Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has blasted the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over alleged zoning of the vice president slot for 2019 to the South-East geopolitical zone.
According to him, the zoning was a Greek gift and a mockery of Ndigbo by the main opposition party.
Okorocha in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said it was annoying that the PDP suddenly realized that the Southeast could get the position of the Vice-President one year after it lost power.
According to him, “For 16 years, the PDP was in power, the party never had any reason to remember that the Southeast, as a major bloc in the country, could occupy the Vice-President position or could hold any of the sensitive positions in the country. They are just waking up from their slumber after being out of power.
“The PDP never allowed the Southeast to have the President, the Vice-President, the Senate President, the Speaker of House of Representatives and so on. The Southeast totally lost out in the PDP government.
“Even in terms of projects, the Southeast had a very rough experience in the PDP government. All the federal roads in the zone were death traps until the party was voted out of power. The second Niger Bridge became endless pit for the PDP. Some oil locations belonging to some states in the zone were taken away and given to other states outside the zone. It was a hopeless situation for the zone under the PDP.
“Now, they have begun to dangle or brandish the VP position before the zone because they desperately want power again. They also know that what the zone could not get from the PDP government, they could now get from the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
“The fact is that the Southeast would get its due from the APC administration because the party believes in fair play, justice and equity. The PDP toyed with the fate of the Southeast, which the APC cannot do. The good signs are everywhere. The Southeast will be better under the APC government.
“Our interest is to develop the Southeast, and the APC administration will do that for the zone. Anything due for the zone will be given to it because the level of greed in the PDP cannot be found in APC. The APC won’t wait until it is out of power before remembering the Southeast or any other zone. That cannot be our portion.
“We are going to play visionary and group politics, which the PDP never allowed the Southeast to play. A few individuals used the zone to load their political buses. We are going to play collective politics in lieu of divisive politics.
“It is only important that the Southeast would be strong in APC and give President Buhari all the needed support and solidarity. So, the Southeast should see the PDP’s VP as a Greek gift.”
