The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, on Sunday vowed that the party will continue to criticise Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Okocha made this known in Abuja while speaking at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum.
He said, “It is the responsibility of the APC as an opposition party in Rivers to checkmate the activities of the state government.
“Our position as a viral opposition in Rivers is first to speak for the voiceless in the society via constructive criticism and point out grey areas to the state government.
“By so doing, we are demarketing Gov. Semilaiye Fubara and his party: the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it is our dream to collapse opposition in the state so we can have a smooth seal in the 2027 election.
“We are not supposed to be applauding the PDP in Rivers, if this be the case, we won’t be able to win elections in the state.
“Our business is to constructively criticise the government and that is what is giving us prominence, otherwise we inherited an APC that was not a party, but a social club.”
He explained that this was so because Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past Minister of Works who was the party’s leader in Rivers, customised and colonised it.
He said the APC’s desire was to see opposition parties weakened so it could have a smooth seal in the 2027 presidential election.
Okocha said, “We can’t allow them to be strong, we will not close our eyes and watch them become united and come again with their force like the Labour Party did with Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.”
Speaking on the Federal High Court dismissal of a suit seeking to replace the pro-Wike 27 lawmakers, Okocha said they were not members of the APC as was being alleged.
He stressed 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 begged them, but they didn’t join us.
“I am saying this as chairman APC Rivers caretaker committee, clearly and without missing words, they didn’t join us.
“Let anyone saying they joined us show proof, the law is not about emotion but concrete facts,” Okocha said.
He challenged those saying the lawmakers defected to the APC to show proof of their registration as members and their membership cards to buttress their claims in court.
The pro-Wike lawmakers were said to have defected from the PDP to the 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.
The alleged defection was said to have taken place on Dec. 12. 2023, while the APP filed an originating summons on July 12, 2024.
The party was requesting, among other things, that the court empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the seats of the lawmakers vacant and conduct by-elections to replace them.