The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha has labelled Senator Lee Meaba, Chief Abiye Sekibo and other former directors of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Council from Rivers State as “sore losers”.
He spoke in apparent reaction to a press conference by Meaba and others earlier in the week, during which they threw their support behind Governor Siminalayi Fubara and President Bola Tinubu.
Okocha, who aimed a dig at the politicians in a statement made available to Core News on Friday, said they were unrepentant Atiku/PDP supporters in Rivers State.
“Our initial thought was to ignore the cul de sac machinated by the defeated and conquered politicians, who led the failed onslaught to lie, barefaced, to Nigerians on the Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s self-inflicted political fisticuffs in Rivers State.
“But we feared that allowing their lies to go unchallenged and fester, will distort the true records. Hence, we elected to immediately put out a quick response as counter examples to the blatant lies they peddled and canvassed.
“The second reason we would have opted for the choice of consigning the complete puerile text to the trashcan and don’t bother with it, is that the presenters lucidly introduced themselves as unrepentant leaders of Atiku’s 2023 Presidential Campaign in Rivers State and so, forayed a bit, into their intra-party squabbles,” Okocha said.
He stated further that “these persons can never forgive President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and APC over the sin of their electoral defeat.
“Of course, it follows, therefore, that anyone whose action or inaction, contributed to their dangerous fall, is inadvertently their sworn enemy.
“No wonder, they are surreptitiously targeting to cut out a pound of flesh from the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, His Excellency, Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike.
“This wicked subterfuge cannot work under our watch. Nigerians know the circumstances and situations and scenarios that played out uniquely in 5 PDP controlled States in the build up to the 2023 Presidential election.
“The protesters raised the issue of the political crisis in Rivers State and made attempts to link the Honourable Minister of the FCT to the fray. What a puny logic they espoused.
“It is so shameful that those champions of the slogan ‘SERVING SON AFTER FATHER’, when Sir Siminalayi Fubara emerged in the PDP Governorship Primary, are now the “errand boys’ of the son they despised.
“Political crisis in Rivers State is self-inflicted, I reiterate. Both the Governor of Rivers State and the 32 Assembly members were of the same party and family, with His Excellency Wike, as father.
“Why is it the case that the 27 Assembly members opted for the opposition party, APC, in Rivers State? Does anyone think strongly that as full-blown adults, anyone else can lead them by the nose?
Or does anyone think that anyone can sit pretty on their noses?
“What of the remaining 3 members still in PDP and with Gov Fubara?
Are they also robots? The crisis is about crass inactivity and cluelessness and rudderless of the Governor and the penchant of the legislators to whip him to line latching on the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances.”
While absolving Wike of any blame in the political crisis and detection of the lawmakers, Okocha said “despite our entreaties to the Honourable Minister of the FCT, to join us in APC with his winning magic wand, he still believes in PDP.
“If the Minister is PDP and the Governor, PDP, is it not apt to say that the bedeviling problems in Rivers State are intra-party?
“If the protesters feel concerned, shouldn’t it be honourable for them to look inwards to seek solutions to the problems than constituting themselves as snitches and fifth columnists and crisis merchants and so to justify their lucre, cast aspersions on the Abuja transformer and reformer, Wike?
“Why do they want to further insult Mr. President and APC by telling him that he as leader of APC, appointed a kleptocrat into his cabinet as Minister?
“When have they repented and withdrawn their suits in court, challenging the Powers of Mr. President to mediate in the political crisis in Rivers State?
“If they have respect for Mr. President as they mouth, why would they publicly condemn and refer to as illegal, a proper Assembly made up of 27 members out of now 30 (note that the Rivers State Assembly seats are 32, One member died and one claims to have resigned).”
He concluded that “if the mid~night pseudo lovers of Mr. President as shown in the text under critique, now are convinced that Mr. President is abundantly fit and proper to preside over Nigeria and that his ten months in office has provided Renewed Hope for an eldorado for Nigerians and want to recant their hitherto unsavoury and unprintable toxics against Mr. President, they should follow the proper channels allowed for porting or decamping to a new party.
“This approach of browbeating and blackmailing they intend to use, is not fashionable at all.
“Finally, they should know that a tripe document as that signed by two persons without office and/or any authority whatsoever cannot qualify as position of Rivers State people. We vehemently reject it.”
Comment here