The recent endorsement of Chief Uche Nwosu, Chief of Staff to the Imo State Governor, by his father-in-law, Governor Rochas Okorocha, is presently brewing crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Barely 48 hours after the endorsement, various youth groups on Tuesday distanced themselves from the act.
Some of the groups – Imo Youth Council, the Agenda Vanguard (AV), Imo Youth Enlightenment Organisation (IYEO), Rochas Youth Alliance (RYA), APC Youth Vanguard (APCYV), Youth Equity Group (YEG), APC Youth League (APCYL) and Imo Youths Agenda (IYA) – on Tuesday angrily stormed out of a meeting organised by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth Affairs, Kenneth Emelu, at the Imo Youth Centre to lobby for their support for the governor’s anointed successor.
Addressing a press conference shortly thereafter at the Imo Concord Hotel, the State Commander, AV, Comrade Ibeawuchi Nwannaeri, who spoke on behalf of the groups, said that APC would only support a candidate who emerges through a credible party primary, irrespective of the zone .
Although Nwannaeri described Nwosu as a good candidate for the position he maintained that the party’s interest should be paramount.
“We don’t want to make mistakes; youths of Imo do not support endorsement of an individual. Nwosu is a youth and a good man, but the interest of the party should be paramount. No matter what, be it Madumere, Nwosu, Ololo or Ejiogu, what we are saying is that they should emerge through the party primary,” Nwannaeri said.
Similarly, a stakeholder of the party and a former Commissioner for Information, Chief Vitalis Ajumbe, while reacting to the endorsement by Governor Okorocha said that there is nothing wrong for the governor to endorse any candidate, but noted that he has no right to determine who becomes his successor in 2019.
He added that the right to choose who becomes the next governor of the state should be determined by the electorate. “Governor Okorocha has the right to support any candidate, but has no right to determine who becomes the governor; it is left for the electorates to decide.
“If he thinks endorsing his son in-law would make him the governor, he is deceiving himself. It only shows that Okorocha wants to come back for a third term through the back door,” Ajumbe said.