Amechi, Minister for Transport and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has dismissed claims that the party in Rivers State is fragmented. Chief Eze Chukwuemeka, former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party, issued a statement in Port Harbor on Tuesday refuting the allegations.
The controversy began when Tony Okocha, a former Chief of Staff to Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi during his governorship, asserted that Amaechi was no longer the leader of the APC in Rivers. Okocha alleged that Amaechi engaged in anti‑party politics by voting for the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the February 25 election. He declared, “I, Chief Tony Okocha, who won the election and delivered the APC in Rivers, am now the leader of the party.”
Eze described Okocha as a “known political jobber” who is exploiting his self‑styled role as South‑South Coordinator of the Bola Tinubu Vanguard—a social‑media support group that, according to Eze, had little impact on Tinubu’s emergence as president‑elect. Eze called Okocha’s claim a “tragic folly” and said his supposed leadership exists only in the media, not in reality.
The statement also warned the media to focus on the broader crisis in Rivers, where Eze alleges a “glaring usurpation of democracy” by a desperate individual seeking to remain in power by proxy, contrary to the will of the people. He highlighted that a party claiming victory in the gubernatorial poll has resorted to using police and thugs to kidnap and arrest lawyers, illegally detain case briefs, and block access to certified true copies of election materials—actions he says constitute fraud by Governor Nyesom Wike in collusion with INEC and the police.
Regarding accusations of anti‑party activities against former Transport Minister Amaechi, Eze dismissed them as fabrications by individuals seeking relevance in Tinubu’s camp. He urged the public to ignore reports of wrongdoing from “rabble‑rousers and attention seekers” who have no stake in the Rivers APC. “The APC in Rivers State is intact under the former Minister, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi,” Eze concluded.
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