2019: I’ll Run For Senate After My Tenure, Says Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State may have drawn the battle line with Senator Hope Uzodinma over his disclosure that he may gun for the latter’s seat when his tenure as governor comes to an end in 2019. Both Uzodinma and Okorocha hail from the same senatorial district – Imo West (Orlu zone). The governor’s sudden interest in going to the Senate will pitch him against Uzodinma, who is a two-term senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Recall that Mr. Okorocha had a few months ago declared that he would not be seeking the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2019 should President Muhammadu Buhari indicate interest in running for a second term in office. Speaking during a chat with journalists yesterday at Government House, Owerri, Okorocha said many people have started calling on him to go for the Senate after serving as two-term governor so as to remain politically relevant in the state. He said:- “I do not think of running for senatorial seat after office, I rather want to take four years off. But, I will reconsider calls by people to go for the Senate immediately after office”.