Caution Okorocha against returning to PDPCONFERENCE of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has described the victory of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) gubernatorial Candidate and Imo State Governor-elect, Rochas Okorocha, as a triumph for democracy and justice.In a statement yesterday, National Publicity Secretary, CNPP, Osita Okechukwu said the body joins millions of Nigerian patriots and friends of Nigeria in congratulating Okorocha, the peoples governor elect, whom he said stood against alleged impunity and double standard of highly placed officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and their collaborators, to win the Imo State governorship election.But the CNPP cautioned Okorocha against returning to his initial party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), urging him to learn from former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who stuck with his Action Congress of Nigeria even as its only governor and built it into a formidable party in the country.Also, APGA has commended the people of Imo State for voting Okorocha, saying the victory in Imo State was a mass revolt against a perceived maladministration of PDP government in the state.In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Benard Akoma, APGA observed that though the partys gubernatorial candidate, Okorocha, joined the race less than two months to the governorship election, the support given to the party was tsunamic in proportion.We need to underscore the fact that support for Okorocha was borne out of a leadership challenge not only for Imo people but also for the entire Igbo race. There is a groundswell of opinion that the Imo governor-elect matches that individual the Igbos are yearning for to take the zone to the Promised Land. But most importantly, Okorochas victory was pay back time for Imo people who felt superior forces stole earlier mandate they gave to APGA in 2007, the statement added.Okechukwu wrote: We are appalled with the show of shame exhibited by INEC, as evidenced by late arrival of electoral materials, in a supplementary election holding in only four Local Government Areas; regardless of huge resources deployed for the exercise. In fact APGA snatched victory from the jaws of ignoble lions.However, the CNPP salutes the gallant Imo State indigenes, the great Oguta Women and some uncountable soldiers of democracy, who demolished the obstacles mounted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the INEC unholy alliance; your challenge and resolve undoubtedly had sowed the seed of genuine democracy in the heartland of South East and indeed Nigeria. History will surely engrave your names in the hall of fame of democracy.We commiserate with those who lost their lives and call on their families to bear the irreparable loss; taking solace on the truism that their battle was not in vain. We had maintained that Nigerian democracy cannot grow if we fail to make sacrifices and continue under food is ready one party state; which is the metaphor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last 12years.The CNPP added: APGAs victory has in no small measure exposed the jumbo-allocation and charade of the presidential election, where President Goodluck Jonathan polled 1.38 million votes in Imo State; while the totality of the valid votes cast for 19 the gubernatorial candidates in Imo State in the April 26 and Supplementary governorship election is hovering around 750,955.We are therefore at a loss why Governor Ikedi Ohakim who boasted of delivering 1.38 million votes to President Goodluck Jonathan was unable to deliver similar votes to himself. Indeed, Imo State gubernatorial election has exposed the unholy alliance between Professor Attahiru Jega led INEC and the PDP; by exposing the hi-tech electoral malpractices which the executioners in Imo State recklessly mishandled, in spite of the life boat supplementary election offered.
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