The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the state government have bickered over recent utterances by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. While the Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in the state, Tony Okocha, said that it was most disturbing that the governor, who ought to be a stabiliser and biggest beneficiary of decorum in the state, is on the driver’s seat, dishing out ‘ear-tingling toxic spews’ and exchanges that only show off the state as a dead-end of development among all the states in the country, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joe Johnson blamed Okocha and his camp for unabated political crisis in the state.
Okocha said: “There have been uncouth throwbacks and official/unofficial threats that have dotted the political hemisphere of the state under Fubara’s administration.” He also berated the governor for describing some supporters of his administration as men of integrity.
Recall that Fubara, during a speech at the weekend, described former Governor Peter Odili as a man of integrity. He also added that his detractors are having blood pressure because Odili supports his administration. Okocha said: “We hear a governor seeking validation by composing childish panegyrics, awarding accolades to certain persons.
“Listening to him, it is clear to me that he was obviously sarcastic. Integrity is not inherent in panegyrics, encomiums and/eulogies. Integrity is earned. Integrity is verifiable. It is not a gift from one to the other.”
But in a swift response, the Commissioner for Information and Communication said that the governor is not a ‘talkative’ and does not talk carelessly. The Commissioner argued that Fubara’s recent utterances were only tailored to describing former Governor Peter Odili and others, who support him, as men of integrity, which, according to him, is a basic fact.
He further alleged that Okocha’s camp, loyalists to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, are the ones stoking the crisis in the state.
He said: “This administration is so much interested in uplifting the lives of the people, and not perturbed about what they are saying. They should remain on their own, while we remain on our own; nobody should worry anybody.
“The governor is aware that each time he talks, they catch fever. Now he has spoken, they are shivering. They should leave the governor alone to focus on the good works he is doing, delivering dividends of democracy to the people of the state.” Speaking further, Okocha said that as an opposition, they will not sit and watch the governor plunge the state into more crises.
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