The scramble for the soul of the All Progressive Congress, APC in Imo State has gained momentum with desperate moves by some stakeholders in the party to undo the other.
As part of the strategy, most politicians have engaged in a desperate war that will certainly make the tussle for the governorship ticket of the party in 2019 fierce.
In Isiala Mbano Local Government Area, where a governorship aspirant, Ifeanyi Araraume comes from, an aide of Governor Rochas Okorocha, Hon Simeon Iwunze, a former lawmaker, made attempts to appoint a pro Okorocha loyalist to replace the former chairman of the party of the LGA who passed on recently.
The deceased party chairman was a core Araraume loyalist
The move was strongly opposed by Araraume’s supporters who kicked against the appointment and chased away Iwunze.
In Owerri North, there is an ongoing tussle in the party leadership between a former Secretary to the State Government, Jude Ejiogu and a commissioner in Okorocha’s government, Udo Agoha.
Ejiogu is reported to preparing grounds to join the governorship contest in 2019. He was reported to have floated a group to oil his aspiration .
But he appears to have been encountering stiff opposition from pro Okorocha forces in the local government particularly the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Udo Agoha.
Agoha is at cross roads with the former SGI and this may have necessitated fireworks intensified yesterday by Ejiogu’s media aide, Ikenna Onuoha. In a press statement, Onuoha fired diatribes at the former commissioner.
Onuoha alleged that “Mr. Udo Mbu Agoha is against the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in Owerri North council area of Imo State and some party stakeholders has began to unfold”
According to Mr. Onuoha, “Commissioner Agoha does not believe in the vision of the Rescue Mission Administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha, pointing out that he has never voted in any election since 2011 because he does not possess the voters’ card and we stand to be challenged”.
He alleged that “Commissioner Agoha failed in his polling booth during the 2015 governorship election, stressing that instead of working to deliver APC and her candidates, he was busy working for the victory of APGA despite logistics available for him and we challenge him to publish his 2015 election booth result and voters’ card to proof us wrong within 48 hours”
He described the purported defection of Austin Igbozuruike, Anthonia Igbozuruike, Ruth Onyejiuba and Paul Amarikwa to other political parties in Emekuku Ward as a hoax since the above persons left APC long before the 2015 election, and queried if something could stand on nothing.
Mr. Onuoha further cautioned “Commissioner Agoha to sort himself out with executive of APC in his Egbu Ward who recently suspended him for anti-party, or either join PDP or APGA where his allies are to fight APC since he is no longer an APC member.
According to him, “how could Mr. Agoha be working against the party on whose mandate he was appointed a Commissioner, and expressed optimism that members of the party in Egbu Ward have done justice to that by suspending him?
“Udo Agoha should remain quiet if he fails to publish his voters’ card and booth result; he is a spoiler, who has made it very clear in various fora that he belongs to APGA not minding its consequences. To put the record straight, out of twenty six (26) Ward executive of APC in Egbu where he hails from, twenty two (22) signed for his suspension”, saying that the action shows how unpopular Mr. Agoha appears in his home town” he said.