If Ojukwu Were Alive, He Would’ve Joined APC – Okorocha

Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha in apparent response to some of his critics, who have questioned the rationale behind his dumping of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), on whose back he rode to power for the All Progressive Congress (APC), has declared that if the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu were to still be alive, he would have not only given his consent but would have joined the APC.

Okorocha in a statement on Tuesday, noted that in his lifetime, the late Ojukwu had been concerned on how to launch Ndi-Igbo back to the mainstream of Nigerian politics after the civil war.
“That was why, when he came back from exile in 1982, he did not join the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) that was somewhat ethnic, but joined the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, that was national both in outlook and in operations.
“And the NPN then unlike the PDP of today, had an Igbo man as Vice President and other Igbo sons and daughters in sensitive positions”, the statement reads.
Okorocha further stated that the late Ojukwu also joined APGA at the time he did, as a sign of protest against the gross marginalization of Ndi-Igbo by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); with no Igbo son or daughter holding any sensitive position either in the PDP-led federal government or in the party.
“Ikemba Ojukwu would have therefore joined the APC with other progressives across the country having seen the party as the one that has good opportunities for the Igbos, even to become the president of the country.
“Since Ojukwu had died, God gave Governor Okorocha the wisdom and the vision to take Ndi-Igbo to APC. What men and women of goodwill of Igbo extraction should do, is join him for leading the Igbos into APC”, the statement added.
The statement also stated that a total of 637, 000 Imo people registered with the APC during the last registration exercise in the state, which he noted was the highest number any party could muster in the state.