The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee in Rivers, Chief Tony Okocha, has blamed the protracted political crisis in the state on struggle for political structures by some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) big wigs.
Okocha, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, also attributed the crisis to the unhealthy relationship between the Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and members of the state House of Assembly.
While describing the seemingly unending crisis in the state as centrifugal, the APC chairman said the internal wrangling came to a head under Fubara.
According to him, while Nyesom Wike, the state’s immediate past governor, was in the saddle, the state used to be known as construction sites.
He said that Wike, now the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, was working day and night, building bridges and developing other infrastructure across the state, thereby receiving accolades from the state and beyond.
“Unfortunately for Wike, he introduced into the political scene somebody he felt was a confidant who is today the state governor.
“He (Fubara) was never in politics. He was a civil servant all his life and Wike catapulted him from deputy director to director of finance and administration, and directed that he be posted to the Government House.
“He was later made the Chief of Staff and was promoted a few months later to permanent secretary, Government House, in charge of finance, and was later made the Accountant-General.
“Fubara was never in politics; he was just a routine civil servant, but for whatever reason, Wike felt he should hand over to a confidant as it is the practice by Nigerian politicians,” he said.
Okocha further stated that Wike was able to sell Fubara to Rivers people and spoke for him all through the political campaigns, apparently because he (Fubara) didn’t know what to say before before the people of the state.
He said that Fubara had never been a councillor or local government chairman, adding that his first stint in politics was the highest office in the state (governor) because Wike was there for him.
The APC chairman added that ahead of his election, Fubura feigned loyalty and humility, submitting himself to Wike, which turned out to be a decoy to get what he wanted from him.
According to Okocha, three months after assuming office as governor, Fubara was convinced by some politicians opposed to Wike to build his own political structures because of their own selfish reasons.
This, he said, brought the state to its current political crisis as Fubara, in his bid to build his own political structure, was destroying Wike’s already established structure.
He explained that while Wike could be linked to the political crisis in Rivers, the issue, in the real sense, was the state governor versus the state lawmakers and the struggle for political structure, which, he said, was needed by every politician to succeed.
“What sustains every politician in the field is a strong political structure and Wike could not sit and watch his political structure, which produced Fubara and some members of the state assembly, destroyed.
“Fubara constituted a clog in the wheel of Wike’s political structure and was dismantling it, which Wike couldn’t take.
“The reason we are having Rivers in the news for bad reasons is because the state governor is fighting himself,” he said.
Speaking on the Federal High Court’s dismissal of a suit seeking to replace the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers, Okocha said “Fubara is the chief law officer of the state and also the chief law breaker.
“He chooses which court order to obey and the one not to obey. And when you continue to do that, it is an invitation to anarchy.
“He is the one that brought ant-infected firewood to his own house and now, lizards are feasting on it,” he said.
Okocha stated that Fubura remained Wike’s political investment in Rivers, adding, therefore, that the former governor would not allow him to destroy the political structures he had built over the years. (NAN)
We’ll continue to criticise Fubara’s govt., says Rivers APC Chairman
The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee in Rivers, Chief Tony Okocha, has said that the party will continue to constructively criticise the Gov. Siminalayi Fubara-led government in the interest of the people of the state.
Okocha, who stated this on Sunday in Abuja at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) news forum, said it was the responsibility of APC in Rivers to put Fubara’s administration in constant check.
“Our position as a vibrant opposition in Rivers is, first and foremost, to speak for the voiceless in the society via constructive criticisms and point out grey areas to the state government.
“By so doing, we are demarketing Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We are not expected to be applauding the PDP government in Rivers. Doing that means we won’t be able to win future elections in the state.
“Our business is to constructively criticise the government and that is what is giving us an edge; otherwise, we inherited an APC that was not a party but a social club,” Okocha said.
He said that this was so because Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past Minister of Works, who was then the APC leader in Rivers, customised and colonised the party.
He said that APC’s desire was to see the ruling party and other opposition parties weakened so it could have a smooth sail in the 2027 general elections.
“We can’t allow them to be strong; we will not close our eyes and watch them become united so that they will come again with their forces, like the Labour Party did with Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election,” he said.
Speaking on the Federal High Court’s dismissal of a suit seeking to replace the pro-Wike 27 lawmakers, Okocha said they were not members of APC as was being insinuated.
He stated that there was no proof of the lawmakers’ registration as APC members, even at the ward level.
“They didn’t join us. I wooed them and did much more to get them to join us; I even begged them but they refused to join us.
“I am saying this as chairman of Rivers APC caretaker committee, clearly and without mincing words, that the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers are not our members.
“Let anyone saying they joined us show proof; the law is not about emotion but facts,” he said.
Okocha challenged those saying the lawmakers defected to APC to show proof of their registration as members and their membership cards to buttress their claims.
NAN reports that the pro-Wike lawmakers were reported to have defected from PDP to APC on Dec. 12, 2023.
The court held that the suit, instituted by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and marked FHC/ABJ/CR/978/2024, was statute-barred, as it was not filed within the 14 days allowed by law.
While the reported defection was said to have taken place on Dec. 12, 2023, APP filed its originating summons on July 12, 2024.
The party was requesting, among other things, that the court should empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seats of the lawmakers vacant and conduct by-elections to replace them. (NAN)