By Jude Opara, Abuja
The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state, Chief Tony Okocha has urged those planning to stage the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protes to have a change of heart because President Bola Tinubu is not the architect of the hunger in the land.
Okocha who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday added that those he classified as failed politicians were behind the protest adding that everybody focuses on the federal government while ignoring the state governments whom he said have been collecting increased allocations since the removal of fuel subsidy.
“The truth be told, let us face reality here. What is the reason for the planned protest? The reason for the planned protest as I heard is that there is hunger in the land. Is President Tinubu the architect of hunger in the land? Why are we not demonstrating and protesting against our governors?
“The removal of fuel subsidy brought in more money to the system. And the President didn’t put the money in his pocket. He is giving it out. When these money are given to the states, do they think the President should also come and administer its use? So who is behind this?
“Those who are behind this are the failed politicians who got power through the backdoor. They should wait for 2027 and go far away from APC if they can. The intention and motive is sinister and they know themselves.
“What is the essence and the result? Would there be confrontation between the protesters and security agencies or the protesters against another group protesting for Mr. President? Can that possibly be the solution to our problems?
“Who is a good soldier? A great soldier is not the man who went to war with others and lost all of them and didn’t win a war. The greatest soldier is a man who went to war, got victory with minimal damage. It didn’t work in Kenya and Sudan. And these countries are even smaller compared to Nigeria. The resultant effect of that on Nigerians will be most devastating”.
On the growing insinuations that the APC leadership in the state is loyal to the FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, the Caretaker Committee Chairman said Wike is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and only serving in the government of the APC.
“Wike is an unrepentant PDP member. Would anybody suggest that as a serving Minister under APC we should be at daggers drawn with him? He doesn’t attend our meetings. That we have held meetings of stakeholders in different strata and he was never part of it. So at what point did he influence APC in the state? His influence as much as we know is to the extent that he is a serving minister under an APC government. So we cannot be going into an enmity with him”, he added.
