirmation of his 2023 Presidential ambition, however noted that, “The issue is not about APC or PDP, it is beyond political parties, we are talking about the character of the politicians.

“Political parties in Nigerian don’t have any ideology; it is just a vehicle to come to power. So what we have is not the ideal thing, we have so many people who are not interested in working for the nation. Take for instance if President Muhammadu Buhari had surrounded himself with good people, the story will not be the same today.”

The PDP has, however, asked Okorocha to jettison the idea of a new political party, and rejoin his former party, the PDP. Its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan: “Our advice to people like Okorocha is for him to avoid making the same mistake twice, any party hurriedly put together like the APC because elections are bound to fall into the same errors.

“He should rather come over  to the PDP, a very structured party with a pedigree of performance. We’ve made a few mistakes in the past, and we’ve learnt from them.

The Imo APC had, recently, alleged that Okorocha’s plan is to destroy the party and defect to the PDP with his supporters.

Considering the sour relationship between Okorocha and the PDP in the state, that will be the day.