In an exclusive interview, a former member of the House of Representatives, Etche/Omuma federal constituency and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Ogbonna Nwuke, spoke on recent happenings in Rivers State.
Excerpts:
Question 1: seeming opposition has greeted the Rivers APC congress. What do you think is responsible for this?
Response: What is happening is common in politics because there are interests. So we are seeing differing interests at play. This is not necessarily opposition.
Of course, there are persons who in pursuit of their interests within the party are acting in some way.
Given where a great majority of the party stand it is obvious that the noises that you hear which some say is deep rooted does not truly transform to opposition.
Have you pondered to ask why these people who engage the media; mobilise some persons to Port Harcourt to play the role of actors in a film do not mobilise people to the grassroots to stop the gathering of APC members?
The answer is simple. They do not have the numbers. They do not have the presence at the grassroots where it matters most.
Party members have been turning out to participate in their own Congress. They own the Congress because they have the power, the votes that count, and they are demonstrating that they are the ones who would decide where power should reside or the one who should lead them.
We are not interested in the media circuit that is going on.
We can hear the voices of a greater majority of party members. They are saying they are with the Minister of Transportation, Rt the Hon Rotimi Amaechi. They are saying they support the ongoing congress. They are saying by their numbers that although there could be differences, there is no opposition.
Question 2: the siege of the Judiciary complex on Friday has left so many questions unanswered, especially the appearance and active participation of PDP chieftains. What is your take on this?
Response: What is obviously an APC event has expectedly attracted the open participation of the PDP. Recall that the APC had warned about the existence of a plot that some people in the APC and the PDP have hatched to truncate the congress.
At the time, not many believed the APC. But what played out Friday has shown that the APC was right.
For us, what has transpired is not strange. These persons have long been moles embedded in our party. They have betrayed everything and everybody and continue to do so, hiding under the guise of a gubernatorial race that is daily turning into a smokescreen.
The question to ask is, what is the interest of the PDP in APC’s congress? Whose interest was the PDP protecting when it mobilised its militant wing, the GDI to storm the court?
Why was Wike interested in the injunction to the extent that he personally drove a judge into a court premise?
It is clear that we have some people in our midst who have the face of the APC and the body of the PDP. It is unfortunate that Senator Magnus Abe has been unmasked as the leader of a group whose betrayal of the party began in 2014 as soon as it was clear that Dakuku Peterside was likely to emerge as the flag bearer.
They are the same people who fought to stop the rebranding of the party and now they are openly collaborating with the PDP.
The point is their soul has long embarked on transition but the carcass of the group is what we still have in the APC.
It would make sense if the PDP would accept their soul, but the PDP would rather fund their stay in the APC because most of those surrounding Abe are mercenaries. They have no conscience. They are only loyal to money
In other words the PDP is afraid that their brand of politics would spread like a virus if they are allowed to join their ranks.
What happened on Friday didn’t come as a surprise. It was the manifestation of the oath that is binding the lead actors in this drama.
Question 3: Your local Government known to be a hotspot, experienced peaceful Ward and LGA Congresses. What is the secret?
Response:There were people who have always created the impression that Etche is a war zone. Etche is not.
The ordinary Etche man is peaceful and focused. Those who have acted as if Etche is in their pocket went the other way.
The rest of us stayed together. Our common unity, our mutual respect for one another and our resolve to ensure that the Etche people benefit from the seeds that they have sown in the APC are responsible for the success story in Etche. We are truly working together.
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