Oshiomhole says Okorocha has not shown respect to the Church in Imo

The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has said that the ruling party is not in support of the misunderstanding between Imo Governor, Rochas Okorocha and top leaders of the Christian community in the state.

Oshiomhole said this on Saturday, November 3, 2018, at a meeting with Archbishop Anthony Obinna and representatives of the Christian community in Imo state.

The APC chairman also condemned what he described as the Governor’s lack of respect for the Church.

Daily Post reports that he said “Governor Rochas Okorocha’s personal battle with the Christian community in Imo State is a matter between him and the Catholic Church. We in APC, we are not party to that. We do not want our party to be dragged into such contestation because it will not be helpful to us. Our road to power is election by the people, we cannot antagonise the people.

“Even the ordinary man in Imo is entitled to respect not to talk of the leaders of the Christian community. And so, we distance ourselves from all of those things that Rochas has done which some times has been a source of huge embarrassment to our party which sometimes we have been able to manage in-house. So, I sincerely apologise to Bishop Obinna and Christians in Imo State.”

Atiku Abubakar

Oshiomhole also said that defeating the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 presidential election, will be easy.

He said “Now that we know that our main opponent is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, we will defeat him again the way we have defeated him before. And I am confident that President Muhammadu Buhari will return because he has a quality which none of them can boast of, which is integrity, integrity, integrity.

“To make statement about the others, we will just generate what former President Obasanjo has to say about Atiku and what Atiku has to say about Obasanjo.

“By the time we read it, you make up your mind if Nigeria is looking for a leader who they can trust, whether it is one with unquestionable integrity, or is the one that there are debates as to whether or not how much we can trust. I am confident that God will give us victory at the end of the day.

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“So, I want to assure all those who are genuinely aggrieved, I have a duty along with my colleagues in the NWC to work to heal wounds, for reconciliations.

“So, we are setting up various panels, groups of eminent leaders drawn from APC, statesmen and women within our party who we believe can help us to talk to all those who are aggrieved, so that we sort out all the grievances and approach the next coming election as a functioning party and by the special grace of God, we will win.”

Governor Rochas Okorochaand the APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole have been at loggerheads over the party’s decision to field Senator Hope Uzodinma as its governorship candidate in Imo state instead of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu.