BY BETHEL OBINNA, ABUJA
Chairman of the Rivers State Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress, Tony Okocha, has declared the immediate past governor of the state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike as a political juggernaut whose influence won the presidential election for APC in the state.
Okocha, who disclosed that the APC are wooing and begging Wike to come over to the party and help them take over the state, also said the former governor’s political influence is not limited to the state as he has his tentacles spread across the country.
He openly declared that the APC are wooing Wike to join the party and help them takeover the state totally because he is a force in Nigeria’s political environment.
“I have wooed him personally, we have told him publicly to come over to Macedonia and help us. He is a political juggernaut not just in Rivers but in Nigeria at large. He is a force and that is why we won the presidential election after losing the three senatorial seats and all the State House of Assembly members”.
Okocha who dared Wike’s successor and incumbent Governor Sim Fubara over the demolition of the state house of assembly complex in the guise of effecting total reconstruction as a result of the fire that gutted it, said the plan is to prevent the 27 members who are in majority from sitting.
The APC Chieftain cautioned that there is nothing the governor can do about the crises that has ridden his administration and Rivers state which has led to the defection of 27 lawmakers from the PDP to APC thereby making the APC a majority in the house.
Okocha argued that the governor has succeeded in messing up the developmental programmes laid down by his predecessor to make the state an enviable state in the country which is one of the reasons the lawmakers defected.
“You cannot place something on nothing and you expect it to stand. An illegality is an illegaty. Let me also let you know that what makes an assembly is not the structure, but the human beings in that assembly. So, an assembly can be moved to anywhere provided the Mace which is the symbol of authority is there. As at yesterday, about 27 members sat and took the far-reaching decision on state matters. You will see all of them signed underneath those decisions.
“But, I tell you a thing, I read a philosopher called Frank Fano, he said the gift you give to an intransigent government is civil disobedience. He also said that it is unthinkable love disobedience before the law. So, there is a case of anarchy. And it is within the ambit of the PDP.
“It is not like we have a breakdown of law and order. But, this is an internal wrangling in PDP. That they are moving and being allowed to be taken to the centre stage. I had warned the governor or rather advised him. I told him you are opening your flanks to the fifth columnist. And they will feast.
“This same fifth columnists that will come to feast will be the ones that will be singing your praises. And today, he has left governance completely and begins to chase shadows. Those infrastructural developments that Rivers State is noted for have begun to be atrophied.
“They are roting away including projects that the former governor has completed upto 100% and he left it for him to come and Commission. He is unable to do anything and he is just after and chasing the mouse even when his house is burning. So there is complete lack of government and governance in Rivers State. And APC being a party now in opposition will not allow it.”
The APC CTC Chairman insists that today APC is in overwhelming majority in the Rivers State House of Assembly having 27 out of the 32 members and added that this is in line with the mandate of the National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who charged them on the day of inauguration to reach out even to members of the opposition political parties.
“You are also aware of the events in the state where the state government adopted the act of barbarism to demolish the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex.
Recall that before the events of Wednesday, two members of the PDP were laying claims to the position of the Speaker of the Assembly. One Edison Ehie approached the High Court and we are all aware of the position of the Supreme Court on motions.
“We will fight illegality, we will not allow illegality to fester in our state. It is our duty now to defend our 27 members who are members of the State Assembly. So we are telling the governor that he cannot thrive on illegality. We will petition the judge before the NJC for giving that “jankara” order against our members. So we want to appeal to our party to join us to defend our members who are being ill treated by the Rivers State House of Assembly.”
Okocha noted that though he is not a member of the Assembly, impeachment is a democratic setting. Impeachment is not a coup detat.
