The Action Peoples Party, APP, has invited Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to consider joining its ranks amid the ongoing political turmoil within the state and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,.
The APP clarified that while Governor Fubara has not yet become a member, he is welcome to align with their platform.
Sunny Wokekoro, the APP Chairman in Rivers State, made this appeal over the weekend during a solidarity visit by the party’s former state leadership, led by Kenneth Atata, to the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt.
Wokekoro emphasized that the APP aims to assert its influence in the upcoming October 5 local government elections, signaling a shift in the state’s political landscape. He also noted that the PDP, of which he was once a member, no longer offers a viable path for politicians who genuinely seek the betterment of the state and the nation, pointing to the party’s declining relevance in recent times.
He 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. The recent events in the country regarding the party’s administration that the party (PDP) is not supposed to house or still retain any person who has morals, any person who has integrity should have left that party by now.
“All of us that mean well for this nation, all of us that mean well for this state have moved and the movement has brought us to this party. APP is the new destination.
“There is one impression I must have to correct in this gathering, the impression that Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a member of this party or he owns this party. This party has been in existence way back 2017. It predates any of us who have just joined the party.
“So no one person can claim to be the owner of this party. And the truth remains that as I speak to you today, Siminalayi Fubara, the executive governor of Rivers State, is not a member of our party.
“However, a good party administrator goes out there looking for the best materials to fill in for elective positions. We’re going to do that, not just me, but all of us are going to do that.
“Women are going to do that, the students are going to do that, the market women are going to do that, politicians are going to do that, we are going to persuade our governor to if possible during his re-election, APP should be his platform for that re-election.
“Not just the governor alone, all the assembly people that mean well for this state, all National Assembly people that mean well for this state and for this nation, we’re going to persuade them with every breath in our body that this is the right party for them to join.”
Wokekoro noted that he accepted the responsibility to lead the party in the state because its manifesto had a clear direction.
He said: “And I believe everyone gathered here, whether you’re a man, woman, or student you’ve got a role to play.
“What is the role we have to play so that we can usher in a new pattern of administration in our state, starting with Rivers State, so that we’ll move on to the other parts of the state and by the special grace of God to the nation.
The APP National Chairman, Uchenna Nnadi, lauded the immediate leadership of the party in the state saying it brought the party to the limelight.
Nnadi said: “The way you people resigned to give birth to a new leadership for the interest of Rivers people. I want you to know that at the national headquarters, we celebrate you. The sacrifice you people made is uncommon.”
Nnadi said issues that would have caused crisis and litigation in other parties were amicably resolved in the party and urged the new leadership to carry everyone along while urging all members to support the new leadership.
He said: “I want to commend the new leadership of the Action Peoples Party in Rivers State led by able and amiable chairman, Sunny Wokekoro, within a short while you have made us proud, and within a short while our party is being recognized nationally.
“And within the short period I have stayed in Rivers State, I have seen an influx of people trooping to identify with our party, and I believe by the special grace of God, we will show our strength collectively as we seated here on October 5th, 2024 in the forthcoming local government elections.”