TheNewsGuru

Tag: Okorocha

  • INEC omits Okorocha’s name from list of senators-elect

    INEC omits Okorocha’s name from list of senators-elect

    The name of Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, was missing as the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) released list of newly elected senators on its website on Monday.

    INEC published the list of elected federal lawmakers ahead of the presentation of the Certificates of Return on Thursday.

    In the slot for the three Imo Senatorial districts, only Senator-elect Onyewuchi Ezenwa Francis (Imo East), who won on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, was listed.

    For Imo West Senatorial district, whose seat Governor Okorocha contested, it was blank except for an INEC remark, which read, “Declaration made under duress.”

    Imo North’s slot was also empty except for a “Supplementary” remark.

    Okorocha had contested the seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. He was declared winner by the Returning Officer for the Senatorial District, Innocent Ibeawuchi.

    However, Ibeawuchi later said that he was made to announce Okorocha as winner under duress.

  • APC, Amosun, Okorocha and party discipline, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    APC, Amosun, Okorocha and party discipline, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    The bedrock of any organization is the observance of, and adherence and obedience to its rules and regulations, the absence of which breeds indiscipline and impunity, such as in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election season.
    Article 2 of the APC constitution states that, “the provisions of this Constitution shall be supreme” subject, of course, to their being consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
    And Article 9 mandates members to observe the rules and regulations embedded in the party’s constitution, affirm its aims and objectives and “conduct themselves in a manner that shall not bring the party to public odium and disrepute.”
    But what has played out in the APC? Naked abuse of procedures and involvement in anti-party activities. The powerful and mighty have made mincemeat of the supremacy of the party constitution, which provisions guide the conduct of members.
    Such are the antics of the Governors of Ogun, Imo and Ondo states, Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha and Rotimi Akeredolu – all reportedly engineered the formation of parallel political parties under which they sponsored candidates, and campaigned for them in the February 23 and March 9 polls.
    Ironically, the governors remain in the APC, and Amosun and Okorocha have secured senatorial tickets at the February 23 election, while their “choice” candidates were or are being elected on the platforms of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Action Alliance (AA).
    Perhaps, for making a huge show of their infractions, and taunting the APC to do its worst against them, the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-headed National Working Committee (NWC) lately suspended Amosun and Okorocha from the party.
    Also suspended are the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, while Governor Akeredolu is queried for similar anti-party activities.
    Rather than show contrition, and explore avenues to mollify the NWC, and indeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whom they had repeatedly embarrassed by their unbecoming conducts, Okorocha has accused Mr. Oshiomhole as the “biggest player of anti-party activities.”
    Besides arguing that Oshiomhole ought to suffer a harsher penalty than the ones served those suspended and/or queried, Okorocha claimed that the NWC has no powers to sanction him without the initiation and recommendation of the executive committee at his ward level of the party.
    State governors, being the oil that lubricates the engines of their respective political parties, see themselves as not beholden to any authority. And this is the big problem for the APC going forward after the 2019 election: How to break the overbearing powers and influence of its governors and similar party bigwigs!
    However, by suspending/querying Amosun, Okorocha, Usani, Okechukwu and Akeredolu (the list should have included many other members across the country), the NWC has taken the first step to calling the recalcitrant members to order.
    Major offences members may commit, as listed in Article 21 of the APC constitution, include: A breach of any provision of the constitution; anti-party activities or any conduct likely to embarrass or have adverse effect on the party or bring the party into hatred, contempt, ridicule or disrepute; and disobedience or negligence in carrying out lawful directives of the party.
    Others are: Unauthorized publicity of a party dispute without exhausting all avenues for settlement or redress within the party; factionalisation or creating parallel party organs at any level; flouting the rules, regulations and decisions of the party; and filing legal action against the party or any of its officers on any matters relating to the discharge of the duties of the party, without exhausting all avenues for redress in the constitution.
    The rest are: Alteration of the Delegate lists, falsification of nomination results, and/or tampering with the processes of internal democracy of the party; and any other conduct or act prohibited by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act, Electoral Guidelines or which, by the rules and regulations of the party, constitutes an offence.
    Is there any of these infractions that Governors Okorocha, Amosun and Akeredolu, and Messrs Usani and Okechukwu didn’t commit directly or encourage others to commit against the APC?
    The party, considering “the nature and gravity of an offence,” has power to mete out any sanctions that include: Reprimand; censure; fine; debarment from holding party office; removal from party office; suspension from the party; expulsion from the party; debarment from contesting party office; and, in appropriate circumstances, cause the prosecution of a member or erstwhile member of the party concerned.
    The sticking point, though, is whether the NWC followed the procedures to arrive at its decision to suspend and/or query the offenders, as raised by Governor Okorocha?
    Under Article 21 of its constitution, the APC adjudicatory bodies over complaints and allegations are located in the executive committees at the polling unit, ward, local government area, state, zonal and national levels of the party.
    Accordingly, the procedure for the hearing and determination of complaints or allegations is: A complaint by any member of the party against a public office holder, elected or appointed, or another member or against a party organ or officer of the party “shall be submitted to the executive committee of the party at all levels concerned,” which shall within seven days appoint a fact-finding or disciplinary committee to examine the matter.
    And the National Executive Committee shall, on receipt of the report of the fact-finding committee, make a decision on the matter within fourteen (14) days.
    If it didn’t, the APC should comply with these procedures, as some or all of the said offending members deserved their punishments, and even “automatic expulsion” for filing court actions against the party. Discipline must be entrenched, and maintained henceforth, and uncontrollable members should exit or be thrown out!
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • BREAKING: EFCC accuses Okorocha of diverting N1bn for vote buying, arrests Imo AG

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the Accountant-General of Imo State, Uzoho Casmir, for allegedly helping Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to launder N1.05bn for the governorship and assembly elections billed for Saturday.

    Okorocha, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress, is supporting his son-in-law, Nwosu of the Action Alliance against the governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Hope Uzodinma.

    The allegations were contained in an EFCC report which was obtained by Punch: , “The EFCC, Enugu Zonal Office, Thursday, March 8, 2019 arrested the Acting Accountant General of Imo State, Mr. Uzoho Casmir, on suspicion of laundering the sum of N1.050bn through a new generation bank for the governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha.

    “Uzoho’s arrest followed intelligence report that the governor intended to use the money for vote buying in favour of a particular candidate in tomorrow’s gubernatorial election. Intelligence further revealed that Mr Casmir withdrew the amount in three tranches between Tuesday and Thursday this week in the following order; N200m on Tuesday, N500m on Wednesday and N350m on Thursday.

    “Meanwhile, the EFCC has blocked the traced accounts, while the arrested Accountant General has been providing useful information to the commission. Mr Casmir was before his appointment, a Director of Finance in Okorocha’s government and was in 2016 fingered in N2bn bailout fund scam, which was then given to the state by the Federal Government for the payment of salary arrears of civil servants.”

     

  • APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the suspension of governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibekunle Amosun of Imo and Ogun respectively, will not affect the party’s victory in the March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly election.

    Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary, gave the assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the development on Friday in Abuja.

    NAN recalls that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at its Friday meeting, suspended Okorocha and Amosun, alongside the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu and the Minister of Niger Delta Usani Usani.

    “As to the effect it will have in the coming Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, the real negative effect will come when we allow our members who are in position of influence to undermine our candidates.

    “We need to get it clear to every member who supports such actions that the party is watching them, and similar fate may befall them,” Issa-Onilu said.

    He added that the suspension of the governors would not have come to the public as a surprise following their anti party activities over a period of time.

    He recalled that the two governors had been sponsoring candidates against those recognised by the party.

    This, he said, had been ongoing and so the party had to follow the right procedures; taking steps to first get them to see reason why they needed to retract their steps.

    NAN recalls that in Ogun, Amosun is said to be backing AbdulKadir Akinlade, the governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against APC’s Prince Dapo Abiodun.

    In Imo, Okorocha is supporting his son-in-law Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance, against Senator Hope Uzodinma, the APC candidate.

    “They occupy the position they are in today, courtesy of the ticket given to them by this party, to now use that opportunity to work against the interest of the party, you do not expect the party to look the other way.

    “More so when you realise that APC is a party of discipline that has come to establish the fact that to deepen democracy, you must subject everybody to the rule of law, and that there must be equality for all before the law,” he said.

    Issa-Onilu stressed that as far as the APC was concerned, no matter what position an individual held, the party would not give him any leverage when he flaunted the rules or the Constitution of the party.

    He added that the party’s leadership had at a point, issued queries to the two governors and cautioned them against their anti party activities.

    He recalled that when the APC presidential campaign train was led by President Muhammadu Buhari to Ogun, they were thoroughly embarrassed by a different party.

    Issa-Onilu said this was done with the support of the governor, who he said, brought in certain elements who were not APC members to the campaign venue to create problems.

    “This actually embarrassed our President, but we thought at that period, we were facing the Presidential and National Assembly Election and that it was not the appropriate time for us to do anything that might be destructive to our course, so we waited,” he said.

    He added that though there was a window for the governors to show remorse and act appropriately to convince the party’s leadership that they would play by the rules, they never did.

    He said rather Okorocha and Amosun came out openly to endorse their choice candidates against the party’s candidates.

    “Which ever way you look at it, that is anti-party activity, it is beyond the limit, and tolerating such, will mean that our change mantra is just a mantra without meaning,” the APC spokesman said.

    He further explained that the VON DG was suspended also, because of his anti party activities in the recent past, which he said had been documented.

    The APC spokesman said that Okechukwu had also engaged in actions that undermined the party’s performance in Enugu, his home state.

    He also explained that the Minister of Niger Delta was also found to have committed the same offence as the others.

    He maintained that it would be injurious for the party to allow such actions to continue, adding that the suspension still stood.

    He, however, said that the duration of their suspension would be determined by the time the report of the investigative committee on the matter was submitted to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

    “I have forwarded the report to NEC, recommending their expulsion, the limit of the powers of the party’s NWC is to suspend; it does not have the power to expel.

    “It is only NEC that can take that action, so we have exercised what the Constitution of the party allows us to do, the report of our investigation will be put in place and passed on to NEC for further action,” he said.

    He added that the APC NWC had also decided to issue a query to Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for anti party activities, adding that the party already had video evidence against him.

    NAN reports that Akeredolu had earlier been accused by the Ondo Mandate Group, an APC support group, of working against the party and the presidency.

    On the Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, Issa-Onilu said the party had noted his comments, but had not seen him working against the party.

    He said the minister had his grievance and had the right to express same within the law, but added that the APC, for now, did not have any evidence that Shittu was involved in any anti-party activity.

     

  • Guber poll: Suspension of Amosun, Okorocha’ll not affect our victory – APC

    Guber poll: Suspension of Amosun, Okorocha’ll not affect our victory – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the suspension of governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibekunle Amosun of Imo and Ogun respectively, will not affect the party’s victory in the March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly election.

    Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary, gave the assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the development on Friday in Abuja.

    NAN recalls that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at its Friday meeting, suspended Okorocha and Amosun, alongside the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu and the Minister of Niger Delta Usani Usani.

    “As to the effect it will have in the coming Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, the real negative effect will come when we allow our members who are in position of influence to undermine our candidates.

    “We need to get it clear to every member who supports such actions that the party is watching them, and similar fate may befall them,” Issa-Onilu said.

    He added that the suspension of the governors would not have come to the public as a surprise following their anti party activities over a period of time.

    He recalled that the two governors had been sponsoring candidates against those recognised by the party.

    This, he said, had been ongoing and so the party had to follow the right procedures; taking steps to first get them to see reason why they needed to retract their steps.

    NAN recalls that in Ogun, Amosun is said to be backing AbdulKadir Akinlade, the governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against APC’s Prince Dapo Abiodun.

    In Imo, Okorocha is supporting his son-in-law Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance, against Senator Hope Uzodinma, the APC candidate.

    “They occupy the position they are in today, courtesy of the ticket given to them by this party, to now use that opportunity to work against the interest of the party, you do not expect the party to look the other way.

    “More so when you realise that APC is a party of discipline that has come to establish the fact that to deepen democracy, you must subject everybody to the rule of law, and that there must be equality for all before the law,” he said.

    Issa-Onilu stressed that as far as the APC was concerned, no matter what position an individual held, the party would not give him any leverage when he flaunted the rules or the Constitution of the party.

    He added that the party’s leadership had at a point, issued queries to the two governors and cautioned them against their anti party activities.

    He recalled that when the APC presidential campaign train was led by President Muhammadu Buhari to Ogun, they were thoroughly embarrassed by a different party.

    Issa-Onilu said this was done with the support of the governor, who he said, brought in certain elements who were not APC members to the campaign venue to create problems.

    “This actually embarrassed our President, but we thought at that period, we were facing the Presidential and National Assembly Election and that it was not the appropriate time for us to do anything that might be destructive to our course, so we waited,” he said.

    He added that though there was a window for the governors to show remorse and act appropriately to convince the party’s leadership that they would play by the rules, they never did.

    He said rather Okorocha and Amosun came out openly to endorse their choice candidates against the party’s candidates.

    “Which ever way you look at it, that is anti-party activity, it is beyond the limit, and tolerating such, will mean that our change mantra is just a mantra without meaning,” the APC spokesman said.

    He further explained that the VON DG was suspended also, because of his anti party activities in the recent past, which he said had been documented.

    The APC spokesman said that Okechukwu had also engaged in actions that undermined the party’s performance in Enugu, his home state.

    He also explained that the Minister of Niger Delta was also found to have committed the same offence as the others.

    He maintained that it would be injurious for the party to allow such actions to continue, adding that the suspension still stood.

    He, however, said that the duration of their suspension would be determined by the time the report of the investigative committee on the matter was submitted to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

    “I have forwarded the report to NEC, recommending their expulsion, the limit of the powers of the party’s NWC is to suspend; it does not have the power to expel.

    “It is only NEC that can take that action, so we have exercised what the Constitution of the party allows us to do, the report of our investigation will be put in place and passed on to NEC for further action,” he said.

    He added that the APC NWC had also decided to issue a query to Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for anti party activities, adding that the party already had video evidence against him.

    NAN reports that Akeredolu had earlier been accused by the Ondo Mandate Group, an APC support group, of working against the party and the presidency.

    On the Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, Issa-Onilu said the party had noted his comments, but had not seen him working against the party.

    He said the minister had his grievance and had the right to express same within the law, but added that the APC, for now, did not have any evidence that Shittu was involved in any anti-party activity.

  • Court dismisses Okorocha’s N2bn suit against EFCC, ex-IG Idris

    Court dismisses Okorocha’s N2bn suit against EFCC, ex-IG Idris

    The Federal High Court sitting in Jos, on Thursday threw out a N1.25bn damages suit filed by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, against the (now ex-) Inspector-General of Police, Kpotun Idris, and the EFCC.

    Okorocha filed the suit against the IGP and EFCC in November 2018 for allegedly invading and ransacking his house in Jos.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Musa Kurya dismissed Okorocha’s application for lacking in merit.

    “Even though there was no record of how the search warrant was obtained, a search warrant dated May 3, 2017 from a Magistrate has been attached as exhibit before this court.

    “Whether due process was followed or not at obtaining the search warrant, there is no proof otherwise to its genuineness and the breach of sections 34 – 37 of the UN human rights and African Charter.

    “Consequently, judgement is hereby entered in favour of the respondents. The applicant’s claims are hereby refused.

    “I hereby declare that the application of the applicant lacked merit and is hereby dismissed and cost is not awarded to either parties in this suit,’’ the judge declared.

    NAN reports that Okorocha alleged that the IGP and the anti-graft agency breached his fundamental human rights following the May 3, 2017 invasion

    Also joined in the suit are the Commissioner of Police Plateau, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

    Okorocha’s counsel prayed the court to declare the action of the Police and EFCC as “illegal, null and void’’ and award his client the sum of N1.25bn as general damages because there was no valid court warrant for such an exercise.

    But the IGP and the EFCC, through their counsel, Edwin Inegbenoise and Muktar Ali-Ahmed, pleaded with the court to dismiss the governor’s application for lack of merit since a court warrant was obtained for the search on his residence in accordance with the law.

  • How I was ‘forced’ to declare Okorocha winner of Imo West Senatorial District – INEC Returning Officer

    The returning officer for Imo West Senatorial District, I.I. Ibeabuchi has said that he was “forced” to declare Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha winner of the Imo West Senatorial election.

    Ibeabuchi said he stopped the collation after announcing nine out of the 12 local governments in the district, saying he had been directed to “return to Owerri, the state capital.”

    According to Premium Times, the electoral official claimed he was held up at the collation centre by supporters of Okorocha who insisted he must complete the announcement.

    Okorocha, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had won eight out of the nine already collated local governments.

    On Monday morning, however, the returning officer finally yielded and announced the three remaining results.

    The governor won two but lost one of the last three areas.

    By this result, the governor won 10 of the total 12 LGAs, making him the ‘winner’ of the elections.

    Journalists and observers were initially chased out of the centre, according to the report.

     

  • Voting: Okorocha expresses satisfaction

    Voting: Okorocha expresses satisfaction

    Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has expressed his satisfaction with the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections across the state, in spite of late arrival of electoral officials at some polling stations.

    Okorocha was addressing newsmen after casting his vote at Ogboko Community in the Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo on Saturday.

    He noted that incidents of ballot box snatching had greatly reduced, commending the Federal Government for its efforts in ensuring the eradication of the problem.

    The governor pointed out that the postponement of the election did not cause voter-apathy as many had feared.

    He lauded voters for their calmness and for shunning electoral violence, adding that this would ensure the perfection of the democratic process in Nigeria.

  • Okorocha accuses APC publicity secretary of imposing PDP member as governorship candidate

    …warns him to stay away from Imo

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has told National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lanre Issa-Onilu, to let the Imo State chapter be.

    According to the governor, Issa-Onilu and his cohorts have done enough harm by imposing an intruder and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governorship candidate.

    Okorocha, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said: “It has become necessary to appeal to the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu, and those behind him, to please leave the Imo State chapter of the party alone after inflicting deep cut on the party by imposing a known PDP member as the governorship candidate.

    “Twenty-four hours to the presidential rally in Owerri, Mr. Issa-Onilu had no other contribution to make than to raise false alarms, and making disturbing claims that APC has removed Governor Rochas Okorocha as the campaign coordinator. He added that APC has alerted the police and DSS of plots by Okorocha and Uche Nwosu to disrupt the rally.

    “It is unfortunate that in their effort to justify whatever they had eaten over the governorship ticket, they have decided to be callous about the whole thing. Otherwise, they would have known that the rally is Okorocha’s event.

    “In any case, Governor Okorocha has never been the party’s state campaign coordinator. He is rather President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign coordinator as he was among those inaugurated by the President, and Issa-Onilu and his group cannot remove who they never appointed. So, his claim was borne out of ignorance.

    “To say the least, Imo is calm. Governor Okorocha is duly in-charge. The presidential rally will hold, and peacefully too. They had raised that false alarm to discourage the president from attending the rally like they did during the presidential rally for youths and women.

    “The point is that truth lives while lies do not live. These Abuja-based politicians have fed them with lies and they took or bought the lies wholesale. Otherwise, how would someone think that a man who went to the Senate through the court would now know Imo Politics more than a man who has won two governorship elections, and on the platforms of parties that were not in power at the centre?”

     

  • 2019 Presidential election: Okorocha reacts to Ohaneze’s endorsement of Atiku

    …says group not a political party

    Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has described the endorsement of the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar by the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo as null and void and of no effect.

    The Imo governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, insisted that “Ohaneze is a Socio-Cultural Organization and not a registered political party and there is no voting unit or polling booth called Ohaneze. So, its adoption of the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP should be seen as a folklore and should not give anybody concern”.

    Okorocha also pointed out that the action of the Igbo group, has no electoral value, “the adoption is neither here nor there, since it has no electoral value. This is also not the first time Ohaneze has adopted a PDP Presidential Candidate. It did that in 2015, yet, PDP failed with its Presidential candidate, while APC won with its Presidential candidate.

    “And one would have expected Ohaneze to exercise caution this time following what happened in 2015. Indeed, the Organization should have done things differently especially when it remembers that all Igbos whether in PDP, APC, APGA, ADC or SDP are presumed to be members of Ohaneze”.

    He noted further that, “not minding the adoption, President Muhammadu Buhari will win in the South-East and the general election proper. So, Igbos in APC should remain focused and not to make the adoption an issue, when it is not an issue in all ramifications”.