Action Peoples Party, APP, has called on the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to seek re-election on its platform in 2027, even as it said the governor neither owns the party nor is a member.

State Chairman of the party, Sunny Wokekoro, stated this when the immediate past leadership of the party led by Kenneth Atata paid him a solidarity visit at the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Saturday.

Wokekoro said the party would make a statement with the October 5 local government election, saying it is determined to change the narrative in the state.

While noting that he is a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he, however, said the PDP is no longer a viable option for any politician who means well for the state or the country, pointing out that the country’s main opposition party has lost its relevance.

Wokekoro said, “I was a founding member of the PDP. I started by being a G-34 coordinator in Port Harcourt. I was a foundation member of that party. With the recent events in the country regarding the party’s administration, PDP is not supposed to house or to still retain any person who has morals. Any person who has integrity should have left that party by now.

“There is one impression I must have to correct in this gathering; the impression that Governor Fubara is a member of this party or that he owns it. This party has been in existence since 2017. It predates any of us who just joined it.”

The state chairman stressed that “no one can claim to be the owner of this party. The truth remains that as I speak to you today, Fubara is not a member of our party. However, a good party administrator goes out there looking for the best materials to field for elective positions. We are going to do that, not just me, but all of us are going to do that. We are going to persuade our governor to, if possible during his re-election, APP should be his platform.”

Wokekoro added that not only Fubara is enjoined to join the APP, but other well-meaning members of the State and National Houses of Assembly.

He urged party faithful to remain committed to propel APP to greater heights in the state and across the country.

In his remark, the APP National Chairman, Uchenna Nnadi, lauded Wokekoro for his role in bringing the party to the limelight in the state, noting that, “I want to commend the new leadership of Action Peoples Party in Rivers State led by Wokekoro. Within a short while, you have made us proud, and within a short while, our party is being recognised nationally.”

Our correspondent reports that speculations were rife that Fubara may defect to APP, following the alleged hijack of the PDP by his predecessor and estranged political godfather, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

The speculation increased when a section of the secretariat of the APP along GRA axis of Port Harcourt was bombed, shattering doors, windows, and other property on Monday, August 12, 2023.

However, Fubara, while hosting PDP’s Board of Trustees, led by Adolphus Wabara, at the Government House, Port Harcourt debunked the speculated defection and pledged his membership to the PDP.

From Damola Adeloye, Ibadan 

Chieftain of New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Ambassador Olufemi Oguntoyinbo yesterday called on the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, address the current hardship occasioned by the non-availability of petroleum products across the country.

Oguntoyinbo, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, said what President Bola Tinubu promised Nigerians when he resumed office last year was that with the removal of subsidy, there won’t be scarcity of fuel, but Nigerians have seen that the president failed to keep to his promise.

He said the situation has become terrible because there is poor electricity supply, with the whole country in darkness. While Nigerians are used to powering their generating sets with diesel and Petroleum Motor Spirit, the products are unavailable.

The NNPP chieftain said when Nigerians were complaining about poor power supply nine years ago, during the early days of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu begged Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress, APC, was just assuming office and that incessant electricity shortage would become a thing of the past.

According to him, “however, nine years after, with Tinubu as president, electricity supply is still low or non-available in many parts of the country. To make it worse, people cannot find petroleum products to buy, even when they are ready to cough out their hard earned money to do so. 

“What this means is that the APC that has been blaming the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, for the woes of the country, has also failed Nigerians after nine years in power.

“President Tinubu must, as the Minister of Petroleum, find solutions to the current non-availability of fuel in the country. It is sad that we are witnessing the scarcity of fuel now that Nigerians are celebrating little reduction in the price of foodstuffs.

“The little gain we recorded will evaporate soon due to the high cost of transportation as a result of non-availability of petroleum products.

“The president needs to investigate the activities of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, and if possible, sanction whoever caused this current scarcity.

“It is sad that despite the fact that many people are ready to buy at a high rate, fuel is not even available and it has been affecting many things including the transportation of foodstuffs from rural to urban areas.

“We cannot continue like this as a country. The president needs to summon courage and find lasting solutions to the perennial fuel scarcity in parts of the country”.

He also called on former presidents and other statesmen to come out and find solutions to the current problem as, according to him, the fuel scarcity affects almost every home in the country.

“What is currently happening should be looked at beyond politics. Former presidents and other statesmen should come out and proffer solutions”, he said.

From Richard Akintade, Osogbo

 Lowa Adimula of Ile-Ife Kingdom in Osun State, High Chief Abraham Adekola Adeyeye yesterday commended Governor Ademola Adeleke of the state for the construction of bridge and dualisation of roads in the ancient community.

The Lowa Adimula while answering questions from our Correspondent in his palace said, Governor Adeleke is a man of his words who has made their dreams comes true with the ongoing numbers of development going on in Ife Kingdom.

According to the traditional ruler, on behalf of the people of Ile-Ife both home and abroad, “I am using this medium to appreciate our amiable and friendly Governor, Ademola Adeleke of Osun State for turning our long awaited hope to complete joy and happiness for remembering Ile-Ife for this kind of development which we have been expecting for long. 

“I want to say boldly that since Independence of this Country in 1960, no Nigeria President or Governor of this state since inception in 1991 think or remembered Ile-Ife for such a development, how can Ile-Ife the source of mankind be at this stage, it is a shame to all Yoruba and Nigeria as a whole, but God used Governor Adeleke’s administration to remember us as the first and only Osun State Governor to break the jinx, he has laid the foundation of history while his name will be written on the marble and the entire Ife people will continue to remember him for the ongoing developmental projects in the ancient city.

“I am not surprised with the performance of Governor Adeleke since he assumed the office as the Yoruba adage says “Charity begins at home” if you see someone doing good in the society, go and look at the person’s background either mother or father, but this our people’s governor inherited his good and commendable performance from his late father, Senator Ayoola Adeleke as Baba was friendly, generous and God fearing while on earth.

“During the campaign promises when he visited Ile-Ife then, he promised to turn the entire Osun State to London, he has been working assiduously towards that and here in Ile-Ife we have seen the impact with the ongoing numbers of people oriented programmes, and am happy to say that rehabilitation of about four to five roads are also ongoing in the ancient city aside of the dualisation of roads and construction of the gigantic bridge.

“This is not a matter of politics, “Ti Omo eni ba dara o ye ki awi” this why I am appreciating Governor Adeleke for his good work and performance in Ile-Ife” Lowa Adimula emphasised.

High Chief Adeyeye further called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the country to extend the dividends of democracy to Ile-Ife as a matter of urgency.