The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha against further spurious allegations against the party and its national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
Okorocha, who is the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, had accused Oyegun of disobeying a court order on the state APC Congress and swearing in of new state executives in Imo.
He vowed to send the party’s national chairman to “jail” over the alleged disobedience to court order.
But in a statement through the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said it did not receive any court judgment regarding the congresses and therefore could not have disobeyed one.
The statement read, “In reacting to recent allegations by the Imo State governor that Oyegun ‘disobeyed’ court orders regarding congresses in Imo State and inauguration of the state’s party executives, the APC wishes to state that these allegations are spurious as the party did not at any time receive any court injunctions regarding the congresses in Imo.
“Therefore, we urge the Imo State governor to desist from making these kinds of allegations that have no basis in facts. In conducting the congresses across the country, in considering the outcomes of each one of them and in swearing in the respective state chairmen, the National Working Committee (NWC) had strictly followed the guiding rules and the constitution of the party.”
However, the party urged Okorocha to explore other means of settling disputes within the party if he has any grievances.
“There is always room for redress where justified, hence, we encourage the Imo State governor to explore internal dispute resolution mechanisms spelt out by our constitution to address his perceived grievances.
“While we urge compromise among party stakeholders, the party has already mandated the Deputy National Chairman (North), Sen. Lawali Shuaibu to head our reconciliation efforts following issues that arose from recently conducted ward, local government and state congresses.”