The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has defended its decision not to field candidates in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas during the just concluded council elections.
The Rivers APC also disclosed that it is calling on Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, to join the party.
Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Tony Okocha explained that the APC lacked the capacity to compete with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in those three LGAs, stressing that the party’s decision was strategic.
According to him, presenting candidates in those LGAs would have amounted to “missing the point”, adding that the strategy eventually paid off.
Okocha said, “There’s what they call comparative advantage during elementary economics and even international law alright.
“You don’t go and put your team in a place where you know that the answer to it will be failure. We didn’t have the strength to contend with the elections in Phalga because again, the man who was the PDP candidate was a mayor, was Chairman of Port Harcourt City local government council.
“And reports that reached us, were that he did perform extremely well and so that the people were going to pay him back.
“I told you that we’re contesting elections, not to test the waters. We were contesting elections to win, it’s our own strategy not to field candidates in Onelga, Phalga and Obio/Akpor local government.
“It was a strategy. I mean what are you fielding candidates for in Obio/Akpor for. APC, fielding candidates in Obio/Akpor?
“The sweeping effect of PDP. Don’t forget that PDP own this state. Rivers State was PDP state alright.
“And then you go and make the mistake of you want to field candidates because you want to field candidates.
“You’ll be missing the point. You’ll just be missing it. So, we allowed it go. Onelga, the same thing.
“It was our calculated strategy and it paid off for us.”
Responding to speculations that the APC candidates in the LG elections were originally members of the PDP, Okocha confirmed that the candidates had indeed defected to the APC.
Defending the defections, he argued that the PDP was in disarray and that it was a privilege for the APC to “harvest” its members.
He explained that most of the defections were carried out discreetly without media attention.
Okocha further said the party deliberately targeted politicians with proven track records, noting that even some long-standing APC members lost in the primaries.
He added, “I’m sure you know what they call defection, Yes. Take for instance, how many political parties has Atiku Abubakar joined from 1999 to today, about seven or eight. And each time he jumps to another political party, he went to aspire to be president. So, has Nigerians killed him?
“PDP is in tatters, I don’t have to hide that very fact and you all know that the party is in tartars.
“And their people are leaving them in droves every other day. So, we were privileged to harvest. Some of these things were done not in the open, not calling the press like this.
“I have an office. You know, there are covert and overt ways of doing things. This one, their reception was covertly done and we decided to do it for obvious reasons and you have seen that the reasons have yielded dividends.”
On whether the APC intends to continue its efforts to recruit members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to the party, Okocha clarified that the party’s target is broader, extending to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.
According to him, the APC’s ultimate goal is to take full control of Rivers State.
He said, “The time is ripe. We’ll continue to be on on them, not even them alone.
“We’ll continue to beckon on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, to come over to APC and have peace. PDP is in tatters.”
