The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, to channels his grievances through the appropriate means provided by its constitution.
The party gave the advice on Friday in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, in reaction to the outcomes of the party’s congresses in Imo.
The congresses had resulted in the emergence of two factions – one led by Mr Hillary Eke and supported by the APC leadership, as well as the other led by Mr Chris Oguoma which has Governor Okorocha’s backing.
Reacting to the swearing in of Eke as the substantive Imo APC chairman by the National Chairman, John Oyegun, Oguoma described the development as laughable and condemnable.
He claimed that there was a court injunction by a Federal High Court in Owerri restraining the APC national leadership from recognising Eke as the legitimate chairman of the party.
But Eke told Channels Television during his appearance on Sunrise Daily that Imo party was not aware of any court order.
He, however, insisted that any court order emanating from the other faction was fake and illegitimate, stating he remains the authentic chairman of the party in the state.
The national leadership of the APC also faulted the allegations of disobeying court orders regarding its congresses in Imo and inauguration of the state’s party executives.
They noted that the allegations were false, maintaining that there was no time they received any court injunctions regarding the congresses.
The APC stressed further that the guiding rules and the constitution of the party were strictly followed in conducting the congresses across the country and considering their outcomes.
They, however, said, “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), Senator Lawali Shuaibu, to head our reconciliation efforts following issues that arose from the recently conducted ward, local government and state congresses,” the party added.
