RIVERS: APC Chairman Reveals The Real Reason 27 Assembly Members Dumped PDP
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has revealed the reason the lawmakers dumped their party.
The APC attributed the defection of 27 members of the state Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the lack of governance in the state. Tony Okocha, the Chairman of APC, Rivers State Caretaker Committee, addressed journalists on Monday in Port Harcourt, stating that some lawmakers in the state had confided in him.
The lawmakers, who defected from the PDP to the APC, belong to the faction of the embattled Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, a faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Okocha described the defection as “heaven’s gains” for the APC and commended the Assembly members, stating, “We commend them, and we receive them with open arms.”
He criticized Governor Siminalayi Fubara for giving credence to only four Assembly members over 27, asserting, “We have gone past the era of 16 being above 19. I hope you remember that era where 16 was deemed to be higher than 19.”
Okocha claimed that the Assembly members who defected confided in him that governance in Rivers State had been run aground and that there is no government in the state.
He emphasized that the defection of the 27 lawmakers would play a role in checks and balances in the government, describing it as the best decision the lawmakers took.
Okocha concluded by stating, “We have been officially communicated on that move, and we felt that it is not a thing that, on our own, we will discuss over a bottle of water. We felt we should let Nigerians know what has happened, and the good thing that has happened, happened for APC Rivers State.”
