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The All Progressives Congress Caretaker Committee, led by Chief Tony Okocha, and the camp loyal to the former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, are divided over the party’s participation in the forthcoming local government elections in the state.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, led by Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd.), had announced that the state would conduct the LG elections on October 5 in the 23 local government areas of the state.
While the Okocha-led APC CTC remained sceptical about participating in the elections, the Amaechi camp expressed its determination to field candidates.
Reacting to the stakeholders meeting convened by the electoral commission, Okocha said, “I was not invited. My party was not invited. My party is too big not to be officially invited to an event like that. I am too big to attend an event to which I was not officially invited.
“RSIEC refused to officially invite me as the chairman of a major opposition party in the state. I saw information about the stakeholders meeting on social media.
“I was in the church on Sunday and I sent a mail to the chairman of RSIEC and he replied that APC was a major stakeholder. My party can only take part in the election only if things are done right.”
Corroborating Okocha’s views, the APC CTC Publicity Secretary, Chibike Ikenga, said the main opposition party in the state was absent at the stakeholders’ meeting called by RSIEC because it did not receive any official communication.
Ikenga, however, said the party would decide when it receives an official communication.
“In a matter that is critical as that, ordinarily as a party and other parties, we ought to have been formally invited.
“If they (RSIEC) invited other parties officially, they didn’t invite the APC as a party. So I don’t think we are aware of the meeting. What is worth doing is worth doing well. They must do the right thing.
“Excluding the APC from communication is most appalling. We don’t know why they did that, but we are still awaiting another meeting where we will be properly communicated,” he said.
But the Publicity Secretary of the faction loyal to Amaechi, Mr Darlington Nwauju, said it was ready to participate in the election, noting that the stakeholders’ meeting called by the commission was the way to go.
Nwauju stated, “Now, concerning our participation, I want to say clearly that with the approach adopted by the RSIEC leadership, we will most likely participate in the forthcoming local government elections in Rivers state.
“We will participate, given the fact that the 2018 Law gives a three-month timeline for elections to be conducted and RSIEC has respected that particular timeline for the conduct of local government elections."
