The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in South-east zone yesterday joined forces with its All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart to the effect that Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State should take responsibility for the fate of Ndigbo especially as it affects their inability to secure any appointment so far in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party in a statement by its South-east Publicity Secretary, Regis Uwakwe, said the ruling party, APC was right in the blame it apportioned to Okorocha.

The party was reacting to the altercation between the southeast  spokesman of All Progressives Congress ( APC),  Osita Okechukwwu and the Chief Press Secretary of Imo State Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo  following the interview of  Governor Rochas Okorocha in which he blamed Igbo for their present travails.

Okorocha had in the interview said Ndigbo should blame themselves for loosing out on the key appointments made by President Buhari.

The PDP said it would not agree less with Okechukwu when he said that “Okorocha should take responsibility for Igbo exclusion in the appointments  rather than passing the buck to Ndigbo.”

It endorsed the statement by  the APC through its spokesman that Okorocha was  the problem of Ndigbo in APC.

According to PDP: “It is on record that Okorocha while campaigning for his party APC after he had dumped the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the platform that made him governor, promised  Ndigbo that  he would take them to the ‘mainstream’ and ‘centre of power’ immediately  APC wins the presidential elections. Unfortunately he has failed today to take them not even to the  periphery of the ‘mainstream’ nor near the ‘centre of power’ judging by President Muhammadu Buhari’s total exclusion of Ndigbo from his kitchen cabinet.

Instead of apologising to Ndigbo, Governor Okorocha is now telling ‘Ndigbo to blame themselves’ what an irony!Ndigbo Beware! We know subsequentely that southeast states are entitled to a ministerial nomination each, constitutionally. We also know that it is not a favour. It has been severally said by close associates, that the president appointed into his kitchen cabinet only those that he could trust.

Then it follows that amongst all the leaders of APC in the entire southeast including HE Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Chris Ngige and Osita Izunaso, Chief George Muoghalu, Chief Festus Odimegwu, Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba etc could not qualify to be trusted?”
In the same interview among other exaggerations, Okorocha was quoted as saying that APC would take over the southeast by 2019 and that he would have  given Ndigbo the Senate President had they elected an APC senator.

Furthermore the PDP South-east zone said it would want to ask Okorocha what he did with the two house of  representative seats his party captured in the South-east since he couldn’t win a senatorial seat.

“The  principal position of Deputy Whip was zoned to the South-east by the new leadership of House of Representatives.  What happened? Before Nigerians,  his party’s national leader lobbied the powers that be   in his party to garner the position of majority leader inclusive of the Deputy speakership, as his zone already had  thereby denying the South-east the deputy whip! It should be noted that this is the first time since the return of democracy that a principal officer of the House of  Representatives has not come from the South-east zone.

“Finally, we could not but be sympathetic to the  South-east  zone publicity secretary of APC, Mr. Osita  Okechukwu, as Okorocha has taken over his job and playing comic politics with it. If  Okorocha is not telling Ndigbos to be “patient” today, he is  blaming them to be responsible for their predicament the next day.

The entire Ndigbo of the South-east and South-south know the party that has protected their interest, appointed their sons and daughters into very prominent positions, and also given them opportunities in the mainstream of power politics in Nigeria. That party is the PDP. It is known that the Southeast is a PDP zone and very tiny interlopers and Nollywood politicians would know their end, come 2019.”(Thisday)