The Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has said he would not support any candidate brandishing a “stolen ticket” in the 2019 general election.
Okorocha, the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, made this known in a Wednesday statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo.
The governor also denied insinuations that he had abandoned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he remained a staunch member of the party who is committed to the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, Okorocha shaded the APC gubernatorial candidate in Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, describing him as not “marketable”.
“lmo people do not support stolen tickets and that is why all those who stole the governorship tickets of their parties for the 2019 elections cannot fly.
“They have become stranded and looking for who to blame for their woes or misfortune. They know this fact. Imo people do not support anything stolen. That was the reason they dealt with 419ers in 1997.
“It was out of frustration that those concerned came up with the story of Governor Okorocha leaving APC for AA, which is not true,” the statement read in part.
Okorocha has constantly maintained that he would back his Chief of Staff and son-in-law, Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) for the governorship.
Before defecting to AA, Nwosu contested for the APC guber ticket but lost it to Uzodinma in a process that has been heavily criticised by Okorocha.
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The governor said that those brandishing stolen tickets blackmailed in Abuja to get the ticket, but noted that blackmail does not win elections.
He said only political popularity and goodwill could help a politician win an election.
Okorocha said, “With the ill-gotten ticket, they have also seen that the sound of bitter kola in the mouth does not reflect its real taste.
“They used blackmail and what they know how to do best to get the ticket of the party and their challenge now is how to convince Imo people to vote for them.
“In their blackmail in Abuja, they told their audience that they would win Imo without Rochas Okorocha. Then, if that is true, why are they still bothered about Rochas and his politics?
“Rochas Okorocha defeated an incumbent governor of PDP extraction in 2011 with APGA ticket and with the APC ticket defeated a sitting Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of PDP extraction too, who had the backing of the Federal Government, in 2015.
“They told lies to those who do not know them and got the ticket but Imo people know them and won’t entertain lies from them.”
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Okorocha noted that no one has challenged his claim that he has out-performed his predecessors in Imo.
“The only blackmail tool they have is the son-in-law issue. And nobody has gone to court to say that a man from Nkwerre Local Government Area cannot be governor because his in-law from Ideato South Local Government Area is a governor.
“Rochas Okorocha does not play hide-and-seek.
“He has assured all that President Muhammadu Buhari would win overwhelmingly in the state and all the APC marketable candidates, because you cannot force Imo people to vote for someone they know cannot govern them,” he said.
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