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By Amaechi Okonkwo, Port Harcourt
Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State loyal to the Sen. Magnus Abe faction, have denied being in a meeting with any other group, as well as leadership of the state chapter of the rival Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, “with the intention to distabilise the APC.”
The denial was made Tuesday in Port Harcourt by Dr. Bethel Oko-Jaja, leader of the Opobo/Nkoro APC, on behalf of two others, during which they claimed that the said meeting was a lie as the individuals who made the claims were not known by other members of the party in their local government areas.
Two APC members, Tonte Amachree, from Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Ward 7, and Kelvin Okechukwu Obulo, Opobo-Nkoro Ward 4, had last week signed a press briefing alleging that, “Our leaders, plotting with PDP to pull down our party through the courts.”
They had also alleged that the state chairman of the PDP, Amb. Desmond Akawo, was in attendance at a meeting by the Abe faction, and allegedly advised them on how to proceed with the suit against the APC and its former caretaker chairman, Isaac Ogbobula, and its (suit) reassignment to a new judge.
Amachree and Obulo went further to call on the national leadership of the APC to act fast and call Sen. Abe and his group to order so as to avoid a repeat of the party’s 2019 misfortunes in 2023.
“We are members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers Sate. We have been loyal and active members of the Magnus Abe group.
“Last week Thursday, We were called by Bethel Oko-Jaja and Ben Horsefall, who are known leaders of the Magnus Abe group in Opobo/Nkoro and Asari-Toru local government areas respectively, to a meeting where we would sign an affidavit to join in the suit against the APC in Rivers State and its former caretaker chairman, Isaac Ogbobula.
“The meeting was held at the house of Worgu Boms, a former attorney general of Rivers State in the administration of former governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
“The meeting had elite members of the Magnus Abe group like Golden Ben-Chioma and Worgu Boms in attendance. The state PDP chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor was also in that meeting”, they said.
They wondered why the chairman of the opposition party would be in attendance at their meeting, adding that they had earlier believed that “we were working to put the party back together. But with this new development, we believe otherwise”.
“How can the leadership of the opposition PDP be in our midst, encouraging us and even guiding us on how to pull down our own party from the inside? Why would our people be conniving with the state government and the PDP to destroy our party in the guise of making things right,” they had asked.
But addressing journalists on Tuesday, Dr. Oko-Jaja declared “the gentlemen who read the script do not know my name. Dr. Bethel Oko-Jaja, which is my name and person, cannot be the same as Benedict Oko-Jaja. The question therefore would be, how men who claim to be active members of APC under Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, one who claims to be under my leadership in Opobo/Nkoro, and claim to have attended a meeting with me, do not know my name as their leader of APC in Opobo/Nkoro LGA, as they alleged, under Senator Magnus Ngei Abe. I ask whether it is amnesia, nearsightedness, or myopia?
“The purported Kelvin Okechukwu who claimed to be from my own Opobo/Nkoro LGA, where he claims that I lead him, cannot be from Opobo Town as no son of Opobo bears the name Kelvin Okechukwu. To be emphatic, no War canoe bears the name Okechukwu, especially as a family or surname. I challenge them to prove me wrong publicly.
“The purported and staged-managed press conference by these faceless individuals and political desperados is nothing but a reflection of the frustration of APC Rivers leadership, by the Hon Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, that has clearly been bedeviled by the spirit of Ichabod.
“The gentlemen at the press conference under reference, who carefully did not desire their identities to be known, one had his face fully covered/disguised his face, alleged that I attended a meeting with the Hon. former Att Gen in the state, Worgu Boms, in his residence where, with the ruling party, PDP chairman, Chief Akawo and our party APC leader in Asari Toru, Hon Ben Horsfall, and our chairman, Golden Ben-Chioma, we strategised with them on how to pervert justice until they pulled out midway because of the presence, according to them, of the said PDP chairman. This is a fairy tale from the pit of hell.
“Let it abundantly made clear, that at no time did I, either alone or with the said gentlemen, attend or call any meeting anywhere in Rivers State or Abuja or anywhere in the world, with the unknown and faceless gentlemen or anyone for that matter, to discuss the illegality of subverting justice in a pending court matter as the faceless individuals alleged in the press conference. I have never been to the former attorney- general’s house since the last two years. I do not know the two gentlemen nor have I heard such names before. Our leader and members in Asari Toru, maintain that they are unknown persons in our membership there.
“Obviously, those men were procured and suborned to malign us. I have never ever met with the said PDP chairman anywhere and have never had any kind of dealing with him, political or otherwise,” Oko-Jaja said.
He advised that the problem and challenges of APC Rivers, “which is the reason for this drama of lies and for which party is now strongly factionalized into Rotimi Amaechi and Magnus Abe camps, cannot be solved by this underhand method of the minister and his group. The minister and his group have continued to demonstrate a law-defying methodology in their handling of the factionalized APC Rivers activities.”
He called on the commissioner of Police, Rivers State, to investigate the persons in the press conference and their allegations of illegality in the video clip and unravel the truth behind their motives.
He assured that his group would continue to fight for effective internal democracy within the party and sustain the quest for all-inclusive system that is accommodating within the party, according to Law and appealed to the national leadership of the APC to call Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to order and make him know that APC means All Progressives Congress and not Amaechi Personal Company, and as such should be made to halt his continued ruination of the party in the name of party leadership.
The Amaechi faction also reacted describing as nonsensical the attempt to accuse the Transportation minister of sponsoring a press briefing against Senator Magnus Abe.
Darlington Nwauju, state assistant publicity secretary of the Rivers APC said Abe and his group must learn to respect the man they claim is their leader.
He said; “Abe’s group cannot even be in the right position to confirm or deny who truly belongs to APC in Rivers State having deliberately rejected all entreaties and windows created by the national secretariat of the party, to revalidate their membership.
“For anyone who has seen the viral video of two repentant youths recruited by the Abe group to help them engage on another round of court macabre dance in a purely internal party issue as earlier pronounced by the Supreme Court, the person will agree that the names mentioned as contact persons or recruiting agents are not unknown to Senator Abe, neither is the fact that Mr Worgu Boms has yielded his residence as clearing house for all anti-APC matters in Rivers State.
“So, they should deal with the confusion in their midst and leave the Transportation minister alone”.
