In view of the high expectation for the return of democratic institutions and the lifting of the emergency rule in Rivers state on September 18, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State chapter has declared its readiness to work with Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
APC however said collaborating with the Governor upon his return to office will not stop the main opposition party in the state from holding him accountable to governance.
Making this declaration in a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the State APC Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, assured that the APC would continue to consolidate on its membership base while also offering constructive criticism of the Fubara administration after his return.
“The governor who was suspended will return to office on 18th of September. APC will work with him when he returns. There are states where the governor and assembly members are in different parties.
“We are going to work with him. However, that will not take away our rights to criticize him when he does wrong. But for us, the Local Government Area Chairmen will work with him except that we will not agree to vicious policies”, Okocha said.
The APC chairman described the just-concluded local government elections last Saturday in the state as an introduction to the 2027 general elections, noting that the APC deliberately chose not to field candidates in strongholds of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, but concentrated on areas where it had comparative advantage.
“The Rivers State Local Government election is a prelude to what will happen in 2027,” he explained. “Whilst we were campaigning, I told our people that there is a need for us to believe in the centre and leave the periphery.
“We did not field candidates in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs because we do not have the strength in those areas. It was our own calculated strategy not to field candidates in those LGAs and concentrate only where we have comparative advantage. Remember that Rivers State was a PDP state,” Okocha explained.
He expressed optimism about the party’s growing influence, contrasting its position in the 2023 elections with its current status.
“In 2023, APC in Rivers State had no shoes, now we are wearing psychedelic shoes,” he boasted. “We are going to double and redouble our membership for the President. As far as my party is concerned, we will be fielding him for a second term in 2027.”
Okocha took a swipe at the PDP, saying the party was collapsing and its members were defecting in droves to the APC, who he said now calls the shots.
He stressed, “PDP is in tatters and people are leaving them in droves to other parties and we’re privileged to have them. We’ll continue our pleas for PDP members, particularly the FCT Minister, to come over to APC and have peace. PDP is in tatters.”
