•Sets up 29-member caretaker committee
The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has expressed a resolve to do everything, including going to court, to retrieve the mandate of the Imo people from the state governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha.
The party’s National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, who spoke at the inauguration of a 29-member caretaker executive committee for Imo State in Abuja, said the first move to retrieve the mandate will commence at the court very soon, where APGA hopes to sack Governor Okorocha from office.
Reacting to a statement credited to Governor Okorocha in which he declared APGA dead in the state, Umeh said it is the APC that will be shown the way out of Imo at the next election.
He said as part of the move to reclaim the state for the party, the leadership of APGA is planning a massive rally tagged ‘Operation Earthquake’ in the state to show them that the state is still solidly behind APGA.
In addition, the APGA leader said the party will file a law suit against Governor Okorocha over his declaration for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in order to get him surrender the party’s mandate.
“We are going to file an action against the governor of Imo State. He cannot take the APGA mandate to APC. The law is clear about this. The Supreme Court had in a judgment between Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Celestine Omehia, ruled that it is the party and not the individual that presents candidates for election.
“We are going to pursue the case to a logical conclusion to serve as deterrent against any such sale-out by elected officials.”
Umeh warned that in the case of the members of the state and National Assembly members elected on the party’s platform, any of them found to be fraternising with the APC will be made to lose their seats.
“This party is very saddened by the development in Imo State, in 2011 the party worked hard to secure victory in the state, but regrettably we got trapped in something we cannot explain, how that happened we don’t understand.
“What we laboured to achieve has been taken and given to another party without their working for it. It is a travesty of justice for someone who has never won elections except with APGA’s support to try to destroy the party through which he rose to power,” he said.
The APGA national chairman further lamented that one of the greatest disservice to the people of the state, was the recent signing of the abortion law by the state governor in utter disregard to the sensibilities of the people of the state.
“With every sense of responsibility, we hereby tender our apology to the people of the state for the governor’s action, because it was taken when he said he was still in APGA. We also tender an apology to the Christian community and all pro-human life groups.”
Source: National Mirror
