Congress: Steer Clear of Imo, APC State Leaders Warn Osinbajo ...Say Okorocha has lost relevance

Arising from an emergency meeting in Abuja on Monday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) political leaders in Imo State said they had credible information that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was putting pressure on APC’s national leadership to tamper with the mandate of APC state members, as exercised in the party’s ward congress last Saturday.

Advising the vice-president to steer clear of the state APC affairs and respect the will of the people, the party leaders in the state said as a senior lawyer, he should be mindful of the legal implications of his suspected action.

In a statement signed by Dr. James Obi after the meeting, the APC leaders said their advice was predicated on “credible information that Osinbajo-led forces within the party” was putting pressure on the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to alter the party ward congress that took place last Saturday as it affects Imo State.

The state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who was said to have lost out in the ward congress, reportedly rushed to Daura, Katsina State, last Sunday and briefed President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged infractions that characterised the congress in the state, saying the ‘funny politics’ witnessed at the Saturday’s ward congress of the APC across the country must stop.

Speaking with journalists after meeting the president, Okorocha said internal democracy was the way to go.

“We expect internal democracy, and internal democracy is the way to go. This kind of funny politics that we are playing must stop,” the governor said.

But Obi, on behalf of APC leaders in Imo State, said the outcome of the congress last Saturday in the state was a “sound democratic decision’’ of members of the APC across the wards, and warned against tampering with the result.

‘’Against the falsehoods being peddled around by Okorocha, who was defeated in the ward congress last Saturday, congress was held in all wards in the state.

“In fact, it was Okorocha who attempted to write the result in the state Government House, but he failed woefully. From the beginning, he wanted to manipulate the process.

“First, he rejected members of the committee that were sent to the state to conduct the congress, and forced the party to send the panel initially deployed to Anambra State to Imo State. But members of the committee who came to Imo State stood their ground and refused to be used by Okorocha.

‘’Now, we heard the vice-president is putting pressure on the national leadership of our party, on behalf of Okoroacha, to tamper with the congress,’’ Obi said in a statement.

The party’s leaders in Imo State therefore advised Osibanjo to stay clear of the APC’s affairs in the state and respect the will of the people, saying as a senior lawyer, he should be mindful of the legal implication of his suspected action.

The statement further said: “The vice-president should be very careful; he is a senior lawyer and should not do anything that will undermine the internal democracy of our party. Those elected will go to court if their mandate is tampered with.

‘’We should not resort to the impunity and lawlessness that destroyed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the past; we are trying to rescue Imo APC from Okorocha, who want to destroy the party in the state.’’

Obi added that the governor had lost relevance in the state because of his alleged anti-people policies and programmes in the past seven years, saying any attempt to placate him through undemocratic process would spell doom for APC in Imo State.