…..says he is on same page with Southern Governors on Southern president in 2023
… Reveals that military option is not solution to Nnamdi Kanu and other agitators issues.
By Chris Udochukwu
Abuja (Precise Post) – Federal lawmaker representing Imo West Senatorial District in the Senate and former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Monday said the project President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned in Imo State recently was built by him.
He said it was only renovated by the present government and commissioned by the president. The projects I built in Imo are still there, go and see them. The Justice Oputa Court I built there among others cannot be equalled.
The former governor said this in his “Conversation with Owelle @ 59”, organised by the Abuja council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, as part of activities to commemorate his 59th birthday.
He disclosed this while reacting to the allegation that some of the contracts awarded by his administration were sub-standard. Okorocha who named the Vice President as witness, said Yemi Osinbajo who came to commission some of his projects attested to the quality of his project as second to none. Reiterating that since he left Imo State as the governor, there has not been any single project started in that state and challenged anyone to prove him wrong.
Governor Okorocha who said he is on the same page with Southern Governors on the Southern Presidency, also expressed fear that the All Progressives Congress would be polarized should it zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the north.
According to him, “In 1999 – 2007, the Presidency was in the South; 2007 to 2010, the Presidency was in the North; 2010 to 2015, the Presidency was in the South and now 2015 to 2023 the Presidency is in the North. After this, it is normal and natural for it to return to the South.”
The former Imo governor however said that the way to go about it is not to say it’s our turn but to suggest that since so and so section of the country have produced President that it wouldn’t be out of place to let this side produce it to give sense of belonging.
He also advised the Federal Government to seek an out of court settlement over the case involving the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He advised the federal government that military solution is not the best approach but dialogue will make the difference.
Okorocha said that Igbos are misunderstood people in Nigeria because they don’t know how to pretend – they wear their feelings on their faces. “Unlike any other tribe, if Igbo man is not happy with you he will put up a face to show that he’s not happy”, that an Igbo man for you.
Okorocha said, “There’s no justification for APC zoning the Presidency away from the South. If zoned to the North, it will polarise the party.
When I took the All Progressives Grand Alliance to the APC for the South- East to be in mainstream politics, I was called many names.
“We should develop national spirit, that high spiritual elevation above personal convictions. It protects the indigent and weak in the society. I see positive and new things to come in Nigeria with such spirit. I agree with Southern Governors on the Southern Presidency.
Owelle also said that it’s true that Igbos are marginalized but that what Igbos need is equal playing field to excel because they have what it takes to excel as they are industrious people.
On whether he will contest for president in 2023, Senator Okorocha said that Nigerians should know that he does not have ambition to be president but that he has vision to be president. That is where I differ. The Imo West Senator noted that he has contested for president three times in the past and that at one of those times he came second. He however reminded that if he is to contest, that such a declaration will be made before all Nigerians and with his party members present but not with an apolitical small group.
The Imo West senator noted that he does not have ambition to be president but that he has vision to be president.
On whether he has been properly treated by his party and how he will score his party, the Imo West Senator said: “It’s not about me it’s about Nigerians. In terms of party promises, it is work-in-progress, you cannot score a student who is still writing exams. To the person of President Muhammadu Buhari, can you trace any money to his bank account, nobody can accuse him of any embezzlement, no. So?
