Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State has been accused of funding a grand plot to whittle down the influence of his Imo State counterpart, Gov. Rochas Okorocha with a view to scuttling his presidential ambition in 2015.
An ally of Gov. Okorocha, Chief Ceejay Ezebuiro made the allegation on Thursday in an interview in Owerri.
Ezebuiro, president of Friends of Rochas Organization (FORO) stated that the uninformed would think that the crisis rocking All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is aimed at ousting the National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh without knowing that it is targeted at Okorocha.
He stated that the long-term objective of Obi and his cohorts is to destabilize Okorocha who is now synonymous with the APGA and ensure that he (Okorocha) does not get to fly the party’s flag in 2015.
Ezebuiro regretted that Gov. Obi is spearheading the fight against the Imo State governor who is of same party with him because of 2015. According to him, what Obi and his cohorts should know is that it is for them to determine who becomes what in the next three years. He however maintained that what is important now is not 2015 but to develop Imo State.
Ezebuiro was piqued that Obi and others who are fighting Okorocha are doing so behind the scene. He challenged them to openly do the battle if they are not cowards. He also alleged that some people throwing darts at the governor are members of his cabinet and urged such people to resign if they do not believe in the programmes of the governor.
Said he: ‘On the issue of crisis rocking APGA, this is where I get personal. It is not about Victor Umeh, it is about Rochas. I mean let’s tell ourselves the truth. We know those who are behind it. And it is time to call them to order. It is not about Umeh, yes, their target now is Umeh. But they are getting at Rochas because of 2015. But they are all cowards. They are trying to stop the good things he is doing in Imo State. They are trying to stop his ambition of becoming the best president this country will ever have. They are trying to kill the vision that he has. His Excellency knows better than they do, he knows that this is not a fight about APGA or Umeh. It is high time we told the Anambra politicians and businessman behind all these things as well as some Imo people, using the name of Mr President to destabilize APGA so that they could deny Rochas ticket in 2015. We are not talking about ticket for 2015. It is the people that give ticket. If Okorocha had run the governorship even as an independent candidate, definitely he would have won. Let’s get to 2015 first, definitely we will cross it but right now, the need is to develop Imo. If Gov. Peter Obi should sit down and allow the situation that he is creating, fighting his fellow incumbent governor from same party indirectly makes him a coward. We know the people behind it even the ones from Imo State. Unfortunately, some of them are serving the present administration’. Ezebuiro maintained that the most credible Igbo man to deliver Nigeria from her myriads of woe is Gov. Okorocha. The FORO boss assured all the roads under construction in the state would be completed this dry season.
