To Rochas Okorocha, he’s the chief champion of President Muhammadu Buhari, in the South East; To others, he was not passionate about Buhari nor did he believe that he would win the election.

The spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress in the South East, Osita Okechukwu, continues his public shaming of Okorocha.

Okechukwu blames the Imo state governor for not campaigning hard enough and not being committed to the Buhari project.

Let me start by saying that I have nothing personal against Okorocha. In fact I was a member of the nine-man committee that screened him before his coronation as Owelle Ndigbo in Abuja. And I supported him by giving him a decisive vote when the committee split into four for and four against. He also nominated me at Owerri in 2013, as the spokesman for the South East leadership caucus of the All Progressives Congress. We had a cordial relationship then.

However, my submission is that he neither campaigned truly for President Muhammadu Buhari nor for the candidates of the APC even in his domain. Same is applicable to some of our leaders; all of whom never believed that President Muhammadu Buhari would win. Therefore, I was not a witness to when he cried for our candidates as the lone voice in the wilderness.That’s my point.

I have been in politics since 1978 and studied Political Science, so I am old enough and well equipped to know when a leader is passionate in an electoral contest. Owelle wasn’t genuinely committed and passionate; this is the truth.”

Most importantly, the APC spokesperson says Okorocha is to blame for the seeming marginalisation of the Ndigbo in the scheme of things.

He says Okorocha’s misguided ambition scuttled the chances of the Ndigbo, in getting any top position in the country.

“The story goes like this: in the build up to election of the National Executive Committee of our great party, news filtered out that the Progressive Governors Forum, which incidentally and luckily is chaired by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, had zoned the chairmanship of the party to the South South and the South East. We celebrated this outcome and our leadership caucus meeting was convened immediately at Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu’s house in Abuja to chart the way forward for Ndigbo in the APC.

At the meeting, some of us canvassed that we should bid for the chairmanship of the party and that Dr. Onu fit the bill. It was at this point that the issue of Owelle’s bid for the seat of President came up. The meeting was sharply divided as some of us insisted that we should go for the position of the chairman, and others said that the President was the ultimate prize. Another group canvassed that we should first go for the chairmanship position and if Owelle was successful in his presidential candidate bid, the chairman would resign.

It was at this point that Owelle took the floor, narrated how prepared he was for the presidential election and solicited our support. To be candid, a straw poll was held and everybody there raised hands in his favour, except my humble self.

In order not to be misunderstood, I stood up and explained that Owelle should not run against the subsisting zoning convention, arguing that the main problem confronting the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was the breach of the zoning convention.

His (Okorocha’s) supporters argued that there was no zoning in the APC constitution. I said yes, that convention in politics may not be found in the constitution, but it has moral weight. That it is more strategic to obey the zoning convention and negotiate for chairmanship or vice presidential slot. I think this is the beginning of the crisis.”

Kolapo Olapoju