Elder Chidi Wihioka, Lawmaker representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency has lashed out at the Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for not visiting his ward in Ubima to participate in yesterday’s congress.
“Mr. President travelled to his State Kastina to participate in the ward where he comes from, if the Minister is strong let him go to his ward and show the people that he participated in his ward meeting. Minister, you are now afraid in a State you governed for 8 years, go to Cross River Donald Duke rides bike round the state, you cannot move alone, it is either you carry Army 100, SARS 300, why are you afraid? We are not in a periwinkle kingdom where you can impose your will and personal decision on the people,” he said.
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THE REAL ISSUES IN THE FAILED APC CONGRESSES IN RIVERS STATE
***STATEMENT JUST ISSUED BY SENATOR MAGNUS ABE
It’s no longer news that all manner of illegality, abnormality, high-handedness and sheer brute force employed by the Minister of Transportation marred the ward congresses in Rivers State. Now let’s look at and focus on the fundamental issues.
A total of 8,294 APC members from the 23 LGAs and 319 wards of Rivers State used their hard earned money cumulatively running into tens of millions of naira in these difficult times to pay for nomination forms into five different banks listed by the party in its guideline for the congresses but not one nomination form was issued to any of them by the party in the state.
The questions arising from the above impunity are legion.
First, how could there have been a contest in the ward congresses when 8,294 party men and women who duly paid for nomination forms were brazenly, willfully and mischievously denied issuance of the forms in an orchestrated move to shut them and how could those shut out in the circumstances above have validly stood for an election in which they had no nomination form?
Second, are the masterminds (Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Dr Davis Ikanya) of this recklessness, this impunity, this rascality not painting our dear party the APC as a fraudulent party which obtains money from members by trick?
Third, if there was no need to buy nomination forms in order to qualify to contest in the exercise, why was that published as a condition to contest for positions in the rules and guidelines governing the conduct of the congresses?
The fourth question is whether any winner at all could have emerged from a congress where there was no contest as a result of the shenanigans above?
I do not want to believe that the APC National designed a subterfuge to obtain money from its members from Rivers State by trick, that is why it has become important for the party to wade into and halt the heist in Rivers State by all means possible and stop the undemocratic elements who masterminded the fraud.