Chairman of the Caretaker Committee in Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Okocha, has said the State Governor, Sim Fubara was the architect of the political crisis rocking the state, adding that the governor has left governance completely and beginning to chase shadows.
Okocha made the declaration on Thursday in Abuja while addressing newsmen at the party national secretriat.
Recall that 27 lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), believed to be loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had on Monday defected to the APC.
Edison Ehie, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, on Wednesday, declared their seats vacant.
On Wednesday, four lawmakers passed the Rivers State 2024 Budget at a plenary held outside the State Assembly complex which was demolished same day.
Okocha, who expressed delight over the defection of the 27 erstwhile PDP lawmakers, said their action enjoyed the blessing of the APC.
He said: “I read a philosopher called Frantz Fanon, he said the gift you give to an intransigent government is civil disobedience. He also said that it is unthinkable to be obedient where there is no law.
“The House of Assembly can be moved to anywhere. It is not necessarily down to a building. Provided the mace is present there, members can sit anywhere. As of this morning, the 27 lawmakers met and even signed some resolutions.
“Even when the building was burnt, the governor never bothered to set up a panel or committee to investigate. Apparently, we know he was the mastermind.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), the government brought it down to prove fait accompli to the members who defected. But we as a party have said we will fight illegalities and not allow anybody to hound any lawmaker.
“We are here to tell the world that we stand with the lawmakers. What they did is not an aberration. Defection is not new. In 2014, the PDP was run aground and the members left in droves to the opposing party.
“The PDP in Rivers has imploded and we are benefiting from the reward. We are telling the governor he cannot thrive on illegalities. “
The Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, who said he was not privy to any plan to impeach the embattled Rivers State Governor, however maintained that impeachment was a democratic process.
“I will be reluctant to answer that because I am not a member of the House of Assembly. Again, impeachment is typical of a democratic process. The much I know is that we haven’t got to that stage. It is just the crude manner the government adopted we will fight. There are provisions in the constitution, which provide reasons people can leave a party. Are you not aware that it was their indiscretion that led to members leaving?”
He also said the APC would be willing to embrace the FCT Minister anytime he took the decision to dump the main oppostion party.
“I have wooed Wike publicly before when we were doing Renewed Hope to come to Macedonia and help us.
“In 2023, because he refused to work with the PDP presidential candidate, APC won. Yesterday, I reiterated our plea for him to come and he will become the leader of the party. But what is happening in Rivers is that Fubara has left governance completely and beginning to chase shadows.”
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