By Chinonso Alozie
OWERRI—IMO State governor, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday, alleged that there was a plan to scuttle President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 re-election bid under the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun.
Okorocha-Oyegun
Okorocha’s statement to newsmen in Owerri, came through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo.
The governor also said the APC would have been enmeshed in a deeper crisis, if Odigie-Oyegun, remained as the national chairman of the party.
He described Oyegun as an undemocratic leader for aspiring to continue as APC, national chairman in the name of tenure elongation.
The statement read: “With certain scenarios that have played out within the fold of All Progressives Congress, APC, at the moment and in less than one month after the National Convention of the party, it is obvious that the emergence of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as National Chairman has saved the party from an impending catastrophe.
“With the unfolding developments in the party, the story would have been very nauseating if there was no National Convention and if Adams Oshiomhole had not emerged as the National Chairman of the party. It can also be argued that some of the proponents of tenure elongation were innocently doing so without having an overview of the entire disturbing picture behind the scheming for elongation of tenure.
“All these defections, as we all could see, were never planned in the past few weeks. The coming of Oshiomhole just forced the cat out of the bag. With the events too, leaders of the party could now see the wisdom in jettisoning the clamour for tenure elongation for the Odigie-Oyegun led National Working Committee, NWC, members, and opting for a National Convention to elect new officers.
“In the circumstance, those who opposed the elongation stuff and insisted on Convention should now be commended. One could easily imagine what would have been the case if the party had allowed the Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC to continue and what would have happened at the party’s primaries especially that of presidency.
“What is happening in the party now could not have been planned and executed within these few weeks Oshiomhole took over as the National Chairman of the party. Rather, his coming only altered the plan of those who wanted to destroy APC to serve personal interests.”
