Why LG Polls Won’t Hold On October 5 In Rivers, Says APC Chair

The Rivers State Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress APC, Chief Tony Okocha, has said that the scheduled local government elections on October 5 will not hold.

Okocha explained that this is because the RSIEC broke due process and procedure by allegedly not inviting the APC and PDP to the stakeholders meeting held last Monday.

Insisting that APC will ignore the election, the CTC Chair frowned at the electoral body for supposedly neglecting relevant stakeholders.

He also stressed that stakeholders has not agreed on the announced October 5 date by RSIEC, emphassing that APC would feature candidates if there was genuinely an election.

The state rep of the NDDC stated these in an interview with TNN in his office on Tuesday, where he insisted that the election will not hold on the announced date.

“What you have told me now is news, it’s news to me because APC as a political party ought to be invited officially, we don’t go to grab information via the social media, nobody does that, I occupy an office here. Okay take for instance we are going to have a stakeholders meeting, talking about NDDC that will span from 10th to 12, we have enlisted stakeholders and have written to them, that is at that level. But I am telling you now that even at the level of RSIEC, first and foremost let’s take it this way, RSIEC is appointed for one purpose, and that purpose is to conduct local government elections, they have no other function and whatever they do must be tailored towards achieving the essence of their creation.

“Now who will contest the elections, are they not the political parties. I lead a vibrant and vocal APC in Rivers State, our prodigies are known and seen everywhere, so nobody can say oh we didn’t even know that he exist or the party exist, we are on issues as they concern the state every other day, so, I am not aware, I was not invited.”

“I raised a concern via Whatsapp to the chairman who I think should know, the chairman is a revered Justice of the High Court of Rivers State, now retired, and he should know the law, I shouldn’t teach him the law. I was in church but it struck me like mistics to tell the chairman because the meeting was on Monday. I was in church, God will pardon me, I did a mail via Whatsapp to the chairman, I said chairman you are doing this, I am hearing this thing on air, what is the position, he responded that my party is a stakeholder, therefore I am invited that my contributions will be so valuable.

“I said what is this man talking about, are we children, one of my friends will say are we a small children, are we children, when you have to be formal at every stage and I spoke with my colleague, the chairman of PDP, he also denied, he said he had no invitation, so if APC and PDP did not participate in the so called stakeholders meeting, which other people did, the ruling party so to speak, and the main opposition political party were not invited, I am not aware whether there is anything they did, whether the meeting held or it didn’t hold, I am not aware, I don’t know about it, it’s news to me.

“What would have been my authority to attend the meeting would have been an invitation to the party, even if I wasn’t going to attend, assuming I had no time to attend or I was not available, I should have delegated a member of the caretaker and they know, it’s not like it’s hidden, we have no letter, do you go to an occasion at this level, particularly an occasion that is official, that you need to document, you go there by risen of hear say or that you intercept on social media?

“I am telling you that no invitation was extended to my party and that I took on the chairman, incourse of this discussion, maybe you want to see it, I will show you. The truth of the matter, ofcourse I will never lie, not on this issue, I sent a message to the chairman, if you go to him and ask him, he will acknowledge that I sent a message on Sunday, he also confirmed that he was in church, when he responded and I said to the chairman that APC is not invited to the meeting you are calling and the chairman response was clear and unambiguous, he forwarded the invitation announcement to me and then foot noted that APC is a stakeholder and that I should attend that my contribution there will be very, very valuable. The truth is that no letter was written to the All Progressives Congress, I challenge the spokesperson of RSIEC to show a copy of the letter written and who it was addressed to.

“We are not even aware of anything that happened, so we are not in the picture, at the fullness of time we will take a decision and Nigerians and Rivers people will know.”