Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has dismissed threats by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tom oust him in next year’s elections just as its Ekiti State counterpart recently did to Governor Kayode Fayemi.

Replying through his senior media aide Sam Onwuemeodo, the Imo strongman declared that PDP is not a party to be reckoned with as the state counts down to 2015. Hear Onwuemeodo in a statement in Owerri, a copy of which was made available to News Express:

“Since the loss of the governorship election in Ekiti state by the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Kayode Fayemi, to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ayo Fayose, the leaders of the PDP in Imo State have continued to use that incident to disturb the peace of Imo people and by extension the peace of Nigerians.

“The leaders of the party in the state have continued to threaten that Governor Rochas Okorocha would suffer the same fate with Mr. Fayemi without embarking on critical analysis of the situations in the two states, and as they also affect the two personalities involved, Mr. Fayemi and Owelle Okorocha.

“The latest of such threat was credited to a PDP chieftain from the state, who was also a commissioner in the immediate past PDP government in the state, Nze Elvis Agukwe, who told the media in an interview in Abuja that ‘Okorocha will receive Fayemi treatment’ in 2015. And he did not tell his audience why he thought that would be the case in 2015.

“The truth of the matter is that, the PDP in the state is not even considered to be in contention for the governorship contest in 2015 by the Imo electorate. All the noise about the Imo PDP would always be traced to three or four leaders of the party, and some of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the party.

“You ask yourself what the PDP in Imo State will tell the Imo electorate when the campaign begins. Will the Imo electorate reward the Imo PDP for its abysmal outing for the 12 years it ruled the state, with their votes in 2015. The answer is no. Will Imo people prefer a party that failed them in the state to a party vis-à-vis a man that has rapidly transformed the state in 3 years?

“Newspaper interviews do not vote in an election. But the people do. And by 2015, Imo people will exercise their franchise and elect a governor that will continue to serve them well.

“The truth of the matter is that Imo people will never allow a political party that let them down or that had eaten their cake to come and have it again. There is no basis of the Imo PDP being in contention for the governorship of the state in 2015.

“They know the truth and that is why they would continue to drop the name of Mr. President in whatever they do or say, and also engage in campaign of calumny in the state. And what the Okorocha led government in the state has done with all the achievements was to open the eyes of Imo people to see that the PDP had cheated or shortchanged them for the 12 years it governed the state.

“Again, the Ekiti state PDP fielded their former governor, let the Imo PDP do the same and see whether alarm will not blow.”

•Photo shows Governor Okorocha.

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