APC Members Criticize Defection U-Turn by Rivers State Lawmakers

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the aegis of the Concerned Members of the All Progressives Congress have criticized the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly for allegedly reneging on their defection to the party.

This comes after the political crisis in the state saw some lawmakers, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, announce their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in December 2023.

However, Governor Siminalayi Fubara recently declared their seats vacant, citing the illegal mode of their defection.

Subsequently, reports indicate that the lawmakers have claimed they are still members of the PDP.

A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt corroborated this on Monday, ruling that Amaewhule and the other 26 lawmakers are still PDP members.

Reacting to these developments, the APC group, in a statement signed by its President, Ezegwu Thomas, warned the party’s leadership against accepting these lawmakers back into their fold, describing them as “fair-weather politicians.”

“We are compelled to address a pressing matter that threatens the very fabric of our great party.

Recent events have led us to sound a note of caution and vigilance to all loyal members of our party,” the statement reads.

“As you may be aware, some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly publicly defected from the PDP to our esteemed party.

However, in a bizarre twist, they have since denied any affiliation with our party, leaving us with no choice but to categorize them as political opportunists with no allegiance to any political organization.”

The statement further expressed concern over the lawmakers’ history of political opportunism and warned APC members to be cautious in their dealings with these individuals.

“Their antecedents show a pattern of political opportunism, and we fear that their presence within our ranks could spell doom for our party’s unity and progress,” Thomas stated.

“We caution our members that these individuals, who have no qualms about denying their own party affiliation, will not hesitate to do the same to our party and even our esteemed President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when it suits their interests.

We must not let our guard down and allow such fair-weather politicians to infiltrate our ranks,” the statement concluded.