The spokesman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South-East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, on Sunday blamed Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State over the party’s poor outing in the last general elections.
He faulted the Imo State Governor’s statement to the effect that Ndigbo were responsible for their exclusion in appointments made by President Muhamadu Buhari.
Okechukwu said Okorocha should take responsibility for Igbo exclusion in the appointments, rather than passing the buck to Ndigbo.
The statement was titled, ‘Governor Rochas Okorocha neither truly campaigned for President Buhari nor APC’.
Okechukwu stated: “I am sorry to comment on the blame game being played by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha; all one can say is that to the best of knowledge, he neither truly campaigned for President Muhammadu Buhari nor the All Progressives Congress.
“Methinks 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 Hons Uche Onyeguocha and Uwajimogu of Owerri and Okigwe districts respectively” Okechukwu stated.
While noting that a little assistance from Governor Okorocha could have earned APC two senatorial seats, and other legislative seats, Okechukwu made it clear that there was no point for him to blame Ndigbo without blaming himself first.
He added that “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.”
According to Okechukwu, the Imo Governor should forthwith desist from the blame game and accept responsibility for the fate of Ndigbo in General Buhari’s appointments.
He 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, President Buhari would have gotten at least 30 percent of the votes cast in Imo State.
“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 further stated.
Okorocha had in an interview, which he granted to a national newspaper on Sunday, shared the sentiments of the Igbo that none of them made the list of appointees.
The Imo Governor, however, added that “some of the appointments we lost were the doing of our people,” just as he recalled that when he was crying like a lonely voice in the wilderness, Ndigbo chose to put all their eggs in one basket.
