Confirming
the defection to ObinitonReport his personal assistant, Hon. Toghoni Okowa, failed
to give any reason for the decision. He, however, denied insinuations
that Dr. Ogiri moved to the APC to save his head from allegedly pending
cases against him at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
over some financial infractions during his time at the NDDC. He also
denied having any hand in the cult-related violence that has continue to
rock his home LGA, Abua/Odual.
In
his words: “it is not true that my boss has any pending case with EFCC.
The last and only time they invited him, he went and answered them.
Remember that he is not the only one at NDDC. So there is nothing like
that. It is also not true that
he is behind cult violence in Abua/Odual. He has never bought rifle for
anybody before. He has never encouraged anybody to join cult or to kill
anybody. All those ones are just rumours”.
Reacting
to the news of Ogiri's defection, assistant publicity secretary of the
PDP, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, dismissed it as inconsequential, saying that
the former NDDC EDFA was not a force to reckon with in the politics of
the state. He denied claims that Ogiri worked for the re-election of
former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Nyesom Wike.
Nwanosike,
who is also chairman, caretaker committee of Ikwerre Local Government
Area, said the PDP would not miss him. He accused Ogiri of biting the
fingers that fed him, noting that he betrayed the PDP and Governor Wike
after benefitting from them.
On
his part, former member representing Abua/Odual constituency in the
State House of Assembly, Mr. Augustine Ngo, expressed delight over
Ogiri's defection, saying it was long overdue for him to return to the
family of progressives. He accused the PDP of treating Ogiri with
disdain after he was removed from his position as EDFA at NDDC after he
had worked to deliver the party at the recent polls.
He
stated that his defection has disorganized the PDP in the area. While
welcoming Ogiri and his supporters to the APC he called on other
politicians in the area to emulate his example by joining the bandwagon
of progressives across the state. He maintained that the party was
poised to take over the political space in the state.
Checks
by ObinitonReport, however, reveal that the decision of the former NDDC official
was APC's move towards securing the votes across the Orashi region for
the APC. Coming just days to the national and state assembly elections
in the state, political pundits say this maybe sequel to other aces up
the sleeve of the APC and its leader in the state, Rotimi Amaechi to win
the reruns. They opine that there may still be several others either
preparing to move over and help the party clear the remaining seats or
stay back in the PDP and undermine Wike and PDP's efforts at winning the
reruns.
They
hinge this line of argument on the fact that Dr. Henry Ogiri, being the
leader of the PDP in Abua/Odual LGA, his defection already causing
ripples in the party in the state, Amaechi may have distorted several
calculations for the PDP. They point to the confusion in the PDP in
Abua/Odual LGA and the edge the APC automatically has in the area by his
defection.
It is envisaged that this will not only
lead to political realignments but merging of forces between Ogiri's
political camp and that of a former chairman of the LGA, Mr. UdiOdum,
both of whom worked with Amaechi during his time as governor before the
cracks caused by the political tussle between him and former President
Goodluck Jonathan. It is believed that Ogiri it was who delivered
Abua/Odual for the PDP.
Political
opponents of the erstwhile leader of the PDP in Abua/Odual LGA see his
defection as of no political value. They accuse him of having ulterior
motives for the move.
They believe he is running from the anti-graft
agencies unleashed on the chieftains of the PDP having bankrolled the
party's campaign and election while at the NDDC.
A
chieftain of the PDP in the Orashi area, who prefers anonymity, says
supporters of the party see nothing serious about his decamping to the
APC. They believe he has never really been with the party. He maintained
that his move to the APC is to get a soft-landing from the President
Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government that is prosecuting the
anti-corruption crusade.
According
to him Ogiri's move is the outcome of clandestine moves by chieftains
of the APC to get him at all cost to shore up the party's hold on the
Orashi region given that its strongmen in the area couldn't deliver
during the recent rerun polls in the area.
He alleged that subtle
threats and blackmail did the job. He maintained that with Ogiri in APC
now, the stage is set for the displacement of the PDP in the area.
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