Published January 19, 2021
John Alechenu and Friday Olokor
The Senator representing Imo West and former governor of Imo State , Chief Rochas Okorocha , on Monday took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, saying the party was hurriedly formed to hijack power from the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015 .
Okorocha , in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said he and other progressive -minded politicians were perfecting a plan to form a new political movement .
But the PDP appealed to the former governor to return to the opposition party instead of making the mistake he made in 2014 .
According to Okorocha , from the body language of the Nigerians , it is obvious that they are not satisfied with what is on ground in Nigeria .
The Senator who is a founding member of the APC , last week inaugurated a project of the Rivers State Government on the invitation of the state Governor , Nyesom Wike.
At the event, he called on the good people in the APC and the PDP to come together and rescue Nigeria in 2023 .
On Monday he said there was urgent need for the regrouping of the ‘good politicians ’ to restore public confidence in governance and save the country .
“ The movement for a new Nigeria has begun and we must come together , I mean progressive Nigerians to make the country work ” , Okorocha said.
Asked if the promise of the new political movement for a new Nigeria would not be similar to that of the APC in 2015 , he stated that the APC was hurriedly formed to take power the PDP without much emphasis on the character of those championing the course.
The ex -governor said, “ The APC was a hurried arrangement. It was hurriedly formed to take power when the then government was drifting . The APC would have been better until people who were not members of the party ; people who came for congratulatory messages , hijacked the party and became lords . ”
In its reaction , the PDP it was not in the least worried by the plan by Okorocha and a few of his friends to form a new political party.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan , in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents , in Abuja , on Monda , explained that the PDP was glad that more Nigerians especially people like the former Imo State governor had seen the deceit the APC represented.
Ologbondiyan said, “ Our advice to people like Okorocha is for him to avoid making the same mistake twice , any party hurriedly put together like the APC because elections are bound to fall into the same errors .
“ He should rather come over to the PDP , a very structured party with a pedigree of performance . We ’ ve made a few mistakes in the past and we ’ve learnt from them . Nigerians now know the difference between a properly structured political party which has their interest at heart and an association of angry men who only came together to grab power for power sake . ”
When contacted , the National Secretary of the Caretaker/ Extra -Ordinary Convention Planning Committee of the APC , Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe , declined comments on Okorocha’ s pronouncement on plans to float a new party.
He said, “ The Senator is a respected member of our great party, I have no comments .”
However, a high- ranking member of the party who is conversant with the thinking within the party leadership said the party did not entertain any fears .
The source said , “ Politics is a game of numbers just as it is a game of interests. So, if people want to come together and go through the process of birthing a new platform can anyone seriously stop them .”
