..I’m still in the race, says Nwosu
The Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not in support of some of the policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as championed by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
Speaking to State House Correspondents at the end of a meeting with the President, Okorocha said some of the decisions have affected the party negatively in some states.
Okorocha was welcomed with cheers in Aso Rock by members of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), who had paid a courtesy visit to the president at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa.
Okorocha has been battling to ensure his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu takes over from him in 2019.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC is reported to have adopted the Ahmed Gulak Committee that conducted the APC governorship primaries in Imo State on Wednesday night.
Okorocha said: “Gentlemen of the press, I’m here to clear the air that the presidency is not behind what Oshiomhole is doing in some of the states, which has affected our party negatively; and from my understanding from Mr. President, there is no such directive for Oshiomhole to do anything illegal or create any sort of injustice.
“So, Oshiomhole is on his own in this whole thing. There is no presidency’s support for him to refuse those candidates who won elections and give wrong candidates who didn’t win election.
“I also requested that Oshiomhole must learn to respect the rule of law and obey court orders where they apply. This issue of treating court orders as tissue papers must stop. It doesn’t reflect the image of our party; he must act quickly to fix the integrity of this party because his coming in ought to have brought joy into the party and not sadness.”
Asked if the party was disintegrating, the governor said: “Well, APC will not disintegrate as long as Buhari is still the president of the Federal Republic of, and remains the leader of this party. So, we cannot give that credit to the chairman.
“He cannot disintegrate this party; the party is still intact, just that many people are hurt. Since his inception and after the primaries, we are losing almost five million voters because of anger and protest everywhere; and he needs to be called to order. He has to respect the rule of law, respect court orders and not turn himself into INEC.”
Meanwhile, contrary to reports making the rounds on the social media and an online version of a national daily that the name of one of the contenders for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket, in Imo State, Uche Nwosu, has been dropped by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, the acclaimed winner of the October 6 primary election in the state has said that the report was not true.
Nwosu maintained that the news trending on online was sponsored adding that it is intended to create tension in the state.
According to the online report, “The NWC of the party had substituted Nwosu’s name with that of Sen. Hope Uzodinma, as the APC governorship candidate for Imo State.
However, Nwosu has insisted that he remains the authentic governorship candidate of the party.
According to Nwosu, “Apart from available records, which showed that I am the authentic governorship candidate of our party, I also have a valid Court Order barring the partly and INEC from substituting my name.
“So, the media house reporting that is obviously sponsored to do a hatchet job”.
He stated further that, “There are no contentions to my victory at the Imo State governorship primary election.
“What we have in the records is that the governorship candidate of APC in Imo State is Uche Nwosu, not only that I have a valid Court Order barring the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from receiving any other name that is not my name.
“There is no contention in that, the only primary that was upheld was that of Agbabiaka, which I won and everybody knew it was the authentic primary.
“The earlier primary that was to be conducted by Ahmed Gulak was cancelled and disbanded and a new Committee was reconstituted.
“So, Gulak never conducted any governorship primary, the only primary that was done in Imo State is the one conducted by Agbabiaka which I won”. – Additional report from The Sun.
