…Threatens to name the judges in the alleged deal
The Tony Okocha-led All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has vowed to resist what they called a leaked plot to procure court orders against the laws made by the 27 defected lawmakers.
Okocha had addressed a press conference in Port Harcourt Thursday, April 4, 2024, alleging a plot by Gov Sim Fubara to procure interim court orders from judges restraining the implementation of the laws he said Fubara did not want to sign into law but which were vetoed into laws.
Read also: Fubara says next step will be fire for fire and pro impeachment legislators swirl around
Okocha said: “He wants an order to declare the Rivers State House of Assembly illegal. The governor is in this kind of business but he does not know that walls have ears and that we live in their bedrooms and kitchens.”
Okocha said Governor Fubara would want to leverage such court orders to appoint caretaker committees for the 23 local council areas (LGAs).”
Read also: Rivers APC’s Okocha fires at Governor Fubara, dares him to test his popularity at LGA election
He said he would not disclose the names of the judges yet until he had filed his petition to the Nigerian Judicial Commission (NJC) which is now headed by Mary Odili, wife of first governor of the state in the present republic, Peter Odili.
Talking about resistance, Okocha said: “We want to assure him that we (APC Rivers State) will resist it. Rivers State cannot become a pariah state because of one man who does not understand his left from his right.
“The gift of intransigent government is civil disobedience. It is natural. He will meet disobedience.”
The caretaker chairman said the plan of the governor to procure court orders was already hatched. “It’s just for it to come out so the government illegality can continue. I will raise a well-worded letter to the NJC and mention the names of the judges involved and I will then forward the petition to the press.”
Giving reasons why he would fight the allegedly leaked plot, Okocha, known to be a strong ally of the former governor and now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said: “The lawmakers they want to stop are members of my party, the APC. Next, this move disobeys the President of the federation who is a member of my party and my leader. Above all, the action is against peace in Rivers State.”
Earlier, Okocha had condemned the statement credited to Gov Fubara on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, where the governor had threatened to surprise those fighting him.
Fubara had threatened ‘fire for fire’ saying his supporters should brace up. The governor had accused his detractors of mistaking his calmness for weakness and threatened to show iron and steel if need be.
Reacting to this, Okocha opened his briefing thus: “When a butterfly thinks itself a bird, it ventures into an area that turns it to a mere prey to the real bird. Same is the case when a snail boasts of being capable of crossing a road faster than a tortoise, it somersaults dangerously.”
The CTC boss wondered why Fubara ventured into threats when the group that visited him (local government employees) did not make political statements but restricted themselves to appreciation for increasing their minimum wage and promotions.
He said the ulterior motives of the governor began with allowing all LGA workers from the 23 LGAs to visit him to thank him when their leaders or letters of appreciation would be enough.
He said it must be another way to bring out the masses after the APC had vociferously stopped the governor from sponsoring thanksgiving rallies in all the 319 wards of the state with huge sums.
Okocha wondered how pressure to implement all the eight clauses of the Aso Rock Peace Agreement has come to be a threat to him, saying he would have refused to sign it. The option, he counseled, would be to address the state and reject the entire agreement. In the absence of this, he stated, the governor was bound by all the eight points.
He said item six being re-tabling the 2024 budget before the lawmakers and item eight (must not set up caretaker committees in local councils) must also be complied with, else, his actions amounted to insulting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He wanted the governor to clarify who he was warning and threatening to surprise; President Tinubu, Nyesom Wike, Rivers APC, or the lawmakers?
Demands:
The APC leader demanded the following: “That peace is priceless, terror is senseless. Hence, Mr. Governor should drown the monotonous sounds of war which he personally drums up.
“We demand that Mr. Governor should perish the thoughts and plans for another brand and round of grandstanding in wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money to crowds.
“We demand that the Governor should show the minutest interest in governance and eschew the braggadocio in ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’”
