Okorocha Denies Rift With Tinubu, Ngigie, Describes Reported Crisis As Media Creation

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, Politics Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

From Ignatius Okpara, Enugu

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has described as malicious and unfounded, some media reports, that he has fallen apart with the national leader of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over who controls the party’s structure in the South Eastern part of the country.

Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha

Okorocha, who is the Chairman of APC Governor’s Forum also debunked allegations of looming crisis in the Southeast Chapter of the leading opposition, stressing that those behind the mischievous reports were determined to cause disaffection between him and the former Lagos State Governor out of fear of the rising profile of the party in the zone.

It would be recalled a national Daily recently alleged that the Imo State’s Governor, Tinubu and Senator Chris Ngige were the fuelling the looming crisis in the Southeast zone of the APC.

The report further alleged that there was a power tussle between Governor Okorocha and Asiwaju Tinubu over who controls the APC structure in the zone.

But reacting to the report Monday in Owerri the Imo State Capital, in a statement issued the by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the Governor, said “those behind the falsehood and inciting publication also tried in vain to introduce popularity contest between Okorocha and Senator Chris Ngige”.

The statement reads in part: “having carefully gone through the publications, and painstakingly analysed the contents or the claims thereto, we won’t hesitate to conclude that the publication was structured or programmed to achieve one goal, and that is, to cause disaffection or undue suspicion between Governor Okorocha and Bola Tinubu on one side, and between Governor Okorocha and Senator Chris Ngige on the other side.

“There is no looming crisis in the South-East APC for which Gov. Okorocha, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Senator Ngige could be accused of being responsible.

“Whatever anybody feels is happening in the South-East APC cannot be seen as strange but as the normal politics of group or individual interest pursuit.

“As far as we are concerned, the claimed looming crisis in the APC South East is a media creation.

“It does not exist, the idea of bringing in the names of Okorocha, Tinubu and Ngige was aimed at adding value to the false alarm.

“The publication was ill-motivated otherwise those behind it would have taken the liberty to convince their readers on why they felt Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should be struggling to control APC in the Southeast at this point in time or why Senator Ngige or Governor Okorocha should engage themselves in popularity race this time.

The statement added: “the Southeast APC has had series of meetings in recent time in various parts of the geo-political zone and with a crowded rally also held in Aba, Abia State and in Enugu respectively few weeks ago and in each case, Okorocha and Ngige had sat together and had preached unity of purpose among the members and leaders of the party in the Southeast.

“We may not be wrong if we accuse those intimidated by Governor Okorocha’s enviable political character and growth that have made him a fanciful and acceptable politician across the nation, to be behind the publications in question and their sole aim was to create bad blood among the three APC leaders.

“This is not their first time of doing such a thing, they have been in such dirty enterprise, and the good thing is that they have been failing and shall continue to fail because nobody can be against who God has favoured.

“We make bold to say that Governor Okorocha is living no stone unturned in making the APC a formidable party in the Southeast.

” He has gone a long way and cannot at the same time be causing looming crisis in the party in the zone.

“He is not in any power tussle with any leader of the party for the control of the party in the Southeast or any other zone because it is neither necessary nor advisable”. the statement maintained.