The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has expressed the need for full support from the members, to work for the growth and development of the party in the state.
Okocha who stated this during his visit to the Rivers State office of the party along Woji Road in the GRA Area of Port Harcourt, where he addressed party members and workers, promised to rebuild the party and place it on a pedestal to contest elections and win.
According to him, his priority was to build a stronger, more active and vibrant opposition in the state, noting that he needed the support of every party member to achieve that.
The Chairman who was accompanied by other members of the newly constituted Caretaker Committee of APC Rivers State, however, promised to consult all the critical stakeholders of the party in the state and carry them along in his mission to build a united, spirited, and vigorous party in the oil-producing state.
“We have come here to build, not to scatter, perhaps a lot stronger than we met. We are not here to scatter. If we are confrontational we will not have anything to do around this premises at all.
“The task ahead of us is a huge one, but with your support, we shall build a party that will contest elections, win elections, and take over the government of the state. We must present a viable opposition in the state. We are here to build and not to scatter.
“We shall encourage all our party adherents, all our party loyalists and all our party supporters to please come on board with us. We are not know-alls and do-alls. We are prone to human frailties and foibles. Your ideas, your opinions, and your suggestions will aid us in achieving this mandate,” Okocha said.
He added that his first assignment as Chairman was to reconcile all aggrieved members, to achieve his mission to reposition the party in the state.
It would be recalled that the National Working Committee of the APC disbanded the Rivers State exco of the party last week, and constituted the caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party for six months.
Meanwhile, Okocha who leads the caretaker committee, is an ally of the immediate former governor of the State, Nyesom Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, who is an ally of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
However, there have been assertions that Wike was compensated with the position of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory which he occupied presently, due to the help he rendered to Tinubu, in winning Rivers State during the 2023 Presidential election.
Consequently, there were insinuations that Okocha’s emergence as the APC caretaker chairman was to prepare grounds for Wike’s alleged plan to defect to the APC and take over the state, which is currently governed by his political son, Siminalaye Fubara of the PDP, whose relationship has gone sour with the FCT Minister.
However, the disbanded Rivers APC excos have gone to court to challenge their removal, which they described as unlawful.
Speaking further at the party secretariat, Okocha added “One thing that we assure our party members is the fact that we shall go personally to visit every other member of the party who had hitherto contributed one way or the other to the development of the party at the level we are.
“When we say every member, we mean critical and crucial stakeholders because we cannot reach out to every member of the party. As time progresses, we have promised ourselves that we will be having exchanges, interfacing with our people, calling a meeting and saying, ‘This is where we are. What are your opinions?’
“From the preponderance of opinions, we will make decisions in their presence. It is not going to be a one-man show, I can assure you.”
