THE national leadership of the All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari have urged the people of Imo State to vote only for the candidates of the party in the forthcoming election, thus refuting the purported coalition between the party and any other in the state.
The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has been fronting his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to succeed him, but when he could not win the APC governorship primary election, he dumped the party and joined the Action Alliance (AA).
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But still bent on ensuring that his son-in-law becomes the
next governor, Okorocha − himself an APC senatorial candidate − continues campaigning for him while working against the APC governorship candidate, Hope Uzodinma.
During previous APC functions, Okorocha would tell his supporters that though Nwosu is running on the platform of the AA, “he is APC at heart”.
However, speaking during Buhari’s campaign rally at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri, on Tuesday, Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of APC, asked the party supporters to disregard the idea of supporting any other governorship candidate asides from Uzodinma.
“We have no other candidate except Senator Hope Uzodinma,” Oshiomhole announced as the crowd cheered in jubilation, while Okorocha looked on with a grin.
When President Buhari mounted the podium, after reeling out his administration’s achievement upon which he was relying to seek for a second term in office, he urged all APC supporters in Imo State not to allow “intra or inter-party (squabbles) to remove your senses of responsibility”.
He then went on to raise Uzodinma’s hand “as the APC candidate” saying “I wish us the best of luck, you and me”. Later, in what appeared more like an afterthought, Buhari also raised Okorocha’s hands asking the people to vote for him in his senatorial ambition.
It has been a drama of sorts in the Imo State chapter of the APC which is currently divided into two factions, one led by Okorocha and the other by Uzodinma.
Following Okorocha’s insistence on campaigning for his son-in-law who is a member of another party, the Uzodinma-led APC faction announced that the governor has been suspended for engaging in anti-party activities. In response, the Okorocha-led faction also said it was suspending Uzodinma for the same reason. None of the suspension was ratified by the party’s national leadership.