Obiano will not return as governor, says Okorie

National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP) Chief Chekwas Okorie yesterday asked Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano to forget his second term ambition, saying that he (Obiano) “is an inheritor of evil machination” that befell the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that eventually threw him up as governor.

Okorie said that though Obiano was not there when the manipulations that removed him (Okorie) from office as national chairman of APGA were hatched; he was however a beneficiary of the plot. Okorie spoke in Enugu when a faction of APGA led by its former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Chris Uche declared for UPP. But when contacted, Anambra state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Tony Nnachetam, said the government would not join issues with Okorie.

He recalled that since the unfortunate incident, some of its key actors including former governor, Peter Obi and Alhaji Sadiq Masalla had personally come and apologized to him, stressing that Chief Victor Umeh, who led the action has refused to show remorse for his actions. He said that APGA ceased to exist the day he returned its certificate of registration to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was subsequently handed over to Umeh.

Okorie said that UPP remained the only progressive party in Nigeria presently that would bring about true and fiscal federalism, state and community policing.

Welcoming the APGA members into UPP, Okorie said it was something historic as Nigerians had waited to see a marriage of his party and APGA to restore unity and give the country a truly progressive party. Speaking, Chief Uche explained that they decided to join the UPP following the track records of Chief Okorie as a decent, hardworking and patriotic Nigerian, stressing that with the development, whatever was left in APGA was tattered. He pledged to contribute their quota in ensuring that UPP wins election in 2019 beginning with Anambra elections next year.