The Party says Imo Governor is taking a risk that may make him a political orphan.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, led by Maxi Okwu has appealed to the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to re-think his decision to dump the party to join the unregistered All Progressives Congress, APC.
APC is the product of the merger talks among four parties, namely Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and Mr. Okorocha’s faction of APGA.
The governor declared formally that he will be joining the yet to be registered political party at a grand ceremony organized on Tuesday in Owerri to mark his administration’s two years in office.
But in a statement by Francis Edeh, the Senior Media Assistant to Mr. Okwu, the party asked the governor to save himself from becoming a political orphan because APC has not been registered while its acronym is still being contested.
The statement said, “The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is on notice of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s rally in Owerri as part of activities to mark his government’s two years in office during which he formally declared for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Since Governor Okorocha was elected on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance in April 2011, the party wishes to advice him to have a re-think on his decision to join APC, a political association that has not been registered as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the acronym is being contested by another political association.
“APGA gives this timely advice to Governor Okorocha to save him from becoming a political orphan wandering in political wilderness in Nigeria’s political horizon.
The statement said that since June 2002 that APGA was registered, it has been growing from strength to strength and is currently being repositioned, restructured and re-engineered to be the third leg in Nigeria’s political tripod.
“We are confident that the party’s electoral fortune will increase in the 2015 general election just as APGA is the party to beat in the forthcoming Anambra Governorship election,” it stressed.
The party frowned at the attitude of its erstwhile National Chairman, Victor Umeh, who it claimed “has been working surreptitiously with C-21 which he serves as director of publicity to mortgage the soul of APGA for a mess of portage in the political proposal called APC.
“We believe this is the reason Chief Umeh has been silent on Owelle Okorocha’s plan to join APC,” the party said.
“APGA wishes to state categorically that it is not in any merger plan with any party or political association as that will negate the vision of the founding fathers of our great party.”
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