Suspension: Rochas 2023 ambition threatened in APC

Following their suspension by the APC National Working Committee on Friday, Imo Gov Roochas Okorocha, among and others suspended, has reacted, saying chairman Adams Oshiomhole is working to destroy the ruling party.

He also foresees the politics of 2023 taking shape.

“Adams Oshiomhole was determined right from the outset to destroy APC in the South-East and unknown to party chieftains from the zone who had genuinely supported his chairmanship,” he said in a statement on Friday.

“And in playing it, he has thrown caution to the wind. In all the South-East states there are crises and all arising from the fraudulent manner he conducted the primaries.”

The governor who will be taking s seat in the Senate soon blamed Oshiomhole for backing a governorship candidate with ‘five corruption charges’ and ‘travel ban. He was referring to Hope Uzodinma, a senator who is the APC candidate in Imo in the March 9 gubernatorial election.

“If Oshiomhole had meant well for APC and Imo people in particular, would he have given the ticket of the party to a man facing five corruption charges and having travel ban slammed on him, to be the party’s candidate,” he said in the statement

He added that the purported expulsion this time was only acting out of the fear that God in his infinite Mercy could give Governor Okorocha a role to play in the Senate, in the overall interest of the nation.

Okorocha, many believe, has seen himself as a potential candidate in the event the APC zone its presidency to the southeast come 2023. But he fears Oshiomhole is doing the bidding of the southwest where a strong interest is also building up to contest the presidency at the end of this tenure.

V,P. Yemi Osinbajo, Works Minister Babatunde Fashola, and the party’s national leader Bola Tinubu have stepped a subtle campaign to zone the presidency to the southwest in 2023.

Reacting, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, who also earned a suspension for his anti-party activity, said he was yet to be notified of his suspension from the APC.

He, however, emphasized the role he played in campaign for President Muhammadu Buhari in the southeast, despite the poor showing of the ruling APC in the region.

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“Our chairman should not blame me for hoisting some unpopular National Assembly candidates for the APC in our zone,” he said.