The All Progressives Congress (APC) may have dug up the vote cast by Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the February 2023 presidential election, saying the then governorship candidate did not vote for President Bola Tinubu.
Tony Okocha, the arrowhead of the APC in Rivers State, who is the caretaker committee chairman of the party, who is being challenged by the elected committee of the party led by Emeka Bekee, led a protest that rocked the premises of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In an attempt to debunk the support of Gov Fubara for President Tinubu, the APC henchman who is totally backed by PDP’s Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister, said point blank that Gov Fubara did not vote for Tinubu in the 2023 Presidential Election.
He did not state how he saw the vote and if parties have privilege and access to votes cast by specific persons.
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He stated: “Fubara can’t be more Catholic than the Pope now because he seeks succour from Mr. President who he and ilk are demonising and disrespecting. His inordinately desperate attempts to curry political capital by surreptitiously declaring support for Mr. President for 2027 as defence and fall back are in his style of subterfuges. It fails. Check Ward 5, unit 8, Opobo/Nkoro LGA, Rivers State, 2023 Presidential Election result.”
Okocha had in the past mentioned top party leaders including Magnus Abe and where they voted, all to show ho deserved succour from President Tinubu or not.
He said at every twist and turn, Gov Fubara will come out publicly claiming to be supporting Mr. President, in a bid to continue to curry political patronage and capital. It is not true; it is a fluke! They want to latch onto the back of the President to continue to engage in their illegality. They claim to have voted for President Tinubu in the last election, but the record shows that Gov. Fubara voted against Mr. President. The same Fubara is the one funding people to go to court to challenge the President’s authority,” the APC stressed.
We will resist with the last drop of our blood – APC’s Okocha
Meanwhile, the APC leader in the state said he joined other Rivers State leaders on a solidarity visit to the Rivers State House of Assembly Quarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Gov Fubara caused stir when he paid a visit there and the defected lawmakers were said to have caught fear.
Now, the opposition party leaders who want Gov Fubara impeached as fast as possible said the visit was in solidarity with the Speaker and other members against what Okocha called the wanton harassments and threats to their lives by Gov Fubara.
The statement signed by his aide said the protest witnessed an unprecedented turnout of Rivers State leaders cutting across party lines including minority leader of the House of Representatives (Kingsley O Chinda), Igo Aguma, Olaka Wogu, Ikuinyi Owaji Ibani (former speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly), local council chairmen, some commissioners (those loyal to Wike), and some others.
The protest is said to be coming on the heels of alleged attempt by Gov Fubara to demolish the Rivers State House of Assembly Quarters. He said the quarters is newly constructed and of good standard, which he said is just two years old, out of a projected lifespan of about 30 years. The governor has not stated he was going to demolish the place.
Okocha however argued that some months ago, the Gov demolished the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex. He claimed it was in a bid to prevent the State Assembly from carrying out their legitimate functions. The House had issued an impeachment notice.
Addressing the Press at the venue of the event, Okocha vowed that Rivers State APC would do everything within its power to protect the 27 members of the State Assembly who defected to the APC.
“You can see how Rivers leaders thronged out in their numbers, unbargained, unplanned, to visit the Assembly quarters. It goes to show the world that Rivers State is one that is united. The Speaker has taken his stand to continue to carry out his legitimate functions and has given us a synopsis of what transpired when Gov Sim Fubara, in his gustavo and commando style, with thugs, harassed the Assembly Members,” Okocha fired.
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Okocha frowned at an alleged attempt by the governor to emasculate the legislative arm by proclaiming what he called an Executive Order to bring the Assembly to the government House, thereby fusing the legislative and the executive arms into one.
Okocha warned that Rivers State APC would resist such action with the last drop of their blood.
