APC Berates Amaechi For Criticising Tinubu’s Administration, Call for State Of Emergency In Rivers

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has distanced itself from a statement attributed to the party’s former leader and ex-Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who claimed that 84 per cent of Nigerians are dissatisfied with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Chief Tony Okocha, Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in the State, who challenged Amaechi in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, condemned the statement and questioned where Amaechi obtained his misleading statistics, adding that the statement does not represent the Rivers APC’s position.

“We have come to ask Amaechi how he created that data. As far as we are concerned, it is false, and we are using this opportunity as a state party to tell Nigerians and Mr. President that he (Amaechi) spoke for himself, not the APC Rivers State.

“That his animosity and eccentricities cannot take precedence over the APC’s interests in Rivers State.” We dissociate the APC Rivers State from that unkind remark made by our former leader, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and assert that Rivers people and Nigerians support Mr President,” he stated.

Following the political crisis in Rivers State, which claimed three lives, including a police officer, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the state.

Okocha, who emphasised the need for immediate action by the Federal Government, called for the lifting of the state of emergency in the Rivers, stating that if the crisis is allowed to worsen, the nation’s economy will suffer because the state plays an important role in the nation’s economy.

He stated that both the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the police are unable to control the situation, so the military’s deployment to deal with the crisis remains appropriate in preventing further loss of life and property destruction.

He declared, “Rivers State is at war, and who are the dramatis personae responsible for the devastation that has claimed three lives? It is Governor Siminalayi Fubara versus Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

“The governor is helpless, and so is the police. As a result, the APC in Rivers State has declared a state of emergency to quell the mayhem and upheaval in the state. I urge the federal government to act quickly in this matter.”

The state APC chief stated that the crisis in the state could have been avoided if the governor had followed the President’s advice and not appointed Caretaker Committees for the state’s 23 LGAs when the tenures of the elected council chairmen expired on Monday, June 17.

“The Governor does not take advice. If the President of the country, in a well-constituted meeting, advises him that the nomenclature known as caretaker committees should not be encouraged, and he disobeys, who will come to our rescue?

“In January 2024, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, met with the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, and the chairman stated that they are aware of what the law says about local government elections, and they are prepared for the election, but they need the permission of the executive (the government).

“What is going on today in the state? The Governor has made himself and the state vulnerable, leaving us open to attack.

He went on to say, “Rivers State is now at war because the governor refuses to listen to advice, including Mr. President’s advice.

“The APC in Rivers State has demanded a state of emergency. It is the only way out so that we can live in peace because crying after the head has been severed is too late.

“Let the army be deployed to take over strategic locations, send this moribund government to the abyss, and let Rivers State breathe a sigh of relief; otherwise, we will be crying when the head is removed.”

Speaking further, Chief Okocha stated, “The President should intervene now before it is too late. The federal government should take the necessary steps to avoid a situation in which fires are visible everywhere.

“It is better now that we can put an end to this very ugly scenario before the state catches fire. They have unleashed non-state actors who wield firearms without restriction; the boys have been released, and the level of criminality in the state will be unimaginable.”

Chief Okocha also chastised the governor for swearing in caretaker committees in the state’s 23 LGAs while a case involving local government autonomy is pending before the Supreme Court, with another decision expected by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

He claimed that the governor was acting illegally by screening and swearing in caretaker committees with a three-man Assembly that had not been properly constituted.