While the likes of Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC, in Rivers State, express high hopes that the party in the state is now fully charged and ready to take over the Brick House in the forthcoming 2023 governorship election, another chieftain of the party, in Omuma Local Government Area, Mr. Felix Ekpendu believes that there is nothing like APC in the state.
In this exclusive interview with EDITH CHUKU, Ekpendu, one of the APC chairmanship aspirants in the 2015 election, who appeared excited over the recent nullification of all the primaries conducted by his party in the state, by a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, spoke on the purported anti-party politics, his unflinching support for the governorship candidate of the SDP, Magnus Abe, his grouse with his party leader, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, among other issues.
Excerpts:
Your party, APC in Rivers State has been associated with several names; shaky-shaky party, dead party. Some people say it has gone into oblivion and here is 2023 elections just around the corner. What is your party not telling the public?
You know very well that there is nothing like APC existing in Rivers State. After Magnus Ngei Abe left, that brought the collapse of APC in Rivers State, you know that.
We are the fans and the followers of Magnus Ngei Abe in Rivers State and everyone knows his capacity, we know his capacity in both national and state politics. Magnus’ ambition attracted a lot of followers into APC and that same good ambition has taken a lot of followers to SDP with him.
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These followers you said were attracted in and out of APC, does that include you?
I’m in APC, strongly with Ahmed Bola Tinubu, but in Rivers State, I am fully with Magnus Ngei Abe, SMA. Election shouldn’t be about party, but person. Most of us in APC, are fully supporting the SDP governorship candidate, not because of SDP, not because we do not like the name APC, no, but because of the person running for the governorship position in the SDP platform, that is the truth, and we are not hiding it.
Yes, you are definitely not hiding your support for Sen. Abe, that is why I want to ask, have you dumped the APC for SDP?
I’ve not officially decamped.
Oh! You have unofficially decamped
I’m a member of SMA; Senator Magnus Abe Campaign Organization, I’m a member of Magnus Abe SDP Plan, and we don’t want Rivers people to lose this opportunity, we don’t want to lose the opportunity of having a personality like distinguished Senator Magnus Abe govern this state from 2023. If we do, Rivers people will pay the price, that will mean suffering continues. We can’t afford to miss such opportunity again. His being on the ballot is a miracle and God in Heaven will perfect it. That has led to the collapse of APC, Rivers State. Even the primaries conducted, you see what happened in the court.
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Speaking of the primaries conducted by the APC in Rivers State that was recently nullified by a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, how did you feel when you heard the news of this nullification?
Well, it’s a welcome development.
Really?
Yes, it’s a welcomed development, in fact, the truth about this is that, that very day when I got the information, I got it from the platform, I heard it from several news media, when I heard it, I said, may God alone be all the glory.
Why?
Yes, because that has justified what we are saying, all of us who spoke truth to power, who told our leaders the truth, that what they were doing will collapse this party, all of us who cannot fold our hands to admire, or stretch our hands to applaud, hail injustice, all of us who are followers of Sen. Magnus Abe.
They called us names in APC, they said we are this, we are that, look at it now, you can see today, as soon as Abe left, some of them left to the PDP, those that said senator Magnus Abe and his followers are the problems of APC, they left to PDP, I can mention names if you want, most of them, they left to PDP, while over 80% that know the truth, followed the truth to SDP, followed Magnus Ngei Abe, but some of us who feel it’s necessary to be in APC, while fully supporting the light that moved to SDP, are doing so to support Magnus Abe to deliver Rivers State people.
We are very sure of what we are doing; we are not playing politics of kangaroo, we are playing politics that will ensure victory for Rivers people, not politics of private business man, partnership, noooo, selfish interest, politics should be for your people, which is the meaning of freedom, that’s the freedom I believe in, as well as in the decision of Magnus Ngei Abe, that is why I am here, and we are going to get the victory through SDP.
Are you saying that APC is a dead party in Rivers State?
As far as I’m concerned, APC is not existing, APC does not exist anymore after the defection of Magnus Abe to SDP. There is nothing called APC in Rivers State, because don’t forget Magnus Abe’s ambition is Rivers people ambition.
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If truly APC Rivers State is dead, like you claim, what or who killed it?
Well, if you’re an investigative journalist, you should know where the arrow is coming from, where the problem lies.
APC has what we call leadership failure in Rivers Sate. Since 2014, there was leadership failure but we managed it till 2015. 2017, 2018, 2019, we could not manage it, 2019 election, we could not manage it. You saw what happened, at the end APC could not file any candidate in the election. That was why in Rivers State, PDP took over every seat. Now come 2023, we said no, we cannot, we have option B, we also have our strategy, and the difference is very clear, you can see the result of the strategy.
Magnus Abe is the man, a man worth following, and that is exactly what we are saying. So, leadership failure is the cancer affecting Rivers State APC, as an investigative journalist, you know where it’s coming from. Our leader, Rotimi Amaechi and those that have left him now as an orphan in APC in Rivers State, and so called candidate, Tonye Cole as an orphan now, he doesn’t have followers again. The same people that said, give Tonye Cole ticket, they have left him, those that suggested that to Amaechi just to stop Magnus Abe have all left him. If APC is existing in Rivers State I don’t know, it’s all because of the leadership failure of our leader, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi, that is the truth, our leader did not take the good advice most of us were crying for, if not, we are supposed to have captured Rivers State under APC in 2019, if they had allowed Magnus Abe as the party flagbearer, but no, they did everything to stop him from contesting, there is nothing to deliberate about, APC would have been in Government House by now.
Rivers State is a PDP state, it has been that way, even the APC leader in the state, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, while still governor of the state couldn’t change that, what is Sen Abe going to do differently to make that happen?
Well, I know very well that your office is in Rivers State, you do business in Rivers State with Rivers natives and residents, you interact with people; Rivers people, you know about Rivers State politics very well.
This is not the first time a predecessor or an outgoing governor will be unable to deliver his successor. Dr. Odili who happened to be the leader of every one of them, could not even deliver his successor, Amaechi could not deliver his successor, so you see, there is even more awareness now than before. Now, you said Rivers people are happy with Nyesom Wike.
They appear so, considering the infrastructures, road rehabilitation, schools, flyovers, and other things put in place by his administration.
Well, in infrastructure I won’t doubt you, he has tried, mostly in the Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas, he has tried.
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Like I said before in my last interview with you, in rural areas, in some local governments, Omuma particular and in Etche, there are no much projects. I told you here that even our double cabin road that is supposed to lead to Nkor Okpala is one, single lane now, it stopped at Chokocho double cabin by Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi’s administration, but today it has been adjusted to single lane. In Omuma we don’t have road, we had a road called Owaza-Ebieri-Omuma, Owaza-Ofe road, as we speak, that road, even the governor made a promise regarding that road when he came to Omuma to commission something, but uptill date, that road has not been awarded, and he has few months to leave the office and I don’t think he can do it, even though he awards that road today, they won’t finish it.
Again, the economy of Rivers State like you know needs to be fixed and that can only be possible if we elect someone who is a brain box, who understands the terrain of Rivers State. A good leader that does not understand the economy will crash the system, the people will suffer, the economy of Rivers State is down, when it comes to the economy of the state, His Excellency, with due respect, Nyesom Wike has not done his best, just as President Buhari has not done well in that area too, but no one has performed in infrastructure like Buhari. Wike has done what he feels is the best thing to be done, flyovers, bridge, he has tried, fine, he has scored points. My kind of politics, if a person has done well or is doing well, I must applaud you regardless of party. Magnus Abe will fix those very important, key areas Wike could not touch, Rivers people are ready to make that happen, even people in PDP will support and vote him, that is why I call him Rivers people’s
candidate.
Imagine you’re face to face with your party leader, Amaechi, what will you tell him?
I will tell him, His Excellency, you are our man, our boss, we know you as a man that is loved by Rivers people but something is missing, you surrounded yourself with people that are just after what they will gain from you, people that do not genuinely love you, they were just there because of your position, to justify that, they have left you, yes, though some are still there, but they will be leaving every day, people are hungry, yet doggedly, committedly following Sen. Abe, it is not for personal gain, but for the betterment of the entire good people of Rivers State. They were busy forming cartel in APC Rivers State, two persons would go and decide and tell His Excellency, His Excellency would listen to them, see the result today, I am sure God has opened his eyes, he should concentrate on fixing what has been destroyed, I hope it works, but whatever happens, he should forget about 2023 election, that is the truth, it’s too late, it’s SDP or SDP, it’s either Magnus Abe or Magnus Abe in 2023, and Rivers people are very much ready to vote him in for fresh air.
