The Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tony Okocha, has said the landslide victory in the recent local government elections in where the party won 20 out of 23 local government areas is a prelude to the party’s success in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt, Okocha attributed the APC’s triumph to the people’s appreciation for President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He emphasized that the party would work tirelessly to ensure President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Okocha revealed that the party aimed to make Rivers State 100% APC, vowing to woo key stakeholders, including Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, and members of the Rivers State Assembly, to join the party.
He believed that with the APC’s current momentum, the party will dominate the state’s politics for years to come.
He said, “The results of the just concluded Local Government Elections is an indication of what will happen in 2027, what we have done is that we have just tested the waters to see our strengths in the state and it’s proven beyond reasonable doubt that we are very strong.
“So it is a prelude to what will happen in 2027, and I told you that whilst we were campaigning, we told our people that there was a need for us to belong to the center and leave the peripheries and they agreed.
“Like one leader in this country said, at some point he had no shoes, in 2023 APC Rivers had no shoes, now we are wearing shakadele, so what do you expect, we are going to double and re-doubling this number for Mr President who as far as my party is concerned will be fielding for a second term in office.”
The state APC chairman asserted that following the political infighting in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level, the APC would amplify its overtures at the FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike and members of the state assembly to join it.
Okocha stated that it would be political suicide for any politicians aspiring any office to remain in a party with a bleak future, hence the need for vibrant politicians to join the APC which is thriving.
He said, “The time is ripe, we will continue to beckon on them to join the APC, not even them alone, but we will continue to beckon on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike to come over to APC and have peace, PDP is in tatters.
“I was reading a post this morning, there was a meeting of critical stakeholders of PDP, they met yesterday and came up with a communique which is in contrast with the idea of the PDP, vis-a-vis their national convention, they read six demands and said until those demands are met they will meet themselves in court.
“And if you are a member of that political party that has no future or whose future is bleak and you want to aspire to an office, will you want to go and put yourself in such a dilemma? because the man who signs your nomination forms and all that, the moment the court says he wasn’t qualified to sign, it means that you have also lost the election.
“So we’ll continue making overtures, we’ll continue our pleas, if you ask me our intention is to make Rivers State 100 per cent APC, so for those that matter politically who are still on the other side, we will beckon on them to come to Mr President party in Rivers State,” he added.
The APC chairman also pledged to cooperate with Governor Siminalayi Fubara when he returns to office on September 18, following the expiration of his six-month suspension.
However, Okocha emphasized that this cooperation would not prevent the party from criticizing the governor when necessary.
“On the 18th of September, the executive Governor returns, it couldn’t have been a prophecy, six months suspension will elapse on the 18th of September and so necessarily, even elementarily, there would be no vacuum, so it is clear that the Governor who was suspended for reasons that you and I know, will return to office.
“We are going to co-operate with the Governor when he returns to office, but that co-operation will not take away our rights to criticize the Governor when he does the wrong thing.”
