|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
– Says Wike is boasting again with Supreme Court
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State says some new members were mere fifth columnists that came from their rivals, aiming to create factions. The party leaders have also reaffirmed their loyalty to the one they call their leader, the former governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is now the minister of transportation.
This is as the party has raised alarm, saying the state governor and arch-rival, Nyesom Wike, has started boasting with the Supreme Court again ahead of another sensitive case heading to the apex court, the leadership dispute case in the former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level.
The forum of political office holders (former or present) of the APC in Rivers State which met at the Novotel Hotel on Stadium Road in Port Harcourt said they have isolated some spies that allegedly came from the rival party.
The resolution, which was presented by the deputy national secretary of the APC, Orji Ngofa, said the suspected spies were abusing the time-tested nature of political parties not to stop any person from joining.
The report said: “Very recently, we have seen individuals from the opposition decamp and join our party (APC), but a few have turned out to be moles in search of pecuniary benefits.”
Saying some of the moles have returned to their former party, Ngofa said the forum was sad that in doing so such fellows tried to impress their new masters through planted articles in newspapers and other malfeasance. “We know that these persons have notched up notoriety in lies and propaganda and pride themselves so much in doing so. This time particularly, their exit propaganda was to plant a highly noxious, obnoxious and vexatious story in a national newspaper portraying the APC in Rivers State as having broken into factions.”
The party said it has isolated the particular individual behind the said ‘heinous contraption’. Trying to give hints on the person, Ngofa said: “He also knows that all his life he has thrived on lies, brainless propaganda and worthless betrayal of friends and associates including those he has now run back to. We can only wish him and his co-travellers journey mercies to their original company”.
The APC also took exception to a statement by the Rivers Elders Consultative Council led by Granville Abiye Georgewill, saying the elder disparaged their leader and mentor, Amaechi, for allegedly facilitating a stakeholder’ meeting during the visit of Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to Rivers State recently.
The forum made it clear that Amaechi merely helped those ignored in hosting the august visitor to also make known their own grievances to help the FG find lasting resolutions to the crisis and violence in the oil region. “It was the second meeting facilitated by the APC that provided a platform for the people of Etche, Oceania Communities, Ogoni, Okrika, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Civil Society organizations, amongst others, to make their presentations to the Acting President”.
The forum reaffirmed loyalty to Amaechi and mentioned the ex governor’s present tasks: “We are proud that our leader is driving the complete modernisation and repositioning of the nation’s transportation system especially the long-neglected railways and airports. We salute our leader’s vision, tenacity and drive to secure the support of Mr. President and the National Assembly in the building of Calabar – Port Harcourt – Lagos Coastal Rail Line and the commencement of work at the long-abandoned Port Harcourt International Airport. We believe these projects will bring about the life-changing impact on the people of Rivers State, the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria at large”.
Denying the existence of anything like a faction in the state, the forum said; “We wish to warn that any person in the family that may lend himself to the machinations of the enemy will be doing a great disservice to the party. We urge the party to watch out for such a person and take appropriate disciplinary actions in established cases. We re-iterate that the loyalty of each and every member of the APC in Rivers State is to the party under the able leadership of Amaechi”.
Fresh boasts?
The APC had once accused the state governor of boasting of connections with the Supreme Court, an accusation that brought huge rancor. Now, the party says Wike has boasted again.
The party boss in the state, Davis Ikanya, said in a statement that the party observed another bout of boasting with the apex court. “The APC has observed with shock as the Rivers State governor repeatedly boasted on national television on Sunday(February 19, 2017) that his faction of the PDP would surely get positive judgment at the Supreme Court exactly the same way he got Supreme Court to declare him as duly elected governor of Rivers State even after the apex court had earlier declared Rivers State as a theatre of war.”
The APC boss said that Wike, while reacting to the report of his PDP faction losing at the Appeal Court, Port Harcourt Division last Friday, stated that he would get favourable judgment at the Supreme Court, citing how he lost his governorship election matter at both the tribunal and Appeal Court only to win at the Supreme Court.
APC said: “The certainty and finality in his tone and language confirm our position that he bought the governorship judgment and this time around he is ready to buy a favorable judgment for his faction of the PDP at the Supreme Court.”
The APC went ahead: “Indeed, what has become clear is that our consistent position that he paid for the Supreme Court ruling that declared him governor is an incontrovertible truth given facts that emerged after the ruling and his utterances during his victory church service and his most recent boasts on national television.
“The APC is however pleased that the Federal Government is doing the needful by cleansing the judiciary of the rot that allowed people to bribe judges and weaken an all-important state institution such as the judiciary. We believe that the Rivers governor targets three major institutions of state which he weakens with bribe money in order to obtain and retain political power. Those institutions are the judiciary, electoral umpire (INEC) and security agencies. For now, whereas he is unable to effectively pocket security agencies as in the past, his hold on the electoral umpire (INEC) and the judiciary are still conspicuous as can be gleaned from the Inspector-General of Police Panel Report and the widely circulated audio clip in addition to his verbal incontinence about the Supreme Court.
“The APC wishes to thank Governor Nyesom Wike for helping to personally unravel what happened and still happening at the Supreme Court as this is of interest to Rivers people, Nigerians, and our collective history”.
