Chairman of the caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has said for the recently inaugurated State Commission of Inquiry into the arson of some council secretariats to be accepted by the people of the state, it must also probe the bombing of the party secretariat and the State House of Assembly complex.
Okocha said this yesterday at the expanded meeting of stakeholders of the APC in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.
He insisted that as far as the party was concerned, no local government election has been held in the state, saying that APC was not perturbed by the exercise, which he described as a charade.
The APC caretaker committee chairman said: “Am here to talk about three (3) things. Am here to talk about some recent developments within the polity of Rivers State, and the position of the APC on these developments.”
“I will also talk about the efforts of the APC government at the centre in transforming Nigeria, and the Appeal Court Judgement which affirmed Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“As far as we are concerned as a party, no election has taken place in Rivers State. We are not perturbed by the charade called Local Government Election by the Rivers State Government.
“I hear that Governor Siminalayi Fubara is talking about setting up a Panel of Inquiry for whatever reason.
As a party, the APC in Rivers State is demanding that the Governor should ensure that the remote and immediate causes of the bombing of the Rivers APC State Party Secretariat on October 5th, 2024, is unraveled, along with the bombing of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex months back.
“For us, the so-called Panel of Inquiry is an attempt to witch-hunt perceived political opponents by the Government, and will be another waste of public funds which has characterized the Rivers State Government under Governor Siminalayi Fubara.”
On the Appeal Court Judgement which affirmed Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Okocha said it is in sync with the APC position.
“For us, that judgement is not only sound, it is a welcome development.”
He said while the party will not deny that the times are hard, he noted that the difficulty in the country was not caused by the government of President Bola Tinubu.
“The difficulty we’re experiencing now in the economy is as a result of many years of decay of the Nigerian economy due to the bad policies of previous governments which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working assiduously towards correcting.
“You know, l say this everytime, and I will repeat it here. For any good seed to germinate and sprout forward, it must first decay.”