Onyedi Gabriel, Port Harcourt
A former Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Rivers State, Chris Finebone, has raised the alarm over an ongoing plot to destabilise the party using courts in the state.
He said the plot was being hatched by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, some of his moles in the APC and some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said the plan involved filing all manner of cases against the APC to create further crisis in the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
Finebone, in a statement in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said, “Last Thursday Dec 3, 2020 after the sitting of the PDP vs Hon. Ephraim Nwuzi court hearing and while still within the court premises, I obtained credible information through my reliable insiders in the state government that Gov. Nyesom Wike and the PDP in Rivers State have hatched a plot to destabilise the All Progressives Congress (APC) nationwide by making available Rivers State courts to enemies of the APC (within and from outside the state) to file all manner of cases against the APC with a view to destabilising the party as politics of 2023 approaches.
“The source disclosed that the decision was hatched at the highest level of government directly involving the state governor and his closest allies in the PDP following the successful defection of Gov. Umahi of Ebonyi State to the APC – an action that pitched the Ebonyi governor against his Rivers counterpart, Nyesom Wike.
“The decision is to forestall or, at least, frustrate the likes of Umah,i who are reportedly warming up to dump the PDP in future as speculations are rife that many more governors and leaders in PDP are about jumping ship.
“While still investigating the story further through other sources, news has come out that barely 24 hours after an APC NEC meeting held and far reaching decisions were taken on the affairs of the party, a group in Rivers APC has filed a fresh suit against the membership re-validation exercise announced by the party.
“Preliminary investigation to unravel those behind the suit revealed that it is the same tendencies within the APC in Rivers State that have been working in cahoots with the Rivers State Government to weaken and sequestrate the APC in Rivers State using the State courts that are at work again.
“As things stand, a flurry of cases against the APC through the courts in Rivers State is expected to unravel in the days ahead with the intention to roll back the expected exodus of PDP members into the APC nationwide. The intention is also to distract the APC from consolidating and becoming even stronger for the PDP in future”.