A former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, says “palpable gloom of apprehension seems to have captured the entire circle of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, following the departure of two federal lawmakers whose thoughtful exit has suddenly provoked a turbulent and blustery political atmosphere capable of shattering the oldfangled umbrella and grossly wilting its shielding strength in Rivers State.”
He added that “the Legislators’ bug off from the grossly shattered, largely perforated and torrentially leaking umbrella and consequent accession into the progressives family has the potential of tweaking the Rivers APC and injecting fresh blood into the system as part of rebuilding efforts for optimum performance.”
Eze, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, stated this to newsmen in a statement made available Thursday.
He noted that the purported impending implosion of the Rivers State Chapter of the PDP was not unconnected with what he called the anti-people style of governance adopted by the PDP/Wike-led government.
“Most of the groups that have expressed disenchantment with the non-existence of real governance in the state and willingness to pitch their tent in the All Progressives Congress blamed their grievance to the large-scale corruption that has overwhelmed the system,” Eze said.
He added, “Consequent upon the absence of a clear-cut framework with which government operates, the party chief averred that government officials and their cronies crown themselves reformers even when they have only reformed their pockets at public expense.”
Chief Eze said with the denial of pensioners their due and continued refusal of the state government to implement the Salary increment to civil servants as approved by the Federal Government coupled with insensitivity to crucial issues facing the State, the implosion and collapse of the PDP in Rivers State is very imminent given the fact that people can no longer be led through their noses in the 21st century.
He said, “Setting the stage for the actualisation of the immediate fractionalization of the PDP in Rivers State, some aggrieved, disappointed PDP bigwigs have already gone to court to challenge the last Congress of the Party where a sizeable number of persons taking shield under the weak umbrella were denied participation in the process.”
The party stalwart said report already in the open reveals that Solomon Tamuno Solomon Esq. on behalf of the aggrieved members of the PDP has filed a law suit challenging the just concluded congresses in the State at the FHC Owerri, and have been granted leave to serve all the purported Executive Committee members of the party via substituted means.
Highlight of the impenitent implosion of the PDP resulted in two federal PDP Lawmakers from Rivers State joining the APC with their crowd of supporters.
Eze recalls that Rep. Ephraim Nwuzi of Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency and Rep. Chisom Dike of Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo Federal Constituency as well as a former Rivers Commissioner under the Wike Government, John Bahzia, recently resigned their memberships of the PDP citing poor leadership and wanton corruption among officials of the state government which has crippled economic growth and bequeathed massive job losses and hunger on the people.
He envisaged that before the end of 2020, great sons of Rivers State would follow suit and collectively, “the state will be delivered from the shackles of a system where meritocracy is sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity and from further downside in all areas of governance and proudly, Rivers will assume its envious place in the comity of states in the country.”
Eze commended APC leadership in the State and tasked them to continue with the new strategic approach to membership recruitment into the party, stressing that the ultimate goal remains reclaiming the Brick House come 2023.