Senator Rochas Okorocha
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, and former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has said respect for President Muhammadu Buhari was the only reason the party is still intact, warning that there could be an imminent implosion in the party if the leadership failed to address some issues.
He said: “There is no more APC. What we have is respect for President Muhammadu Buhari. That is what is keeping us together.
“What we have is our respect for the person of President Buhari and we still believe that something can be done.”
Senator Okorocha (Imo West), said this while reacting to the outcome of the just-concluded Edo State governorship election.
Okorocha, who spoke to the media ahead of his 58 birthday anniversary, said: “In the South-East, literally we can say we don’t have APC. We just managed through the Ben Johnson way to get one state and that does not make our image good.”
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Senator Okorocha insisted that respect for President Buhari was the only reason APC was still existing, adding that the party died the day the leadership abandoned the progressive and democratic ideals on which it was founded.
He alleged that apart from President Buhari, the other leaders of the political blocs that merged in 2015 were practically schemed out by forces that joined the party.
His words: “Just permit me to give you the inside of APC: this word APC was formed by four major political parties that had governors. One was the CPC-led by President Muhammadu Buhari; ACN-led by Ahmed Tinubu; ANPP-led by Ogbonnaya Onu, and APGA-led by me, brought in our structure; every other person fell into this structure.
“The PDP group came in and joined us. I gave the name APC, designed logo and that was the beginning of the party and we had an understanding.
“There is no more APC. What we have is respect for President Muhammadu Buhari. That is what is keeping us together.
“What we have is our respect for the person of President Buhari and we still believe that something can be done.
“That trust and respect is what we still call APC. Outside that respect for President Buhari and the trust and belief that he could wake up one day and correct all these injustices and make it fine; that’s the only thing that is keeping the APC.
“If not that, I don’t think there is anything like APC, because people are beginning to get fed up. Again, PDP is not even better, the party has its own challenges.
“In 2023, I think people are going to vote according to their conscience. People are beginning to realise that a political platform is not the best to give you what you need.
“People are beginning to be more politically aware that individuals are more important than the name political party.”
