NewStats: 3,264,048 , 8,182,415 topics. Date: Monday, 09 June 2025 at 12:33 PM 4p5u19

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has denied the notion that the 27 of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhula, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

He explained that what happened on 11th December 2023 at the Polo Club Port Harcourt, widely described as the reception of the defected lawmakers by the APC, was actually an event to celebrate the constitution of a new state executive council of the APC in the state by the national body of the party.

Okocha’s denial came as discussions are increasing on the fate of Hon. Amaewhula and his colleagues, as Nigerians wait with bated breath for the determination of several cases at the Supreme Court on the prolonged political crisis in Rivers State.

Okocha made the denial while speaking to journalists shortly after a meeting of the party’s State Executive Council at the party Secretariat along Aba Road in Port Harcourt. He insisted that he, as then Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC, never received the former lawmakers into the party, saying that what happened at the Port Harcourt Polo Club in December 2023 was not a reception for the 27 lawmakers but an event to celebrate the constitution of a new state executive council of the APC in the state by the national body of the party.

According to Okocha, the lawmakers were invited on an individual basis as a result of the relationship that existed between him and them.

Okocha said: “There was no intention to organise a reception for what we were not holding. We were inaugurated in Abuja and we chose to organise a reception and thanksgiving for our . It was not to receive the 27 lawmakers.

“We were misinterpreted to have received the 27 lawmakers into APC. That is not correct. We invited individual of the Assembly. I have a relationship with them over time. We tried to woo them into the party. I was intentional in reaching out to them to us. We would have counted it all joy if we had succeeded.

“We want to tell Nigerians that the 27 lawmakers led by the Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule never defected to the All Progressives Congress. What people flaunt on social media or television cannot put up a plausible argument for them. The law is not about emotions. It is as strict as it is.”

Meanwhile, in his characteristic manner, he did not miss the opportunity to accuse the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, of trying to cause anarchy in the state by allegedly continuing to disobey court judgments.

He again accused the governor of running Rivers State without budgets, saying that Gov Fubara has been disobeying the rule of law and expressed fears that such postures usually provoke ugly consequences when aggrieved parties decide to take the law into their own hands.

He feared that expected judgments of the Supreme Court in some crucial matters before it may be rejected and disobeyed by parties from either side now that the precedent seems to have been set.

He said the governor was fond of going to lower courts to seek judgments on matters decided by higher courts. “There is no way a high court can set aside a matter decided by the Court of Appeal. People just come and speak what they like after gaining access to the people’s vaults.”

On why he is the one fighting for the defected lawmakers since he was not in the same party with them, he said he is the voice of the opposition in the state and the voice of the voiceless.

The factional chairman, whose executive committee was declared illegal by a high court in Port Harcourt, insisted that there is no way anybody can run a state without a budget, saying that is what Gov Fubara was doing.

He said: “We[b] are here to lend our voice to the debate of who is a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly or not. We are disenchanted with Fubara’s disrespect for the law. He is selective in which court ruling to obey and which one not to obey. This leads to anarchy by forcing people to self-help.”[/b]

He promised not to resort to such practice but to follow the law, saying: “Telling the governor that the dismissal of the Supreme Court case over the 2024 budget had no implication on the authenticity or otherwise of Amaewhule and the defected lawmakers was deceiving the governor. He said the case had 15 prongs, meaning that by withdrawing his appeal, those prongs now stand.

“The ruling allows parties to go back to status quo bellum, meaning back to how things were before the case was instituted. The Court of Appeal said you do not have a budget. Go back to Amaewhule with the budget. How can the governor say the dismissal was academic?”

https://tribuneonlineng.com/27-rivers-lawmakers-didnt-defect-to-apc-okocha/?fbclid=IwY2xjawItD9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYYOOPl4h23K_G2cmE1ce5pHFTODmIgkIOuZB3Ty82qamNGIkaMoWpYFwQ_aem_j9SR5ZvwszcDGuwteRPBQg

PREVIOUS THREAD:
Rivers Assembly: All 27 pro-Wike Lawmakers Defect To APC, Wave Flags

https://nairaland.sitesunblocked.org/7937294/rivers-assembly-all-27-pro-wike#127424407

This News is stale we already knew they defected to APC. So no need to overflog the already very obvious truth.

Save yourself the explanation, Time shall reveal everything. No just worry, no be naija wey gather dey?

Maybe they crawled into APC ....

After openly showing it, then they denied same.They see white and called it black. Shamelessness @ it peak.

Nyesom Wike misled these otondos. They would have been in contention by now. The politicians of these generation are really a big shame, disgrace and embarrassment

Some of these guys up there gat no chills

Devil sef go fear this people lies.

There's no denying the obvious, we all saw it played out.....with the of Ewedu munching skull miners, they successfully defected to APC to the suprise of the world.
There's no going back to their vomits.
The 27 ex Rivers law makers have themselves and Ewedu munching praise singers to blame.....

For it is written in the book of Psalms: 'May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, 'May another take their position.' Psalm 69:25

How do you deny the affidavit?

What the 27 lawmakers did at Polo club is not issible in the court of law.

What they did on television and social media is not issible in the court of law.


But the defection they did at plenary and the affidavit they swore to confirm their defection will nail them.

Maxymilliano:


https://tribuneonlineng.com/27-rivers-lawmakers-didnt-defect-to-apc-okocha/?fbclid=IwY2xjawItD9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYYOOPl4h23K_G2cmE1ce5pHFTODmIgkIOuZB3Ty82qamNGIkaMoWpYFwQ_aem_j9SR5ZvwszcDGuwteRPBQg

PREVIOUS THREAD:
Rivers Assembly: All 27 pro-Wike Lawmakers Defect To APC, Wave Flags

https://nairaland.sitesunblocked.org/7937294/rivers-assembly-all-27-pro-wike#127424407

Correct

WE KNOW

SIM is silently dealing with them, even Wike is shock after underestimating SIM

Maxymilliano:


https://tribuneonlineng.com/27-rivers-lawmakers-didnt-defect-to-apc-okocha/?fbclid=IwY2xjawItD9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYYOOPl4h23K_G2cmE1ce5pHFTODmIgkIOuZB3Ty82qamNGIkaMoWpYFwQ_aem_j9SR5ZvwszcDGuwteRPBQg

PREVIOUS THREAD:
Rivers Assembly: All 27 pro-Wike Lawmakers Defect To APC, Wave Flags

https://nairaland.sitesunblocked.org/7937294/rivers-assembly-all-27-pro-wike#127424407

look at your face, you are so shameless, how would you face your children to stop them from lying, what you say now would not change anything they are gone and gone forever

Ikonse:
Save yourself the explanation, Time shall reveal everything. No just worry

Time reveled already their defection to APC.
No long story.

They should just defect back to PDP, and the case should be closed.

Who cares,wike can create a federal capital state house of assembly for his pro 27 ,after all impunity is now a way of life of the leadership of this nation.

Oloriburuku somebody.

Lol. This kind mistake is painful. Some of those 27 law makers will be very sad now.

This is real comedy..

We were misinterpreted to have received the 27 lawmakers into APC. That is not correct. We invited individual of the Assembly. I have a relationship with them over time. We tried to woo them into the party

To be a politician in this country you have to be shameless.

anonimi:


Time reveled already their defection to APC.
No long story.

Really? I never knew.
Sorry i fit get something to use eat?
Tins hard

Peoples fathers telling blatant lies unashamedly for pecuniary interests..
Lawyers in this country need to be checked. They have successfully made it look like the profession is all about going to spend nearly a decade in a university learning how to tell fantabulous lies..
Big shame

Everything about this APC is just propaganda, lies, deceit and wayo.
No genuine person ing these folks have any plans to make heaven.

Old man, lying with a straight face.

I fear for this Nation.

See madness, defending the indefensible. Day will soon break

These are the types of leaders and lawmakers Nigeria produced and the citizens wonder why the country is not developed

JAWBONE:

Devil sef go fear this people lies.

APC, devil and lies are all one and the same thing.
No difference.

Deltafirstson:
Although the pump price of fuel was N197 when President Bola Tinubu took over on May 29, 2023, the product now sells for N617 per litre – less than two months after.

In his inaugural address, Tinubu announced that subsidy was gone, fulfilling a promise that all leading presidential candidates made during the campaign.

However, pump price of fuel hit N537 per litre days after Tinubu ended subsidy.

On Tuesday, the price climbed further to N617, a development that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) attributed to “market forces”.

Nigerians have been lamenting the hardship occasioned by fuel price hike. Amid the lamentation, a video where Tinubu campaigned to slash the price of fuel went into circulation.

Checks by Daily Trust affirmed the authenticity of the video ed on the YouTube page of Channels Television.

At his campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, on January 25, 2023, Tinubu spoke on a number of issues, but those of fuel scarcity and naira redesign made the headlines.

However, Tinubu who spoke in Yoruba language, also assured the crowd that though people were saying petrol price would hit N200, it would be reviewed downward under him.

“The great Nigerian youths, the great Nigerian students, the confident Nigerian youths. This is a revolution. This election is a revolution. They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200 per litre. Go and relax, we will bring it down,” he had said in the 7th minute of the video.

King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, a Fuji musician who performed at the rally, interrupted the president’s speech with chants as the crowd cheered.

On the campaign podium with the president were Vice-President Kashim Shettima; Pa Bisi Akande, interim National Chairman of the APC; Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President; Senator Gbenga Daniel; among other bigwigs of the ruling party.

Tinubu went further to say Nigerians would defy the acute fuel scarcity at the time and trek to cast their votes.

“The great Nigerian youths, the great Nigerian students, the confident Nigerian youths. This is a revolution. This election is a revolution. They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200/N500 per litre. Go and relax, we will crash the prices,” he had said.

https://dailytrust.com/breaking-video-of-tinubu-campaigning-to-crash-fuel-

he had said in the 7th minute of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JH8CC_JdUA

You can turn lies to become truth.
The lawmakers defected to APC in broad daylight.

Won ti gbe PDP ni Handicap.

Show evidence where dem for sign and collect their card as APC member.
Show pictures of organized reception for them and their followers to APC.

Anybody can hold any flag. Some even put US flag for the dash board of their Car but dem still dey Nigeria.
So that flag-holding things no go fit fly.

Kai! Dem go do PD* dirty from inside.