PDP pulls out of Rivers LG polls, APP upbeat on becoming dominant party

The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced its decision to boycott the upcoming local government elections scheduled for October 5, 2024.

The development comes after a stakeholders’ meeting at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt, where state party chairman, Aaron Chukwuemeka, disclosed that the party will await the court verdict on a suit instituted by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Chukwuemeka stated that the party is not part of the APC’s suit but will respect the court’s order restraining the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) from proceeding with the election and urged members to stay away from any election-related events.

The lingering crisis between Governor Sim Fubara and Nyesom Wike has led to a political crisis in the state, with council chairmen and their supporters loyal to Fubara joining the Action Peoples Party (APP) in droves. Almost all candidates vying for chairmanship and councillorship positions are now running under the APP platform, with campaigns already underway.

The APP has vowed to cripple the PDP structure and other parties in the state, saying the party is now a big threat to the major parties.

State chairman of APP, Sunny Wokekoro, stated this while handing over flags to the various party’s Local Government chairmanship candidates for the October 5 council polls.

He said the nation will take the party serious when it is done with the council election and even in the state in 2027, adding that APP is a veritable destination for anybody who is looking for any platform to fulfill his political career

Wokekoro noted that the candidates for the polls were carefully selected based on track record of leadership capacity.

He assured that the candidates will deliver the dividends of grassroot leadership.

He said, “By the time we are done with the Local Council election, everybody from local, state and national will take APP seriously”.

Wokekoro however, assured the people of victory, saying “this will be made possible because the people are behind APP. God is on our side, to use us as a tool to liberate Rivers State”.

He said Rivers people irrespective of ethnic nationality, or sectorial affiliation are united over the quest for liberation of Rivers state, adding that APP is poised to deliver in such direction.

The contestants for the Council polls contesting on the platform of APP were PDP members who damped the party following the festering crisis between the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and , Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It would be recalled that recently, the Minister of FCT, Wike presided over the congress that ushered in the new executive members of the PDP in the state, while Governor Fubara and his supporters boycotted the congresses.