APC, NDC Gov’ship Candidates Defend Absence At Charter Of Demands Signing

Governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Hon. Kingsley Chinda and his Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) counterpart, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, have defended their absence at the Rivers 2027 Citizens’ Charter of Demands.

The ceremony, which was held in Port Harcourt, was to showcase their willingness to prioritise the needs of the people if elected into office. It was, however, attended by governorship candidates of five political parties.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, APC spokesman in the state, Hon. Chibike Ikenga, insisted that the party”s governorship candidate was not invited to the event.

“Besides, did they send an invitation to our governorship candidate? Was he favourably disposed to the date they chose? What were the issues to be discussed and who were the organisers? So, there are a whole lot of questions and those questions need to be answered

On his part, the spokesperson of the NDC campaign council in Rivers State, Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, said the party’s governorship candidate could not attend due to a rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Ijuye-Dagogo said: “I remember that our friend Alwell Ene brought an invitation letter. Unfortunately, the NDC Yenagoa rally on the same day took our attention.

We are sorry about it.”

“By the way, who are the Rivers citizens? Rivers citizens and those who stay in Rivers State are over seven million people and over 3 million voters. So, those are people concerned. Afterall, all of us should be testing our popularity in the next few days. Not an organisation that is just about five or six persons. So these are some of the issues that must be addressed,” he said.

Also speaking with LEADERSHIP, Oby Ndukwe, an ally of the APC governorship candidate, said although she was not aware if an invitation was extended to Chinda, said the event, which was attended by over 170 people, was not binding on the people of the state.

Ndukwe said: “I don’t know if he was invited and if he acknowledged the invitation with a response to be present at the ceremony.

Personally, I only heard of the event after the programme.

“When we say Rivers people may read meaning into his absence, it makes it look like it was a program or a demand by Rivers people. It was just a group and it also is not binding on the candidates. The people’s mandate through the ballot is what is binding on the candidates and not a private or sectorial group making demands.”

She insisted that the people of the state will give their mandate to the candidate they believe would prioritise their needs.

“Rivers people will give their mandate to the candidate they believe would prioritise their needs coming from the engagements, town halls and campaigns, the candidates will hear from the people and speak to them.

“These would determine where the people would entrust their votes. It’s not from signing any accord. That may be part of democracy but not the determinant factor for any winner to meet the demands of the people.

“I believe that the APC Governorship candidate is doing the needful in meeting with stakeholders through the Town Hall meetings in different communities.”

However, when contacted, convener of the Rivers Peace Initiative, organisers of the event, Obinna Ebogidi, confirmed that invitations were sent to all governorship candidates in the state, including Chinda and Lulu-Briggs.

“Yes we did. Dumo had a party event fixed for Friday. We tried to get him to send his deputy, he declined. We made several entreaties to Chinda, directly and through notable contact in the Coalition, but he didn’t give any official response. He was the one we spent the most energy trying to get.

“Because of the importance of the charter, we are hoping to have private individual ceremonies for them. The charter is so critical for the governance of the state,” he said.