Okorocha Has Opted To Contest For President In 2015, Says Imo Deputy Governor

Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Eze Madumere, has said his boss, the Governor of the state, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has presidential ambition in 2015.

Madumere said there was no reason for him or his boss to deny the presidential ambition, adding that the public was aware of it.

The deputy governor, who spoke with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday, said his boss was also capable of delivering the South-East to the All Progressives Congress in 2015.

He said, “On the question about 2015, I can tell you it is no secret; everyone knows that Owelle Rochas Okorocha ran one of the best races towards Aso Villa in 2002/2003 and 2007.

“That, as I speak to you, has not left his mind. His excellency will like to take another shot. Of course, as a Nigerian, he has every right to run for any office.

“Whether he operates from All Progressive Grand Alliance or APC, it does not matter. He can only follow the trail.

“What constitutes the electoral college of this nation is the North-West and South-West.

“But if you look at the electoral college in the North, they brought the ANPP and the CPC. Whether you like it or not, the CPC will stay. When you go to the West, they brought everything they have, whether you call it AD or APC.

“When you go to the South-East, the PDP has made the area politically useless. All the promises the President made prior to his election, not one of them has been kept. Now, who are we looking up to keep all these promises? That man is Rochas Okorocha.”

To show his preparedness for the Presidency, Madumere said his boss would take the people of his region out of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015 and deliver the region to the APC.

He said, “If you want find out if the people in the South-East are willing to  unseat the PDP government, I will say ‘yes’, and the only man who can bring about that movement is Owelle Rochas Okorocha.  That is why everyone in the system is worried.”

On the controversy trailing the recently held chairmanship election of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he said the controversy was unnecessary, adding  however that there was a wrong impression in some quarters that anyone who controls it would have some influence in 2015


THE PUNCH