Former Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha, has said his ongoing feud with incumbent Governor Hope Uzodimma was only political and not enough to endanger the lives of Imo citizens.
Okorocha, who represents Imo West Senatorial District in the Senate, stated this in Owerri, while speaking with journalists, The Guardian reports.
He also accused Uzodimma of being a paid agent of his detractors to sabotage his (Okorocha’s) 2023 presidential ambition.
He, however, insisted that no amount of blackmail and propaganda embarked upon by Uzodimma would stop his quest, stressing that through his actions and utterances, the governor had drawn political battle with him.
The former Imo governor also refuted allegations that he was planning to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that he remained a committed member of the APC.
His words: “What could be the animosity between me and Uzodimma that will lead to killings of innocent people? Why will animosity between us cause the death of Ahmed Gulak and thousands of other people in Imo? It doesn’t make sense.
“The animosity can only be political, probably because he boasted that he must stop me from running for the presidency in 2023. He boasted that he will use every means available to stop me.
“He also boasted that he will use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the police and state judiciary to stop me, but I am waiting for him, because he is not God.”
He further explained that the only animosity between him and the incumbent governor could be that he (Okorocha) did not want Uzodimma to win the next governorship election in the state.
“But let us not even talk about animosity. Let us talk about the lives of the people. He is a governor and I am a Senator. I am not running for governor or Senate again, neither am I running for the House of Representatives. I have no business with the state again. My one business is the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Uzodimma can’t stop it.
In all of this, I am not leaving APC. I am still a member of the party. In fact, I am still the strongest APC member in Imo State,” he added.
____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2022 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
