The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has pointed fingers at Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for their alleged involvement in the explosion that occurred at the Rivers State House of Assembly on October 29, 2023.
Tony Okocha, Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state, raised these allegations during his speech at the APC thanksgiving dedication service held at the Port Harcourt Polo Club in New GRA Port Harcourt on Sunday.
Okocha directly challenged Governor Fubara to demonstrate to the people of the state that neither he nor the PDP had any hand in the blaze that affected the revered chamber.
Additionally, Okocha accused the governor of neglecting to establish an investigative committee to delve into the incident, a situation that has notably divided the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Okocha said, “He proclaimed that he was going to build on the plan of consolidation and continuity.
“What he is consolidating is to burn Rivers State House of Assembly.
“I speak as the leader of the opposition party in Rivers State, and I challenge the governor and PDP to claim and prove to Rivers State that they are not the ones responsible for the burning of the t.
“If you are the Chief Executive of a state, and an arm of government, a structure, an iconic structure for that matter, the most beautiful of all in Nigeria was set ablaze, and you only went there to begin to proclaim that which will happen tomorrow let it happen today.
“And you did not set up a panel, neither did you set up a committee to find out why that inferno took place. No be you do am? It should have been the first thing to border you.”
Speaking on the leadership and the structure of the party in the state, Okocha promised members of the APC in Rivers State that the party would no longer be referred to as a “social club” and would henceforth be built on a solid foundation.
He apologized to members for the party’s errors in the past and assured them of inclusion down to the unit level.
Okocha, who is also the state representative at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Management Board, vowed that the new leadership of the APC in the state will chase the PDP out of Rivers State.
“We are here to plan for the future; that is the essence of today’s meeting.
“I owe you a duty to apologize to all of us, members of APC Rivers State. Please accept our apology.
“We have goofed over time; we have lost our chances over time.
“Going forward, the APC will no longer be a social club in Rivers State. APC, under our watch and under your followership, will be built on a robust and solid foundation.
“APC shall be built strong in your respective Wards. I am not going to build an APC that will be state-based.
“This APC will be the APC that will contest elections, not the APC that will boycott elections.
“This APC will chase this rubbish PDP out of Rivers State,” he said.
Also speaking, the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Professor Abdulkarim Abubakar Kana, who represented the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, at the thanksgiving dedication service, said, “I am here on the mandate of our party leader, his excellency, the Commander in Chief and the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I am here on behalf of our National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“I have been instructed, and I have the mandate to formally invite the Right Honourable Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Right Honorable Martins Amaewhule and the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol and all the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, to our great party.
“The APC is a party for the people, it is a party for the common Nigerians.
“His Excellency the President, His Excellency the National Chairman, recognize the fact that the people are with the honourable members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in this trouble.
