The Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Saturday called on the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, to tender his resignation letter for suspending the governors of Imo and Ogun states.
Yesterday, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State was suspended alongside the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, over anti-party activities, though both governors recently clinched a senatorial seat under the party in the February 23 National Assembly elections.
At a press conference in Owerri, the APC chairman in the state, Daniel Nwafor, said that the suspension of Governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun was null and void.
Nwafor said that since Oshiomhole emerged the national chairman of the ruling party, he had been disregarding the constitution of the ruling party.
Saying that the state chapter of the APC would not honour the “purported suspension” of Okorocha from APC, Nwafor said that the former governor of Edo state had outlived his usefulness in APC.
Describing Oshiomhole as a man who had no respect for the rule of law, Nwafor said that the APC national chairman was known for not obeying court orders and judgments.
According to Nwafor, the suspension of Okorocha did not follow due process.
He said that according to the APC constitution, the suspension of any member starts from the ward level and not from the National working committee. Nwafor said:
“I am here with the APC chairman from Ogboko ward where the governor hails from. There was no letter from the NWC to him to query the governor for any offence. The truth is that Oshiomhole is a man who has no respect for rule of law. He has a penchant for disobeying valid court judgments and orders.
“He claimed to have acted on the recommendation of the party structure but we summoned the ward executive at Ogboko (Okorocha’s ward) and the LGA chairmen; we could not find where the recommendation was from.
“He should be ashamed he could not deliver Mr President, instead he embarked on another illegal shopping spree.
“We demand his immediate resignation from APC. Adams Oshiomhole has outlived his usefulness in APC. As a party, we will not honour that purported suspension. It is null and void and of no effect. Governor Rochas Okorocha remains the leader of APC in Imo state.”
The state chairman said that APC in the state had no governorship candidate, even as he maintained that the APC governorship candidate in the state, Senator Hope Uzodinma, was not known by the party.
He said that available records by the party showed that Uzodinma was not a registered member of APC in his ward in Oru East Local Government Area of the state.