Picture: Ijeomah Arodiogbu
By Chukwuka Ugokwe
The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), South East, Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has dismissed former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, as an asset to the party, describing him instead as a political liability in Imo State.
Arodiogbu made the remarks during an interview on TVC News while reacting to the lingering controversy surrounding the Imo West Senatorial District ticket of the APC.
“I will tell you clearly that Rochas is not an asset to our party at all,” he declared.
The APC chieftain also questioned Okorocha’s political relevance and grassroots connection in the senatorial district.
“Rochas has not been to his federal constituency in the past three years because the road to his house is impassable,” Arodiogbu alleged.
He argued that the former governor’s alleged prolonged absence from the constituency and lack of engagement with the people and grassroots party structures had weakened his political standing in the area.
On the disputed senatorial ticket, Arodiogbu reaffirmed the position of the APC leadership in Imo State and the South East, insisting that the party’s structures had rejected the Federal High Court judgment recognising Okorocha’s claim to the ticket.
According to him, the judgment lacked a sound basis and had attracted strong opposition within the party.
He disclosed that the party’s zonal legal adviser had indicated readiness to petition the judge before the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the ruling.
Arodiogbu maintained that Governor Hope Uzodimma remained the authentic APC candidate for Imo West Senatorial District, insisting that he emerged through a properly conducted primary monitored and documented by the party’s electoral committee and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also dismissed documents being circulated by the Okorocha camp as fake and forged, arguing that the only valid primary result was the one recognised through the party’s internal processes and submitted to INEC.
The APC South East leader further rejected attempts to introduce external political arrangements, including the proposed Rainbow Coalition, into the party’s affairs in Imo State and the South East.
He insisted that the APC would rely on its established party structures and candidates in pursuing its political interests in the region.
Tags: APC, Rochas Okorocha, Hope Uzodimma, Imo Politics
