A former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has said he was not aware the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted a congress on Saturday, October 16 to elect its State Executive Committee (SEC).
Speaking through his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha dismissed the purported congress held at the Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu Square in Owerri as a birthday party.
The former governor who at the moment represents Imo West District at the Senate insisted that one Dan Nwafor remains the state chairman of the party.
Okorocha said; “We are not aware that there was APC congress in Imo State. What they did on Saturday, October 16 was a birthday party.
“As far as we are concerned, Dan Nwafor is the authentic chairman of APC in Imo State.
“There is an APC court judgement to that effect. It has not been vacated. You don’t put something on nothing and expect it to stand.”
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Meanwhile, the newly-appointed chairman, Board of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Senator Ifeanyi Araraume was also absent at the state congress held at the Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu Square in Owerri on October 16.
Both Okorocha and Araraume have been having a running battle with the CampHope faction of the APC controlled by the state governor, Hope Uzodimma.
While the face-off between Okorocha and Uzodimma might have been triggered off by the probe of the Okorocha administration and efforts to recover property he illegally acquired, Araraume fell apart with the governor following the scuttling of his (Araraume’s) quest to achieve a third term at the Senate.
The governor working with the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba ensured that Araraume lost the APC ticket and the December 5, 2020 bye-election in Imo North Senatorial District.
Araraume’s recourse to the courts in a bid to win the senatorial seat was also not successful as the Supreme Court gave the final verdict in favour of the governor’s protégé, Frank Ibezim.
