The claim by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state that no candidate of APC can win an election in the state without his support has been described as a “grand delusion from a drowning man”.
Governor Okorocha had told newsmen last Thursday that for APC to win Imo State, both the party and the concerned candidates must have his support.
But a group has debunked that claim, saying that on the contrary any candidate identified with the Imo State Governor will surely lose an election whether in APC or another party.
“The truth of the matter is that Governor Okorocha is a liability in the state. He is a political leper and anybody he touches becomes leprous and repugnant to Imo people. Such a person must be rejected because the Governor is hugely unpopular”, the group, Imo Democratic Alliance (IDA) said.
The group in a statement in Owerri signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Lucas Okeke berated the Governor for claiming what he is not, and warned him to refrain from insulting the sensibility of Imo people.
“Is it on account of his convoluted governance which has left Imo poorer than he met it or is it the privatization of the state to his family that will make him issue such a boast?” IDA asked.
According to the group, “Okorocha has debased governance in the last seven and half years. The patrimony of the state has been converted to personal use by running a government of his family by his family and for his family”.
It noted that within the last seven and half years, Okorocha has presided over Imo State like an emperor without due process and with reckless impunity sacking two deputy governors in the process and emasculating the state House of Assembly.
The group said unknown to the governor, Imo people were patiently waiting for 2019 to retire him from politics and hold him accountable “for these wasted years”.
It said the only people taking Okorocha serious were those who are not in Imo State and therefore unaware of “the atrocities he has committed against the people in the name of governance”.
“He can boast in Abuja but those of us at home know that anybody who is remotely associated with him whether in APC or elsewhere has already failed the 2019 election”, the group insisted.
“How can one man arrogate so much to himself? He wants to go to the senate. He wants to make his son in-law governor and his sister a member of the House of Representatives. Have you seen that level of greed anywhere in Nigeria?” the group asked.
The group called on the national leadership of APC to continue to “ignore the ranting of a man who has expired politically”.
“We are solidly behind Adams Oshimohle and all the NWC members who have dared Okorocha and who are insisting on enthroning justice in Imo APC”, it I insisted.
The IDA regretted that the only legacy left by Okorocha were those of corruption, land grabbing, Nepotism, Cronyism and Impunity, and vowed that they will repay him and anybody associated with him, with rejection in 2019.