As a fallout of the Supreme Court judgment that resolved the contentious governorship election in Rivers State in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state on Wednesday requested a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the party’s affairs and its political fortunes in the state.
A high-level delegation led by the APC governorship candidate Dr. Dakuku Peterside, made the request during a meeting with the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Peterside said: “It will interest you to know that many of our members, supporters and sympathisers are still at a loss to see us work as orphans. We have a herculean task explaining to them that we actually formed government at the centre. It is like we lost the elections.
“To an overwhelming majority of them, the only indication that we might be part of government at the federal level is because our leader and Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign which led to a people’s revolution that defeated the former ruling party and former Governor of the state, Hon. Chubuike Rotimi Amaechi is a minister.
“The concerns of our members are re-enforced by the fact that more than eight months after APC has formed government at the federal level, notable PDP chieftains and members who spent state resources to work assiduously against us (APC) are still occupying strategic federal government positions, dispensing patronages to PDP members to the disadvantage and chagrin of APC members.
The delegation, among others, requested the APC national leadership to assist in funding the forthcoming rerun elections in the state.
“The restructuring of the Presidential Amnesty Programme by making sure that the current leadership and managers of the programme understood the political connotation of its implementation; urgent replacement of all agents and heads of agencies that the immediate-past federal government administration used to frustrate the change revolution;
“Purge of vestiges of and sympathisers for the immediate-past federal government administration in the leadership of security agencies, especially in the Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“That political appointments in all federal government ministries, departments and agencies including ambassadorial positions be made to reflect the current realities of a change of government.”
Speaking during the meeting, Oyegun expressed shock over the Supreme Court’s decision on the state governorship election which revalidated the victory of the PDP’s candidate, Nyesom Wike.
He, however, promised that the party national leadership would give necessary support to ensure successes in subsequent elections in the state.
Oyegun said: “The APC national leadership has not neglected party leaders and supporters in Rivers State. The state has always been in the front burner of discussion and decision in the party. There is obviously something fundamentally wrong in the state which needs to be investigated and addressed.
“Your visit have had a sober effect on me. This meeting will kickstart urgent actions to address what went wrong. As of today, there a attempts being made by INEC to bar us from elections in Anambra and other states. We must address these issues. I still find the judgement on the Rivers State governorship election totally astonishing. There is something fundamentally wrong in the judiciary.
“We have lost very important resource-rich states to the PDP. No matter how crude oil prices have fallen, it is still the most important revenue earner for the country.
“I will take up your request to facilitate a meeting with the President. We will do that as soon as possible and also make it clear that there are problems which as a party, we must address.
Lamenting the loss of the party at the Rivers elections, Dakuku said the Independent National Electoral Commission was structured to ‘disfavour’ the APC.
“It (INEC) was put in place by the leadership of the last administration to perpetually protect its interest. We are all witnesses to how some of these actors found it convenient to annul results which were favourable to APC but upheld all those favourable to PDP under the same circumstances in the recently concluded governorship election in Bayelsa State.
The Rivers delegation comprised Peterside and his running mate, Hon. Asita Honourable; Rivers State APC Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya; member of the APC Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; Senator Magnus Abe and several aspirants and state APC stalwarts.
