Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Okocha, has dismissed claims of voter apathy in the just-concluded local government elections, insisting that the polls drew massive turnout across the 319 wards of the state.
Speaking on Arise Television on Monday, Okocha argued that suggestions of low participation were unfounded, stressing that those alleging voter apathy were likely basing their judgment on scenes from Port Harcourt streets rather than polling units.
“There is nothing called voter apathy as far as we are concerned. Anybody who is alleging voter apathy could be somebody who was walking on the streets of Port Harcourt. There are no polling units on the main road,” he said.
Okocha said he personally attended not less than 14 grand finals of the council campaigns and witnessed crowds mobilised by councillors and chairmanship candidates. According to him, voters were even tasked with bringing along a minimum of ten others to the polling stations.
He added that APC fielded defectors from rival parties where they had proven to be “low-hanging fruit,” describing them as strong candidates with track records in their communities.
On questions of political collaboration in the state, the APC chairman dismissed any suggestion of an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stressing that “APC is APC, PDP is PDP.”
