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Spokesman of the All Progressives Congress,APC, South-East geopolitical zone, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has dismissed the statement by Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha that Ndigbo were responsible for their exclusion in appointments made by President Muhamadu Buhari. Okechukwu was reacting to an interview granted by Okorocha yesterday.

 In the interview, Okorocha said he shared the sentiments of the Igbo that none of them made the list of appointees. The Imo Governor however added that “some of the appointments we lost was of the doings of our people,” just as he recalled that when he crying like a lonely voice in the wilderness that look at where Nigeria was going, Ndigbo chose to put all their eggs in one basket.

But, in a statement on Sunday, Okechukwu said Okorocha should take responsibility for Igbo exclusion in the appointments, rather than passing the buck to Ndigbo. In a statement was titled, ‘Governor Rochas Okorocha neither truly campaigned for President Buhari nor APC’ Okechukwu stated: “I am sorry to comment on the blame game being played by, Owelle Rochas Okorocha; for his interview can be classified as Okorocha Rescue Mission from the less than five percent score in the 2015 presidential election from the entire South East.

“All one can say is that to the best of my knowledge, he neither truly campaigned for President Muhammadu Buhari nor the All Progressives Congress. My thinking is that while we blame Ndigbo for putting all our eggs in one basket, we should blame our leaders who genuinely didn’t campaign for President Buhari nor APC candidates in their domain.

“I challenge Governor Okorocha to tell the world how far he assisted Senator Osita Izunaso for his bid for Orlu senatorial district, his own constituency and that of Hons Uche Onyeguocha and Uwajimogu of Owerri and Okigwe districts respectively” Okechukwu stated.

While noting that a little assistance from Governor Okorocha could have earned APC two senatorial seats, and other legislative seats, Okechukwu made it clear that there was no point for him to blame Ndigbo without blaming himself first. “This is a man some of us advised not to run against the zoning convention, that it will deny Ndigbo the chance of producing either the chairman or the vice presidential slot and he refused. He thought we are in Nollywood” the APC zonal spokesman said.

According to Okechukwu, the Imo Governor should forthwith desist from the blame game and accept responsibility for the fate of Ndigbo in Buhari’s appointments. He maintained that Okorocha lied when he claimed that he was crying like a lonely voice in the wilderness for Ndigbo to vote for Buhari. He insisted that if Okorocha really cried like a lonely voice in the wilderness, President Buhari would have gotten at least 30 percent of the votes cast in Imo State and not 18 percent.

“If Okorocha worked for APC in the South-East, how come we did not even win a single senatorial seat in Imo and the entire zone? He should stop this blame game and accept responsibility for the fate that has befallen Ndigbo” Okechukwu said.