The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Pastor Tonye Cole, has urged well-meaning Rivers indigenes to ignore the vituperations of deputy governorship candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in Rivers, Chief Akpo Yeeh, who resigned on Monday and joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Cole, who spoke in Port Harcourt through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Ogbonna Nwuke, declared Yeeh’s view was skewed by the N200 million cash given to him by Governor Nyesom Wike of PDP.
The co-founder of Sahara Group (Cole) said: “It is pertinent to note that neither the APC nor the Minister for Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has in any way interfered with the internal organisation of the AAC.
“We are aware that Yeeh, whose appetite for sudden wealth has overtaken reason, is not the author of the script that he read in his Port Harcourt residence on Monday.
“We sympathise with Yeeh, a self-avowed young politician, whose hunt for a meal ticket has led him to mortgage his conscience for mess of porridge.
“It is indeed laughable that the crafted statement delivered claims that the Minister for Transportation had insisted that he would appoint 90 per cent of the commissioners, 23 local government council chairmen, in an undated resignation address served to the public.
“We are not shocked by the lies that Yeeh served the public, in order to put food on his table. It is consistent with the propaganda slant of the PDP, used to deceive the people and deflect the attention of the Nigerian people from the fact that PDP’s candidates lost horribly in the field, because of the resolve of Rivers people to effect a change.
“Wike and other leaders of PDP are determined to steal Rivers people’s mandate through unparalleled bribery of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other institutions.
“Institutions that Wike and other PDP leaders have been unable to bribe are understandably at the apex of their criticisms. These institutions include the Nigerian Army, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the APC.”
Cole also stated that he was at a loss on how a coalition between the APC and the AAC could be interpreted to mean an attempt to cause crisis in Rivers, insisting the interest of the state far outstrips the interest of an individual.
He said: “It is obvious that what is critical at this time is the quest to deliver unto Rivers people, a government that is transparent, accountable, responsible, focused and committed to their welfare.
“We wish to state unequivocally that political parties in this country and elsewhere in the world enjoy the right to enter into coalition with any party of their choice, for the purpose of forming a government of state or national unity, which will deliver dividends of democracy and serve the overall interest of the people.
“It is important to observe that Yeeh’s name is already on the ballot. The sponsors of the malicious publication targeted against the Minister for Transportation against the backdrop of the defection of an unserious and hungry politician should take copious note of the decision of INEC to refuse the exit from the presidential race of Dr Oby Ezekwesiele.”
