Uzodinma is PDP mole in APC – Okorocha

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has said the governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator Hope Uzodinma, is a mole of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who can’t win.
He said the senator is not yet a member of the APC, adding that he remained unknown and unacceptable to party members.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, reads: “Chief Hope Uzodinma is not a member of the APC in Imo State. His purported membership of the party was announced in Abuja. He has never attended any APC meeting either in his ward or in his local government, Oru-East, or at the state level. That is why no APC member in the state was excited when the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, announced him as his preferred governorship candidate of the party in the state.
“APC members in Imo see Chief Uzodinma as still a staunch member of the PDP; that was the reason behind the dead silence in Imo over the announcement of his name as the governorship candidate of the party. If Chief Uzodinma was to be a known member of the party, there would have been celebration in Imo. The chieftains of the party in Abuja backing him are elite politicians who have no relationship with the grassroots.
“Even when we have not said or written anything about Chief Uzodinma since the controversy over the governorship ticket of the APC for the state began, he took up Governor Okorocha in the media, claiming that the governor ‘underestimates his unpopularity’, among other insulting remarks. We swiftly want to say that we won’t honour Chief Uzodinma with a response because, even when politics today seems to be an all-comers’ affair, people should be humble enough to know their superiors in certain areas of life.
“Chief Uzodinma should face his two most recent criminal charges of issuing a dud cheque and non-declaration of assets. We won’t talk about other similar cases.
“Governor Okorocha won his election in 2011 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) through the ballot box; ditto in 2015, on the ticket of the APC. In the two cases, the parties were not in power at the Federal level.
“So, he did not enjoy any Federal might. Imo people voted for him for who he is. And the love is still intact. In 2011, he defeated an incumbent governor of the PDP extraction and, in 2015, he also defeated a sitting Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, also of the PDP stock. How else do you measure popularity?
“In the case of Chief Uzodinma, the story is totally different. In 2011, he took the Senate seat for Orlu zone from Chief Osita Izunaso through the court. In 2015, Nigerians knew what transpired in Imo. The state was invaded by armed security personnel by the PDP leaders, like Chief Uzodinma, and the rest is history.
“So, Chief Uzodinma can never win an election in Imo in a free and fair poll. That is why the PDP and APGA members are those celebrating his k–leg governorship candidature for Imo APC.
“Since Chief Uzodinma has begun to throw stones, not considering the fact that he lives in a badly constructed glass house, we challenge him to publish his profile for the public to see and let Rochas also publish his own.
“Governor Okorocha was born in Ogboko and he grew up in Jos, the Plateau State capital. He attended St. Joseph Primary School, Barkin Ladi, Jos, and Juladaco High School, Jos. He has LLB and LLM of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), a post–graduate Diploma in Management of the Benue State University (BBSU).
“By 1984, Okorocha had opened Kings Commercial College, Jos. In 1996, he founded the Rochas Foundation and Rochas Foundation Colleges. He founded the Rochas Group of Companies with interest in real estate, aviation, banking, hotels, construction.
“Okorocha had investments and commercial buildings in Imo before becoming governor. He has two Rochas Foundation colleges, one in Owerri and another in Ogboko. He has a printing press and a hotel as well as some of the biggest commercial buildings in Owerri, all before becoming governor.
“Let Chief Uzodinma mention any building he owns in Owerri or any investment he has in any part of the state, no matter how small, and then we take off from there.
“Those who write these things for people like Chief Uzodinma should always count their teeth with their tongues before taking up other people in the media. You do not do such things, knowing the deficiencies of the man you are writing for. A reasonable person who lives in a glass house does not throw stones at all, not to talk of doing so indiscriminately.”
Senator: APC not governor’s property
The Imo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has said Governor Rochas Okorocha and his supporters erroneously believe that the party is their estate.
A statement yesterday in Owerri, the state capital, by the Director of Media and Special Duties of Hope Uzodinma Campaign Organisation, Declan Emelumba, reads: “By referring to a non-existent dud cheque issue and phony assets declaration matter, the Imo State government has only confirmed an open secret, which is that they are behind the two baseless issues.
“We know that it was Imo State government that sponsored the Jankara Abuja Magistrates’ judgment over a matter between two corporate citizens, which a magistrates’ court has no jurisdiction over, just to smear the senator’s intimidating image. They are also behind the baseless assets declaration issue to achieve the same goal. But on each, they failed woefully.