The All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State, Tony Okocha has dismissed insinuations from some quarters that the 27 embattled lawmakers of the state House of Assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to his party.
Okocha, who said he never received the former lawmakers into the APC, stressed that what happened at the Port Harcourt Polo Club in December 2023 was not a reception for the 27 lawmakers but an event to celebrate the constitution of the state executive council of the APC by the national body of the party.
It could be recalled that in December 2023 at Polo Club, Martin Amaewhule said he and 26 other lawmakers had completed the process of their defection.
Amaewhule added that one of the major reasons for their action was that they had evidence that there is division in the party, PDP, and at the appropriate time, they would make it public.
While addressing newsmen at the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Okocha corrected the impression that he invited the lawmakers individually as friends for the 2023 event and not as Assembly members.
“There was no intention of organizing a reception for what we were not holding. We were inaugurated in Abuja and we chose to organize a reception and thanksgiving for our members. It was not to receive the 27 lawmakers.
“We were misinterpreted to have received the 27 lawmakers into APC. That is not correct. We invited individual members of the Assembly. I have a relationship with them over time. We tried to woo them into the party. I was intentional in reaching out to them to join us. We would have counted it all joy if we had succeeded.
“We want to tell Nigerians that the 27 lawmakers led by the Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule never defected to the All Progressives Congress. What people flaunt on social media or television cannot put plausible arguments for them. The law is not about emotions. It is as strict as it is”, Okocha stated.
He said the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara is infringing the rule of law at all times, accusing him of exhibiting dictatorial tendencies by his refusal to obey the court judgment which authorized him to re-present the 2024 budget before the Martin Amaewhule led the House of Assembly.
