Oshiomhole Apologises To Imo Catholic Community Over Okorocha

[Edoman]

Oshiomhole apologises to Imo Catholic community over Okorocha

by Tony Akowe
November 3, 2018




National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has apologised to the Christian community, especially the Catholic Church in Imo State, for the “sins” of the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

Oshiomhole was however quick to add that the party should not be dragged into the problem of the governor with the Church in the state as it is the governor’s personal problem.

Oshiomhole, who spoke in Abuja, also said that the party will leverage on the past position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on his former deputy to defeat the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 elections

Oshiomhole also apologised to Archbishop Anthony Obinna of the Owerri Arch diocese and the entire Christian community in Imo State over what he described as the lack of respect exhibited to the church by Okorocha.

Oshiomhole stressed that “Governor Rochas Okorocha’s personal battle with the Christian community in Imo State is a matter between him and the Catholic Church. We in APC, we are not party to that. We do not want our party to be dragged into such contestation because it will not be helpful to us. Our road to power is election by the people, we cannot antagonise the people.

“Even the ordinary man in Imo is entitled to respect not to talk of the leaders of the Christian community. And so, we distance ourself from all of those things that Rochas has done which some times has been a source of huge embarrassment to our party which sometimes we have been able to manage in-house. So, I sincerely apologise to Bishop Obinna and Christians in Imo State.”

He said the party will utilise the allegations which bothers on the integrity of the former Vice President, made against him by his former boss, Obasanjo, in nailing Alhaji Atiku at the polls, adding that the former Vice President will be defeated by the APC.

He said “now that we know that our main opponent is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, we will defeat him again the way we have defeated him before. And I am confident that President Muhammadu Buhari will return because he has a quality which none of them can boast of, which is integrity, integrity, integrity.

“To make statement about the others, we will just generate what former President Obasanjo has to say about Atiku and what Atiku has to say about Obasanjo.

“By the time we read it, you make up your mind if Nigeria is looking for a leader who they can trust, whether it is one with unquestionable integrity, or is the one that there are debates as to whether or not how much we can trust. I am confident that God will give us victory at the end of the day”.

While assuring Nigerians that the APC was at peace with itself, Oshiomhole said that “peace does not mean absence of some murmuring or grumbling. We are not looking for grave yard peace, we want functioning peace. People can have some arguments, some reservations but with time, it will heal.

“So, I want to assure all those who are genuinely aggrieved, I have a duty along with my colleagues in the NWC to work to heal wounds, for reconciliations.

“So, we are setting up various panels, groups of eminent leaders drawn from APC, statesmen and women within our party who we believe can help us to talk to all those who are aggrieved, so that we sort out all the grievances and approach the next coming election as a functioning party and by the special grace of God, we will win”.
http://thenationonlineng.net/oshiomhole-...-okorocha/

[Edoman]

"Blackmail" - Okorocha Replies Oshiomhole Over Battle With Catholic Church




@POLITICSNGR

Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha has replied the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshimhole over recent comments about his (Okorocha) feud with the Catholic Church in Imo state.

In a statement signed by his mediaa aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, made available to PoliticsNGR, Okorocha maintains that he has no problems with the Catholic Church in Imo state. The statement read;

"In responding to that deliberate blackmail, we won’t toe the path of Comrade Oshiomhole. We recognize the fact that he is the National Chairman of a ruling Party which President Muhammadu Buhari is the leader, and we would not, therefore, throw caution to the wind like he did, when he was abusing or attacking governors in his party as if he is the Publicity Secretary of any of the Political Parties in opposition. If he had asked question, he would have discovered that members of the Catholic Church in the State Constitute the bulk of Governor Okorocha’s supporters, especially at the grassroots.

They voted for him overwhelmingly in 2011 and 2015 respectively. And he has never taken their support for granted. He has shown gratitude in several ways which cannot be catalogued in this response, including making them majority in his cabinet. And for Archbishop Obinna, the governor holds him in a very high esteem and has no personal problem with that outstanding man of God.

But the truth is that the Archbishop perhaps expects the perfect Leadership expected in heaven to be established in Imo which is not possible. And that could be the reason he had had issues with Col Tanko Zubairu, Achike Udenwa and indeed Ikedi Ohakim. The Archbishop is the spiritual father of the governor. And the governor has never let him down. And Comrade Oshiomhole should find out from President Buhari whether Governor Okorocha took him to the Archbishop in 2015 when he came on Campaign for a private meeting that lasted more than an hour. To us, that was a high demonstration of respect and regard. But guess what?

Two days after, the newspaper owned by the Archbishop came up with a banner headline “Alhaji in Government House” and part of the story was that the governor was taking young Igbos to the North to be Islamized. All these were part of the Campaigns to discourage Imo people from voting for him, APC and President Buhari.

These are the issues. So, Comrade Oshiomhole’s apology was a badly tailored blackmail. And somewhat inciting. He is only trying to justify the blunder he contracted and dispatched Ahmed Gulak to commit in Owerri. And the man has put himself on trial. And that is the reason since that woeful and awful outing he has made more than nine claims to see how he could recover, but all to no avail.

He murdered sleep and would remain awake. We want to remind Comrade Oshiomhole that he is the National Chairman of a ruling party. His actions and utterances should reflect the dignity such office carries. For instance, when Governor Okorocha spoke to the media after meeting with Mr. President, one could see maturity in his speech. He didn’t start calling Oshiomhole names because calling names is meant for touts. As a matter of fact, the National Chairman didn’t treat the concerned governors well no matter his reasons. He should not expect them to go home celebrating. In the circumstance, his utterances and actions should be responsive and reconciliatory, to a very large extent. And not declaration of war."

https://politicsngr.com/blackmail-okoroc...ic-church/