On Sunday the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of allegedly being responsible for the explosion that rocked the Rivers State House of Assembly on October 29, 2023.
The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state, Tony Okocha, made the allegation while speaking at the APC thanksgiving dedication service at the Port Harcourt Polo Club, GRA Port Harcourt.
Okocha challenged Fubara to prove to the people of the state that he and the PDP in the state are not responsible for the burning of the hallowed chamber.
He further accused the governor of failing to set up an investigative committee to look into the incident that has since caused a division in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Okocha said, “He proclaimed that he was going to build on the plan of consolidation and continuity.
“What he is consolidating is to burn Rivers State House of Assembly.
“I speak as the leader of the opposition party in Rivers State, and I challenge the governor and PDP to claim and prove to Rivers State that they are not the ones responsible for the burning of the t.
“If you are the Chief Executive of a state, and an arm of government, a structure, an iconic structure for that matter, the most beautiful of all in Nigeria was set ablaze, and you only went there to begin to proclaim that which will happen tomorrow let it happen today.
“And you did not set up a panel, neither did you set up a committee to find out why that inferno took place. No be you do am? It should have been the first thing to border you.”
Speaking on the leadership and the structure of the party in the state, Okocha promised members of the APC in Rivers State that the party would no longer be referred to as a “social club” and would henceforth be built on a solid foundation.
He apologized to members for the party’s errors in the past and assured them of inclusion down to the unit level.
Okocha, who is also the state representative at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Management Board, vowed that the new leadership of the APC in the state will chase the PDP out of Rivers State.
“We are here to plan for the future; that is the essence of today’s meeting.
“I owe you a duty to apologize to all of us, members of APC Rivers State. Please accept our apology.
“We have goofed over time; we have lost our chances over time.
“Going forward, the APC will no longer be a social club in Rivers State. APC, under our watch and under your followership, will be built on a robust and solid foundation.
“APC shall be built strong in your respective Wards. I am not going to build an APC that will be state-based.
“This APC will be the APC that will contest elections, not the APC that will boycott elections.
“This APC will chase this rubbish PDP out of Rivers State,” he said.
Also speaking, the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Professor Abdulkarim Abubakar Kana, who represented the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, at the thanksgiving dedication service, said, “I am here on the mandate of our party leader, his excellency, the Commander in Chief and the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I am here on behalf of our National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“I have been instructed, and I have the mandate to formally invite the Right Honourable Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Right Honorable Martins Amaewhule and the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol and all the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, to our great party.
“The APC is a party for the people, it is a party for the common Nigerians.
“His Excellency the President, His Excellency the National Chairman, recognize the fact that the people are with the honourable members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in this trouble.
