Imo State
Governor Rochas Okorocha on Monday faulted the All Progressive Congress
National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole’s apology to the Roman Catholic
Church in the state.
Former Edo
State governor Oshiomhole, who distanced the APC from Okorocha’s alleged
disrespect for the Roman Catholic community in the state, apologised to the Archbishop of the Owerri Catholic
Archdiocese, Most Reverend Anthony Obinna for the governor’s “sin”.
But Okorocha, who has been at loggerheads with
Oshiomhole over the Imo State APC primaries, in which his son-in-law Uche Nwosu
lost the 2019 governorship ticket to Senator Hope Uzodinma, said in a statement
by his Chief Press Secretary,
Sam Onwuemeodo, his party’s national chair’s apology
to Obinna was “a deliberate
blackmail”.
The
statement read in part, “In responding
to that deliberate blackmail, we won’t toe the part of Comrade Oshiomhole. We
recognise the fact that he is the National Chairman of a ruling party, which President Muhammadu Buhari is the
leader, and we would not, therefore, throw caution to the wind like he did,
when he was abusing or attacking governors in his party as if he is the
publicity secretary of any of the opposition parties.
“If he had
asked questions, he would have discovered that members of the Catholic Church
in the state constitute the bulk of Governor Okorocha’s supporters, especially at the grassroots. They voted for him overwhelmingly in 2011 and
2015 respectively. And he has never taken their support for granted. He has shown gratitude in several ways which
cannot be catalogued in this response, including making them the majority in
his cabinet.
“The man has
put himself on trial and that is the reason since that woeful and awful outing,
he has made more than nine claims to see how he could recover but all to no
avail. He murdered sleep and would remain awake.”
The
statement said Okorocha demonstrated
maturity by avoiding abuse and name-calling when he spoke to the media after
meeting with Buhari recently, urging Oshiomhole to emulate the governor.
It said, “As
a matter of fact, the National Chairman did not treat the concerned governors
well no matter his reasons. He should not expect them to go home celebrating.
In the circumstances, his utterances and actions should be responsive and reconciliatory
to a very large extent and not declaration of war.”
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