Okorocha Didn’t Campaign For Buhari – S’East APC

The South East Chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday said
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, did not "truly" campaign for the
party and President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 general elections.

The spokesman for the APC in the South East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said
this in a statement made available to journalists in Enugu.

The statement was a reaction to a recent interview in which Okorocha
blamed Igbos for their exclusion in recent appointments made by
Buhari.

In the interview, Okorocha reportedly said, "Some of the appointments
we lost were caused by our people."

Okorocha, also in the interview, claimed that Igbo leaders refused to
listen to him when he cried like "a lonely voice in the wilderness"
while urging the Igbos to embrace Buhari and the APC.

The Imo State governor accused Igbos of putting their eggs in one
basket despite his admonitions that such a decision was unwise.

But, reacting to the interview, the spokesman for the APC in the South
East, Okechukwu, stressed that "Okorocha should take responsibility
for Igbo exclusion in the appointments, rather than passing the buck
to Ndigbo."

In the statement titled 'Governor Rochas Okorocha neither truly
campaigned for President Buhari nor APC,' Okechukwu said, "All one can
say is that to the best of knowledge, he (Okorocha) neither truly
campaigned for President Muhammadu Buhari nor the All Progressives
Congress.

"I thinks that while we blame Ndigbo for putting all our eggs in one
basket, we should blame our leaders who genuinely didn't campaign for
President Buhari nor APC candidates in their domain.

"I challenge Governor Okorocha to tell the world how far he assisted
Senator Osita Izunaso for his bid for Orlu Senatorial District, his
own constituency, and that of Honourables Uche Onyeguocha and
Uwajumogu of Owerri and Okigwe districts respectively."

Noting that a little assistance from Okorocha could have earned APC
two senatorial seats and other legislative positions in the South
East, Okechukwu made it clear that the governor should blame himself
first before blaming Igbos.

He stressed that Okorocha undermined the APC zoning arrangement when
he decided to contest the party's presidential election primaries.

"This is a man some of us advised not to run against the zoning
convention, that it will deny Ndigbo the chance of producing either
the chairman or the vice presidential slot and he refused.

"He thought we are in Nollywood," the APC zonal spokesman said.

Okechukwu said Okorocha should henceforth "desist from the blame game
and accept responsibility for the fate of Ndigbo in Buhari's
appointments."

Continuing, Okechukwu maintained that Okorocha lied when he claimed
that he was crying like a lonely voice in the wilderness for Ndigbo to
vote for Buhari.

He insisted that if Okorocha really cried like a lonely voice in the
wilderness, Buhari would have gotten at least 30 per cent of the votes
cast in Imo State, and not 18 per cent.

"If Okorocha worked for APC in the South East, how come we did not
even win a single senatorial seat in Imo and the entire zone?

"He should stop this blame game and accept responsibility for the fate
that has befallen Ndigbo," Okechukwu said.

-PUNCH