APC: Why We Created The Rivers Crisis

By PHC Telegraph

What may appear to be the underlying reason for the intractable political crisis in Rivers State that has spanned more than a year has finally been disclosed by a senior official of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

According to Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the party, the war with Governor Siminalayi Fubara which is being traced on the surface to the face-off between Nyesom Wike and the Governor may have been orchestrated deliberately by the APC.

 

Ganduje who may have been unguarded in his comment when he spoke in the Rivers capital, Port Harcourt, hinted that there is more to the political crisis in the prominent South South State, suggesting that the raging crisis may have been orchestrated deliberately.

The APC National Chairman who described Tony Okocha’s leadership of the state wing as the only one recognised by the National Secretariat of the party is quoted as saying that the fight against Fubara is strategic .

Ganduje reportedly revealed that the war being waged in Rivers State is an aspect of what he described as a strategic move by the APC which has eyes on 2027 to unsettle Governor Fubara, destabilise the State and snatch power from the PDP.

Speaking on the APC’s performance in the South-South geopolitical zone where the PDP has traditionally dominated power, the National Chairman stated that the APC has made significant in-roads in two out of the six states in the area.

The former Governor of Kano State noted that the APC has seized complete control of the reins of power in Cross River and Edo states.

 

He told his audience that the Rivers State, based on a carefully cheorographed plan would be next in the geo-political zone to be annexed by his party.

If the assertion of the APC National Chairman is anything to go by, it is possible that the declaration of Martins Amaehule and 24 others for the APC which occurred late last year was part of an arrangement discussed at a very high level.

Said a well-placed source, “Wike who is masquerading as a member of the PDP knew what his role will be the day he took up a place in the Federal Executive Council as a minister. He is acting a script by the APC that has been delivered perfectly at his door post.”

Although Amaehule and his colleagues are fighting for their political lives, following their purported abdication of the PDP, a court of competent jurisdiction saddled with the task of ascertaining their status, has reserved its ruling in a matter that is pending.

These lawmakers are to know their fate in the new year when judges of the Court of Appeal are expected to give their verdict on the matter which from every indication has strong Constitutional implications.

So far, the tide appears to be turning in favour of Governor Fubara and the Rivers people who are insisting that the Rivers helmsman must be allowed to govern the State without any iota of interference from Wike and his supporters who are Abuja- based.

Two major landmark cases have been decided by the Court of Appeal after the Chief Justice of Nigeria read the riot act and the NJC swung into action.

They include the matter brought against the conduct of the Local Government election in Rivers State by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, and another pertaining to an order asking the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt the allocation of funds from the Federation Account belonging to Rivers State.

In both cases, the pendulum of justice swung in favour of the Government and people of Rivers State.

As Rivers people feverishly prepare for the celebration of Christmas and the arrival of a new year, their jubilation in the wake of victories earned at the Appellate Court, has known no bound.

Many in the oil bearing state are patiently waiting for the determination of the case of Amaewhule and 24 others in January.

It would be the perfect icing on the cake, one commentator told the Telegraph in Port Harcourt, even as others insisted as at press time that given the high stakes, litigants at war might try their luck up to the Supreme Court when the time comes.

Meanwhile,  a High Court in Port Harcourt has nullified congresses of  the APC held in the State.

The court’s decision is coming against  the backdrop of a contempt of court proceeding filed by the embattled chairman of the party, Emeka Beke.

The court had earlier issued an order halting the conduct of the congresses but the APC flagrantly went ahead to organise the process, prompting the embattled members of the party to return to court.